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UP - Anaheim Ducks I have never been too impressed with a Ducks center ice since they ditched the Mighty Ducks brand, so bringing back of piece of it was bound to score a few points with me. But what sets it over the top is the roundel including both the current and previous team names. Since it is an anniversary logo, we won't see it again, but I would love if they found a way to incorporate the roundel into future looks. Also, please bring back the Mighty Duck for good. UP - Arizona Coyotes This is not a big up. It would be hard for them to impress me much given the restrictions set in place due to their shared arena situation. The last two seasons at Gila River Arena were perfection on ice. The addition of a checkered red line adds a touch of detail to the ice which it needed. The less obnoxious arena text is nice too. UP - Boston Bruins How cool is it to see this throwback logo taking up the entire center circle. That said, I prefer their normal logo. The Bruins are only using this logo one time, to celebrate their 100'th Anniversary, so for that reason, I am glad it is on the ice this season. UP - Buffalo Sabres The Sabres finally took a page from the Bruins playbook by enlarging their logo so it made up the entire center circle. That alone made this ice nearly perfect, but the team had more in store for fans. The swords in the red line were just the touch to finish it off. DOWN - Calgary Flames The Flames returned to their familiar primary logo red line pattern this season. While there is nothing wrong with it, the unique flame design last season was a classy look for the team. I was really hoping they would keep that design at least a couple more seasons. UP - Carolina Hurricanes The Hurricanes celebrated their 25'th anniversary last season with a special logo at center ice. This year it is back to the primary logo at center ice. Always good to see the primary eye of the Hurricane at center ice. None - Chicago Blackhawks Another season where the only change is whether the center dot lands in the red or in the white on the center line. The Blackhawks have a great center ice, but it might be nice to change it up a little. I can't really give them an up or a down for this. None - Colorado Avalanche The Avalanche do not change up their ice much. While a new center line design would be fun, they have had the current one since they first started playing in Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena.) I can appreciate their respect for tradition. UP - Columbus Blue Jackets Last season the Jackets moved the arena text to both sides of the center line. It was really the only change that their ice needed, and I am glad they kept that design for this season. UP - Dallas Stars The Stars have brought back their Texas outline alternate logo to center ice. We first saw this look in the 2021/22 season, and it was a shame to see it go away last year. The one drawback this time around is the new arena wordmark surrounding center ice. The old look was better, but the logo is enough to make this an "Up." UP - Detroit Red Wings First off, let me say that I am in the camp that never wants to see "Hockeytown" written across the logo ever again. Why anyone would want to tarnish such an iconic logo, I will never understand. The Red Wings have nearly the same checkered red line pattern since the 1963/64 season, so a major change was not expected. The Red Wings stead gave us a very similar checkered red line, while adding the winged wheel logo to the red spaces between each white box. A subtle change, but a good one. UP - Edmonton Oilers I have been uploading concepts for several years with an oil drop red line, so imagine my excitement to see it become a reality. In my concepts, I used an inverted design where the inside of the red line was white, and the oil drops were red. I chose this because it would be a nice callback to the many years at Northlands Coliseum. UP - Florida Panthers The Panthers went two seasons with no corporate arena name which allowed for a clean look at center ice. With a new arena name, it was no surprise to see text around the circle once again. While the text colors reflect the branding of Amerant Bank, they clash with the colors of the Panthers logo. While the arena name is disappointing, it can't really be helped. However, the Panthers use of the 30'th anniversary logo on the ice brings back the Panther breaking a hockey stick logo that has been sorely missed. DOWN - Los Angeles Kings The Kings only changed the arena wordmark placement this season by moving it to the sides. While this move gives the center ice a symmetrical look which is more pleasing to the eye, I simply cannot give them an UP until they replace that horrible home plate logo. NONE - Minnesota Wild The Wild made no real changes to their center ice this season. DOWN - Montreal Canadiens The Canadiens made no changes to their center ice this season. I would like to see the arena logos go back to the four corners of the circle rather than the sides, and perhaps go back to the dual logo format for the team logo. DOWN - Nashville Predators The Predators are celebrating their 25'th anniversary with a special logo at center ice. Unfortunately, the logo just doesn't quite live up to the normal center ice look with the primary logo. NONE - New Jersey Devils The Devils did not make any changes to their center ice this season. UP - New York Islanders The Islanders logo looks great at center ice. I would be hard to imagine any future anniversary logo being good enough to warrant placing it at center ice. Last year's anniversary logo is one of the worst we have seen on ice. So glad it has been replaced. NONE - New York Rangers No change to the New York Rangers center ice this season. While they have a great center ice, it might be about time for a change. DOWN - Ottawa Senators The Senators have kept their center ice the same for four seasons now. The only problem I have with it is that the arena wordmark is so large that it feels like it overpowers the team logo. UP - Philadelphia Flyers The Flyers have listened to their fans and reverted back to a dual logo layout and brought back their popular center line design. NONE - Pittsburgh Penguins The Penguins made no changes to center ice this season. UP - San Jose Sharks The Sharks brought the biggest surprise this season by bringing a brand-new look to center ice without the excuse of an anniversary or a primary logo change. The shark fin look is beautiful, while the candy stripe shark fin center line completes the look. Can we give this one a Super Up? None - Seattle Kraken Three seasons in, and the Kraken have had the same ice each season. It is a great look but would love to see them change up something. DOWN - St. Louis Blues The Blues made no changes to their center ice again this season, but they should have. The Blue note is iconic, but also lacks the ability to provide balance to the center ice circle. Moving the Enterprise Center text to the sides of the circle would help balance things out. Also, it is time for a better (or any) center line design. UP - Tampa Bay Lightning The Lightning have gone back to their primary logo this season which is a bold and clean look. I just wish they would dry something new with the center line. It is a bit distracting as it is. UP - Toronto Maple Leafs No change this season for the Maple Leafs, but honestly, I can't think of anything that would improve it. NONE - Vancouver Canucks The only change this season is the center line pattern being inverted horizontally. I really have no thoughts on that. It seems to make no difference in the overall look. UP - Vegas Golden Knights Each season the Vegas Golden Knights have brough us a unique new look. This season they incorporated their Stanley Cup Championship into the design. I look forward to their work each and every season. I also think this logo is a step up from the previous season. DOWN - Washington Capitals This is still the worst center ice in the NHL in my opinion. The Weagle would look SO much better. The lack of effort to even move the text around so the red line doesn't cover it is laughable. DOWN - Winnipeg Jets The Jets made their arena text larger and lost the "life" box emblem. Somehow this just looks a bit generic. My guess is Canada Life did not feel like people could read their logo very well. What are your thoughts on this year's center ice designs? Let us know in the comments or on Threads.

Excitement is brewing in Colorado Springs as a new season of Colorado College Tigers hockey approaches. With the move to the state-of-the-art Ed Robson Arena two years ago, fans and players have enjoyed a brand-new game atmosphere. And as the 2024 season dawns upon us, the Tigers are all set to take the ice in style with a brand-new, stunning center ice design. We believe it to be the best yet. This season the new Tiger logo finds itself at center ice for the first time. The old "CC" logo can still be found in the center line pattern. Click here to view the full rink layout. Check out the video of this new design being installed. You can view the history of Colorado College Tiger ice rink designs dating back to 2010 in the NCAA Center Ice Archive.

Today marks the exciting launch of our latest addition, "Faceoff Plus." This new page is dedicated to a diverse assortment of rinks, including those of minor league teams that currently lack representation on our site. Here, you'll have the chance to explore rinks that may not even have a home team, alongside famous rink layouts immortalized in movies. We want to emphasize that while Faceoff Plus will provide valuable content, updates to this section will not be considered as high-priority as the rest of our archive. As we strive to continuously enhance our platform, we might not update team or city rinks every season, allowing us to focus on other core features. We hope you'll enjoy this unique collection and join us in celebrating the fascinating world of ice rinks, big and small, across various leagues and cinematic spectacles. If you have requests for ice rinks that you would like to see added to Faceoff Plus, send photos to admin@frozenfaceoff.net or post them on the Community page.

