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Thelastheraclid · 03-01-2025, 11:54 PM

Graphic Option 1

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charlieconway · 03-02-2025, 12:52 AM

Quote:Written Option 2: What, in your opinion, is needed for a good expansion brand and location? Is it just a catchy name that sounds good alongside your city location? Is it important to make sure the brand references the history of its location or brings something important to the sport of hockey? You can use examples to demonstrate your opinions.

I think you shouldn’t just plop down an SHL team with no connection to the place it’s located in. It would be strange, for example, to expand to Portland and call them the Portland Atlantics.

The team’s name should relate to its city in some way. My player’s team, the Atlanta Inferno, are a good example of this: Atlanta is known for having had a major fire in the early 1900s (see: the Great Atlanta Fire). The colors, black with red, orange, yellow, evoke a city burning at night. It’s not entirely morbid though, as the mascot for the Inferno is a phoenix, which symbolizes birth from disaster: a bird that is born from the flames.

Speaking of colors, I hope the teams chosen for expansion have interesting color schemes. I’d hate to see another blue + light blue combo, or blue + red, or black and white. No shot at teams with those color setups already, but I think there’s room for different combinations in the SHL.

*bobdigi9* · 03-02-2025, 02:14 AM

Written Option 2:

It seems in this day and age that more thought and effort goes into naming a franchise. With the advent of social media and everyone having the ability to chime in, teams make sure to include their fans in the process like never before. With recent expansion/location in the NHL, we've seen this process play out with the likes of Seattle Kraken and the as for now Utah Hockey Club.
But what actually makes for a good name/brand? Personally, I don't need to have the history or ties to the location for the name to make sense. If it was cool and catchy enough, I'd be on board. I just feel like it needs to be something....aggressive. You want to try and get the edge over your opponent wherever you can, so you want the name to invoke fear in your opponent as soon as they think about you, whether it's consciously or not.
I'm pretty sure there is no history of there being yetis (yetii?) in Utah but it would have been fun, if not a tongue twister. It's unfortunate that didn't pan out for them (damn you, Yeti water bottles!).
Now if you can tie this into the history of the city/area then go for it. It's a great way to unify the locals and get them to rally behind you.

I don't think there's any perfect formula to finding the correct name/identity for a team. Nor do I think that any impact it will have be instant. With a few exceptions, such as the Vegas Golden Knights who absolutely nailed it and hit the ground running, the most important component is time. Even the worst team names, once they've been around long enough, become endearing to their fans.
Whichever way a franchise chooses to go, there is a sure-fire way to get people to buy in. Have a good on-ice product. Run your organization properly from top to bottom and the results will follow.

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***efischermann*** · 03-02-2025, 04:10 AM

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Written Option 1: Being a player in SHL and SMHJL requires a lot of hours in the plane as roadtrips take the teams all over the continent. Sometimes the visits are very short and you’ll be getting back to home right after the game but sometimes there is time for more. Which city is your player's favorite to visit, a place where they hope to be able to spend a day between travels to enjoy what the city has to offer? Is it home to a division rival that they get to visit often or maybe home of a team from the other conference that your player only gets to visit once a season? Why do they like that city and what do they do there when they have the opportunity?

The crazy thing is the cities that my player likes the most are all in the junior league. I obviously love Denver as it’s where I call home during the off-season when we’re done in Seattle. However, my favorite city on the road is Vancouver hands-down. It is such an incredibly beautiful place to spend time by the ocean looking at the mountain ranges and eating the delicious food. I might be the only one who actually believes this, but cactus club is an incredible restaurant with really good food that I go to for the food. Now the waitresses don’t hurt things as they’re all very attractive, but the food is really what I go there for. It is an incredible place to stay and one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ve been to quite a few so I feel like I have a good handle on what is a good and bad city. For instance, no offense to Winnipeg, but I can’t stand it there. It's cold, there's not much to do and It's very dreary.

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S61 Four Star Cup - Game-Winning Goal in the clinching Game 4

Baron1898 · 03-02-2025, 06:16 AM

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the5urreal · 03-02-2025, 06:16 AM

Written Option 2

When considering the branding of an expansion team, it’s not just a catchy name or a fun logo or colors. Sure, you need to consider something that will resonate with the fans because a great brand will bring the fans to you and lead to financial rewards. However, the branding decisions you make now will define the team’s identity for decades. Consider brands that are relevant to the location of the team. It might be something historically significant to the location, something that the location is known for, or maybe based on some folklore significant to the region. Regardless of the direction, it’s important that the brand is distinctive, consistent, and enduring. You’re creating a community that includes or will include fans of the sport, fans of the city, coaches, current players, and former players. It should tell a story that inspires both fans of the team and the league and gets them invested.

Coming up with something distinctive is most important when choosing the colors of the team and designing a logo. No fan wants their team to have the same colors as five other teams in the league but those colors should also be pleasing to the eye and work well together. The logo should be able to convey the team’s identity. The typography style is important and adds to the versatility of the team’s brand. It should work well alongside the logo. In my opinion though, the team’s main logo - the one that will be prominent on jerseys and memorabilia - should be able to stand on its own without any wordmark. It should be simple but recognizable and memorable. The best team logos are clever and tie in several aspects of the team’s identity and location.