The NHL is no stranger to having retro nights, and different teams celebrate in unique ways. We have seen throwback jerseys, 90's game presentation, and even vintage scoreboard graphics taking over the state-of-the-art video boards. However, one thing we haven't seen are vintage ice designs. Changing up the ice designs for a single game would certainly be the most-costly way to celebrate, but would it be unreasonable? Considering the NHL already requires every playoff team to swap out their corner in-ice advertisements each year, surely this would not be all that different. Special events such as the Allstar Game often require the entire rink to be painted over with new logos and ads which can later be shaved off brining the return of the original layout. So, what if each team repainted their ice for just one night? For this post we will stick with the current neutral zone dimensions with the current faceoff circles, goal crease, trapezoids, etc. We will be looking at what each team could do to bring a piece of their ice history into the current rink layout. Along the way, we will break a few of the ice regulations such as interrupting the red line, but nothing that the NHL hasn't broken itself with events such as the Winter Classic. Here is what we have come up with. Anaheim Ducks Inspired by the 2004 season, we bring back the Mighty Duck and the unique red line pattern. Arizona Coyotes This one would currently be impossible per the contract they signed with their college rink, but we will throw it out there anyway. Inspired by the 2003 season. Boston Bruins Inspired by the 1994 season and the last non-commemorative ice layout used at the Boston Garden. Buffalo Sabres Inspired by the 1997 season with the Hasek era logo. Calgary Flames Inspired by the 1995 season. Carolina Hurricanes Inspired by the 1998 season. Chicago Blackhawks Inspired by the 1994 season. This was the final layout used in the Chicago Stadium. Colorado Avalanche The Avalanche have always had a giant primary logo at center ice (aside from anniversary logos) so this one is more of a hypothetical layout. We gave it a retro feel with two smaller logos and the 1996 red line. Columbus Blue Jackets Inspired by the 2001 season. Dallas Stars Inspired by the 1999 season. Detroit Red Wings Inspired by the 1995 season. Edmonton Oilers Inspired by the 1994 season, the Rogers Place logo is perfect for bringing back that Northlands Coliseum vibe. Florida Panthers Inspired by the 1996 season. Since they still have no naming rights partner (yes that is supposed to change, so they say), we brought back the old Florida Panthers text around the center circle. Los Angeles Kings Inspired by the 1997 season, Crytpo.com Arena is far from the Great Western Forum namesake, but it will have to do for this layout. Minnesota Wild Inspired by, or perhaps copied from the 2002 season, with the same arena name, and logo to this date, it would be easy to bring back an early layout. Montreal Canadiens Inspired by the final season in the Montreal Forum, we are bringing back the much smaller dual layout and red line design. Nashville Predators Inspired by the 1999 season. New Jersey Devils Inspired by the 1983 season with a unique layout for the old green and red logos. New York Islanders Inspired by the 1996 season, bring on the fisherman logo. New York Rangers Bringing back the exact center ice layout from the 1997 season. Ottawa Senators Inspired by the 2007 season. Philadelphia Flyers Inspired by the 1996 season at the old Spectrum. Pittsburgh Penguins Bringing back Igloo vibes with this 1995 inspiration. San Jose Sharks Inspired by the 1994 season. Seattle Kraken It is pretty tough to have a retro night when your team is only a couple seasons old. For Seattle, we are just giving them a dual logo treatment. St. Louis Blues Inspired by the 1999 season at Kiel Center. Tampa Bay Lightning Inspired by the 1998 season. Toronto Maple Leafs Inspired by the 1995 season at Maple Leaf Gardens. Vancouver Cancucks Inspired by the 1971 season as the Canucks joined the NHL. Vegas Golden Knights Another team with a very short history. The Golden Knights always have the most impressive and unique designs, so we will give them a retro vide by simply using their primary logo on both sides of the red line. Washington Capitals Inspired by the 1996 season, the flying eagle returns. Winnipeg Jets Inspired by both the 1991 and 1996 seasons. We brought back the 1991 season logo, but the red line comes from the final season for the original Jets team. What would you like to see on ice for a Retro Night? Let us know in the comments below.

The NHL has released 3 out of the 4 special event logos for the 2023/2024 season. While we wait for the release of the Stadium Series logo and a higher quality version of the Heritage Classic, we will take a look at what the rinks for the All Star and Winter Classic might look like.

The Nashville predators have never used an anniversary logo at center ice, but next year could be the first to change that. Check out a comparison of the normal layout versus the anniversary logo and vote in the poll below.

With the hockey season past the halfway point, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the best and worst ice designs of the season. Today we are looking at the best designs. You may disagree with our picks and that is fine. Let us know in the comments below. First, let's start with few honorable mentions. The Quinnipiac Bobcats switch up their layout this season for a Bobcat head that appears to be jumping out of the center ice area. It is a bold look for great brand. The Vegas Golden Knights have another unique design at center ice, but for one game, they turned out the lights and the paint glowed in the dark. The Abbotsford Canucks have a clean, catchy look at center ice. Along with their lack of ads in the neutral zone, it provides a very clean looking ice surface. The NHL Allstar Game gets an honorable mention as we are trying to keep the top 5 list to actual team ices only. However, it is honestly our favorite ice of the season by far. Now on to the Top 5. 5. Acadie-Baturst Titan We love roundel layouts, and you will probably notice a trend in this list. The Titan logo itself is mostly vertical which can be a struggle to use at center ice with a red line cutting through. However, they have added a background image of a ship that fills out the white space and corresponds with the rest of their branding packing for this year. 4. Henderson Silver Knights Just like their NHL parent team, the Silver Knights look to be going with a unique design every season. I wish more teams would try this, especially in the upper-level leagues. This design retains aspects of the Vegas brand while adding a wood texture under the primary logo. This is one of the most textured layouts we have seen, but it brings the center ice to life. 3. Utica Comets Another roundel design that also celebrates the 10'th anniversary of the Comets. A unique red line design, a roundel, and a comet shooting through the 0. They all come together to create a great look at center ice. 2. Rapid City Rush Another anniversary logo but this one has some extra regional charm. A miner is chipping away at the logo itself, which a pile of his findings near-by. All of this is taking place with a backdrop of the wilderness that also accompanies much of the team's branding this season. Owen Sound Attack The Attack have struggled with their center ice design for several years, but this year, they have perfected it. An enlarged primary logo inside a roundel of a complementary color. The colors of the logo provide a brilliant center ice to drop the puck on. What do you think of our list? Let us know in the comments below. We also have a Top 5 Worst Center Ice Designs list if you would like to check it out.

With the hockey season past the halfway point, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the best and worst ice designs of the season. Today we are looking at the worst designs. You may disagree with our picks and that is fine. Let us know in the comments below. 5. Arizona Coyotes We know, the Coyotes are in a bad situation (again), but we can't overlook the center ice. Dual logos are not bad, but in this case, it is a startling reminder that an NHL team is playing in a college rink. Perhaps we ranked it so low because we remember how great their ice looked for last two seasons in Glendale. 4. Saginaw Spirit We understand that the lower-level leagues have to make money through advertising, but most teams put the arena name and associated sponsor around the circle. The Spirit have shoved their logo to the top half of the circle to make room for their arena logo and a redundant DOW logo. 3. Washington Capitals We are not going to cut much slack for NHL teams whose center ice design looks like an amateur design. The Capitals have a beautiful alternate logo, often referred to as the 'Weagle', yet they choose to use their wordmark on the ice instead. To make it even worse, the red line cuts through it, covering some of the letters. Technically, it reads "WASHING )N cap tals". Couldn't they at least modify the ice graphic so the letters will not be covered? By the way, we have made a concept of the Weagle at center ice, and it looks great! You can do better Washington. 2. Fort Wayne Komets Let's get right to the point. A giant advertisement inside the center circle... Really? We get it, you make money from in-ice ads. That is actually an understatement. Take a look at their rink. That's right, they even have ads in their referee circle and inside the painted creases. You will also notice Sweetwater appears on the ice 4 more times, so the fact that they are also inside the circle is quite off-putting. Center circles are for team logos. They have the rest of the ice to cover with ads (and do they ever) but leave the center circle alone. 1. New York Islanders The Islanders have a pretty classic logo that fills up the center ice circle nicely. This year they celebrate their 50'th anniversary. Unfortunately, the center ice is hardly worth celebrating. This is really a case of poor logo design, but its alignment at center ice is doing it absolutely no favors. Sometimes teams celebrate anniversaries, but do not paint the logo at center ice. This would have been a good option for the Islanders. What do you think of our list? Let us know in the comments below. We will also be doing our top 5 list very soon, so keep checking our site, or follow us on social media for updates.