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***JaytheGreat*** · 03-02-2025, 06:52 AM

Before this season I played my entire career in the Eastern Conference and my favorite away from home city had to be Tampa Bay. It's a pretty warm city all year which is a change and is nice. My favorite thing to do during off day while in the city is go fishing, it's right on the Gulf and there is very quality fishing there. Not only is the fishing awesome but so is the food, there is a lot of great places to get a good meal after practice. I've never had any problems while I've visited Tampa there are some passionate fans there but they are more likely to ask for an autograph then to actually heckle me. The atmosphere of the city is great and it's not a bad place to people watch if that's your thing. It really is my home away from home and to top it off I generally play very well while I'm in Tampa.

Rest In Peace Dangel

1st SHL Goal - S52 Game 1 vs Tampa 3. New England Wolfpack , Jakub Bruchevski 1 (Eko Van Otter 1, Delver Fudgeson 2) at 8:10

Scarecrows

FuriousChicken · 03-02-2025, 07:02 AM

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Thunfish · 03-02-2025, 08:03 AM

Besides the obvious factor of logistics and not, say, plunking a team in the middle of a war zone or anything like that... I feel like you at least need a place that people can point out on a map. For comparison, the Platoon once played at a place that you really had to go and search about to know where it was and whether it existed or not. It was like placing a team in Dudleyville or Hell, you see? Kinda feels like someone made up a place. Nothing against the idea by itself but if you do that with one team, you might as well do it with every other one.

I would also love if someone came up with more unique nicknames. Back when I did my thing on FHM 5 (I think, can't remember which game it was), I made up teams like the Pittsburgh Headbangers. Coming up with names was the most fun thing because I would look outside of the box for them. Fun times.

NJBadApple · 03-02-2025, 08:56 AM

There's a lot of solid cities around both the SMJHL and SHL with a lot of history and things to do but there are definitely some favorites for me. Seattle has plenty to do for every type of person no matter what they're into but going snowboarding in the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges is certainly a past time for myself. They also have a wide range of museums and historic places to visit around downtown, so if you're looking for a chill day that's the route to go with. Tampa Bay is also a great gem, with most of the focus in Florida being on Miami and Jacksonville. The Gulf side of the state has a different vibe, and being a foodie that's definitely the move when I'm in the area. Lastly the entire state of Texas is such a great place to visit, especially San Antonio. The Riverwalk is a killer spot to spend time with the family and then bar hop at night.

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Mutedfaith · 03-02-2025, 09:24 AM

Written Option 2:

In my opinion, a good expansion brand has to meet only a few conditions. Actually, only two things are very important to the success of an expansion franchise.

1. The expansion team GM has to have a solid plan, understanding and attechment to the branding. Whether it's because the location has any RL ties to existi g hockey communities doesn't really matter, as long as the GMs are enthusiastic and have a plan to run with the expansion branding. The success of the franchise will rely on their storytelling and marketing of the brand.

2. It has to appeal to future players. If the branding is too niche, it runs the risk of people not understanding the brand. A brand thats too general will not feel special. Same for the location, more people will be interested in playing for a team in an interesting location than for teams in a shithole or a very obvious pick.

In the end its all about the right brand in the right location, and most importantly the right marketing.

juke · 03-02-2025, 09:25 AM

Written option 2

Thinking about what makes a good branding in the SHL in particular, I think there's a lot of leeway compared to regular branding. I know a lot of people will prefer the team name to have some historical significance to the city, but I think that's a lot more important in real spots branding when your market will be people who actually live there and care about that more. For SHL teams, I just consider it like bonus points/more interesting when a branding does that, but it's not necessary. I unfortunately can't stop myself from caring about realism/immersion a bit, so I don't know about a non North America city. However I think if you did a massive shakedown and split the league into an NA and non-NA conference it could be cool. Or put the J teams in Europe but I actually really like how the J has all these non traditional northern city teams. And for my nitpicking opinion, I like branding location better as an actual city instead of broadly the entire state.

Neadex · 03-02-2025, 10:13 AM

The most important thing about an extension brand is that there is no competition in the area, but you get to create something new from nothing. Of course, the area must also be such that there is a market niche. A good team name and logo help people internalize and remember it, but names and logos have been changed before.

Renomitsu · 03-02-2025, 10:27 AM

Since there aren't any Swedish or Romanian teams in the SHL (outside of IIHF and WJC time, of course), her favorite places to go back to are generally nostalgic. She misses being in Regina (back before the Elk relocated), so rarely if she's got some extra time she'll make the trip out from Calgary via a tiny private plane or Winnipeg. Since there aren't games every day of the season necessarily, she'll make a point of just hopping over to the town. Otherwise, there are pretty specific cities she makes occasional stops in: since they play Philly a lot, she'll try and make a point of trying a cheesesteak at a new place after she faces off against the Forge and will try to stop by the Reading Terminal Market while she's there. When she goes to LA, Chicago, or New York there's just too much stuff going on and the city is too busy so she generally keeps to herself.

spidey · 03-02-2025, 10:47 AM

Considering Logan Webb calls beautiful San Francisco home most of the year there isn't too many places he prefers to visit. But if he were to pick one, and this will likely come as a surprise, he enjoys Calgary.

Coming from the Webb line he is treated like gold in the City, his uncle Kain Webb was a SHL legend for the Calgary Dragons. The city has a lot to offer, a great zoo, a nice river valley, niche shopping and some larger malls. It's also an hour away from some beautiful sight seeing locations, drumheller and their amazing dinosaur museum, head smashed in Buffalo jump, and maybe the most important, beautiful Banff and the Rocky Moutains. Yes San Francisco is close to the Rockies but nothing compares to the Canadian side.

While there may be bigger markets, better tourist opportunities and areas that Logan Webb has been able to visit and enjoy, for him, nothing beats a visit North of the boarder.

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