The state of Florida might not be the most ideal location for ice hockey, but the ice surface for the big weekend is an instant classic. The NHL seems to be done with the red line cutting through center ice for big event rinks. Add to that a beautiful, circular logo and you get a center ice that is hard to beat. The center circle isn't the only area that the NHL got creative with though. Check out the blue lines, designed to represent the Florida sky. All 8 faceoff dots contain a yellow sun, similar to the Reverse Retro jerseys that the Florida Panthers are wearing this season. Finally, the goal crease has a water effect in it much like you see at the bottom of the primary event logo. The 2023 center ice design is easily our favorite one since the same event was held in Tampa Bay in 2018. Head over to the NHL Center Ice Archive to view all of the NHL All Star center ice designs. Let us know which ones are your favorites in the comments. View the full rink and 3D rink graphics on the 2023 NHL All Star Center Ice page.

For the last two Panthers home games, the ice looked a bit different. The red line changed from a star pattern to a solid red line. It was pretty clear that they had rebuilt the ice so it would be fresh for the All Star weekend. It is pretty typical, in a situation like this, to rebuild the ice, then paint over it for the All Star Game. Following the All Star game, they can shave it back down to the original layout. However, the Panthers have taken a different path. They played two games in front of 18,000 fans who had no idea that the All Star layout was right there in front of them, albeit under the current layout. We also noticed that they used a textile fabric for the primary Panthers' logo. Up until this point, they have always hand-painted the logo. Now that they have a reusable logo, it is unlikely that they will be hand-painting the center ice going forward. Below is a look at the two Panthers layouts we have seen so far this season. We will be posting the All Star ice rink in the center ice archive once we have seen the full rink layout.

Just as a new season of hockey begins, a new series of updates and changes have come to the center ice archive. Here is an overview of the changes. Center Ice Database. We have migrated the entire site to a new database which gives us a little more flexibility on sorting and filtering. The first thing you will notice is that there is a separate thumbnail (and corresponding ice page) for every season, regardless of whether there were any changes to the center ice design. Why did we make this change? We wanted to have a more accurate historical representation of center ice designs. When a team uses the same ice for 10 years, you will see that represented in the thumbnails. This also allows us to have one full rink per page, and every ice will now get its own 3D rink. Please note this will take some time. If you prefer the old view of only seeing thumbnails for each unique center ice design, we have you covered! Just click on the far right drop-down and switch from "All Thumbnails" to "Only Unique Thumbnails". This will only show the first season that a specific center ice design was used. This will allow you to quickly see what season a specific change was made. We also now have a filter for center line designs. You can now check out every ice with a specific red line pattern. Thumbnail Page View At first glance, you may not notice much difference in the thumbnail pages, but once you hover over an ice graphic, you will be presented with a few new look. In addition to the full rink preview, you also get a preview of the 3D rink graphic if one is available. (Eventually, every ice will have a 3D rink). Rink Page View You can now view a closer version of the center ice without the skate marks. We are always looking to improve the site and add more rinks. Keep us bookmarked and check back often for more updates.

The Beginning The center ice archive did not start out of a love for center ice designs, or even a decent knowledge of center ice designs. It was not an obsession, or even a fascination. At that time, I was barely even aware that ice designs ever changed. As for red line designs, I just assumed every team used checkered or diamond red line patterns. In reality, it started with a love of the St. Louis Blues and a love of graphic design. I started watching hockey quite randomly one October evening in 1998. I was 13 and living in a community where hockey was just a sport that is played somewhere else in the country. Nobody I knew could have cared less about hockey. The game was between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. The fast-paced action kept my attention, and I started pulling for the Red Wings. My love of hockey would quickly form, and soon I would learn that there was a hockey team in my very own home state of Missouri. At that point, I knew who I must root for. Over the years my love of graphic design and hockey would intersect through small, personal projects that nobody else would ever see. Sometime in late 2010, I decided I wanted a desktop wallpaper for my computer that matched the Blues' playing surface. I wish I still had this graphic. I was proud of it, but by today's standards, I would certainly laugh at the amateur attempt at accuracy. It was only 1280x720 pixels which was probably already slightly outdated for a standard desktop resolution. The graphic included most of the neutral zone and just a sliver of each of the four defensive zone faceoff circles. The "Scottrade Center" wordmark was probably added to the graphic using a random, bold, san-serif font like Arial Bold. Not accurate, but it got the job done. The graphic lived on my desktop for some time, and a friend noticed it one day and asked me to make one for his team. After making a Detroit Red Wings ice graphic for him, I decided to post both of them on Facebook. That was it. I was done with making center ice designs. A month or so passed and someone saw my graphics and asked me for a Philadelphia Flyers ice graphic, followed by Anaheim. At this point I decided to sit down and create a graphic for all 30 teams. I would share them beyond the walls of my Facebook friends list by hastily uploading them to a blog on Blogspot.com. All 30 teams were up in a matter of days. The world could see them, supposing anyone could actually find them at my url: paintedice.blogspot.com. I posted in a few hockey messages boards to let people know they existed. To my surprise, a few people seemed interested in checking them out. Now that little adventure was over. I had fun making them since it combined my love of two things in a unique way. But all 30 teams were done. They were out there for anyone to have if they wanted them. It was time to move on to other things. Months passed by and it was finally time for the start of a new season. I got an email from someone I knew saying that they had come across my posts on the message boards, and some people were trying to contact me over there. They wanted updated ice graphics. I was a bit confused. There were no new NHL teams, and no teams re-branded that I knew of. I had to head over to the message board to see what they thought had changed that would require a new graphic. It was that moment that I learned that red line designs change year to year, and that some teams like to change up their ice designs. At this point, I knew I had a challenge. Not only would I start making new ice graphics for that new season, but I would also realize how much detail I had missed in the previous graphics. For instance, I didn't know that one team's diamond red line would actually be different than other team's versions of the diamond red line. With a new batch of ice graphics ready to upload, and backdated graphics improved, I decided I needed a better location to store and display them. Having a "blogspot.com" address was not going to cut. It was also around this time that I started hearing about some teams no longer painting the logos on ice but using fabric logos that could be removed and reused. Naturally, this seemed like the direction the industry would increasingly be heading, so "Painted Ice" would surely be an antiquated title in no time at all. While this is partially true, ten years later, there is a pretty good mix of fabric and hand-painted logos. None-the-less, "Painted Ice" was a pretty generic sounding name. After some thought and research, Frozen Faceoff was born. Please note that it would be two more seasons before the NCHC would reveal the name of their championship hockey tournament, "NCHC Frozen Faceoff". With a new name and a url to match, the Frozen Faceoff was born April 25, 2012. It consisted of two seasons of NHL graphics, along with ice graphics for the 2011/12 season AHL season. They were being housed on a similar looking (yet still separate) site called Frozen Minors. Hindsight, I could have done better with the name there. Growing The first year or two with the new site would mostly consist of keeping up with changes each season, while also trying to add in a few historical ices. The history for team's ice designs was limited and spotty. Two hockey aesthetics enthusiasts contacted me in September of 2012. Cory Gibson wanted to point out some fine details on a few of the rinks and provided many reference photos for historical ice designs that were not yet in the archive. A hockey gamer and graphic designer, who went by the username CanuckFanatic92, use material he had already made for custom ice designs for the PC NHL video game series. These two worked with me for years to transform the hit or miss NHL section into the NHL Center Ice Archive we have today. It is a nearly complete history of NHL ice designs from the time they started painting logos on ice. Their attention to detail and accuracy also helped me improve every single graphic on the site. A few more years would go by, and the site would soon have CHL ice designs added to the archive. The site started to branch out in 2015 with the addition of scoreboard graphics. CanuckFanatic92 had been working on historic scoreboards as well and agreed to work on those for Frozen Faceoff as well. In 2016 we added goal horns to the site. Information and photos about each NHL team's goal horn were displayed for an aspect of hockey that many fans knew little about at the time. We partnered up with NHL Horns & Songs, a YouTube channel with goal horn audio for all of the teams, along with their goal songs. After he retired from YouTube, we partnered with N2B Alex who brought his goal horn videos as well as 3D animation skills to help us out. Our current goal horn partner is Famous Goal Horns who also operations an interactive goal horn app called Goal Horn Hub. In early 2019, Ryan (Dryve Graphics) partnered up with us to turn many of our scoreboard renderings into stunning 3D Models. Since then, we have enjoyed watching his new scoreboard site for which we still help provide scoring graphics. Rebrand and Refocus 2019 was a big year for the site. Earlier in this post, I mentioned that we would share a name with the NCHC ice hockey tournament. It certainly led to some confusion, and I am under no delusion that most of the mis-directed web traffic was trying to find the NCHC site. I also want to make it clear, that we never had any pushback or negative interaction with the NCHC over the shared name. We had the name first, but it was in no way protected so when they named their tournament, it was fair game. No bad blood whatsoever, but I did tire knowing that those who did search for our site would typically land on their site instead. So, it was time for a change. I am no marketing genius, but I feel like the Frozen Faceoff brand had served me well, and a complete overhaul of the name might lose some followers along the way. In the end, it made the most sense to shorten the name to The Faceoff. On July 1, 2019, the new name and logo was announced along with one of the biggest improvements in the history of the center ice archive. By 2019 any graphics under 1920x1080 were obsolete. Our ice graphics were so far behind the times. This would be the year that we would turn every one of our neutral zone graphics into full rink graphics. These graphics would include any team specific markings, and the appropriate hockey markings. While this was a 2019 announcement, the prep work for this feat actually began nearly a year in advance. We celebrated our tenth anniversary of the birth of the center ice archive in the summer of 2021 (dating back to the "Painted Ice" days). This celebration included a brand-new web platform. We had been running off of a heavily modified "Blogger" template for ten years. After months of planning and personally building the site to cater to its unique needs, The Faceoff had a true platform on the web to be proud of. Other additions to the site included authentic in-ice advertisements for all of the NHL center ice archive, as well other leagues which is still a work in progress at this time. A fan of our site, Shawn Jones, began helping out with reference photos and graphics that have helped improve many aspects of the center ice archive such as advertisement accuracy and rink markings. He has also helped us expand on the history of the CHL center ice archive and include authentic advertisements there as well. After our 10-year celebration concluded, it was time to reaffirm what our site was all about. In May of 2021, we announced that would be turning most of our focus and energy on what we do best, center ice designs. While we would continue to include other aspects of the game environment on the site, they would no longer be taking the spotlight away from the center ice archive. At this time, we also got a brand-new logo, leaving behind many variations of the "FF"/"F" in a circle emblem. It was time for a logo that lets any new viewer know that we are a hockey website that focuses on the ice surfaces. Thus, the hockey player emblem that fades into a faceoff dot was born. As part of this new identity and focus, we are expanding the center ice archive to include more leagues, more history, and even some new features such as ice rinks with playoff logos and NHL practice rink layouts. Conclusion You may have noticed that I started this post referring to TheFaceoff.net as my site and ended it by referring to it as our site. The site started out as my personal hobby, but over time it has become a work of several people. Some of them are still with us today, but those who have moved on have left a lasting impact on the quality and accuracy of the center ice archive. I am grateful for the people who have helped out throughout the history of the site, and the continued support from our followers and viewers. This is what makes this hobby fun and makes me want to continue it for many years to come. Bonus: Not Everything Works Out. Logos that were not meant to be: I know, we had some bad logos in the early days. It might be hard to believe that there were a few logos that were even worse that never saw the light of day. Here are some that were either never used, or used so briefly that few ever laid eyes on them Did somebody say podcast? No.... nobody said podcast: That didn't stop us for trying it. Two co-workers of mine launched a podcast in the Spring of 2016 discussing the playoffs and player contracts. It was a good podcast, but fans of our site do not expect to hear about players or any serious hockey topics. It lasted one short season before disappearing. Jumping through hoops to expand the scoreboards section: I thought it would be fun to add NBA versions of NHL scoreboards since we already had the NHL templates completed. Unfortunately, that would also mean building brand new templates to finish out the league. It took a lot of time and energy away from the center ice archive though, and after a couple years, it was gone. I do miss our "FF" Basketball logo though. I am sure I haven't come up with my last bad idea, but hopefully with a renewed focus on the center ice archive, they will be fewer and farther between.