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.

To say the Owen Sound Attack was overdue for a center ice overhaul would be a massive understatement. For years, only the "Attack" wordmark appeared at center ice. Finally, the team's bear emblem was added to the ice, with the "Owen Sound" wordmark above it. While this was an improvement, the bear logo was underwhelming. As small as it was, it really could not afford to lose even more ice space to the center line, but that is what happened. This season however, we get a brand-new look, and it does not disappoint. The bear logo has been enlarged to fill up most of the circle inside of a roundel with the team and arena names circling it. While the center line still cuts through the bear awkwardly, the large size of the logo makes it feel like a little less of the bear is being hidden now. Tell us what you think of the new logo in the comments below and check out the full rink graphics in the CHL Center Ice Archive.

The Calgary Flames were the first NHL team to paint their ice this season. It feels a bit early, but the Saddledome has A LOT of hockey in store for the fans this season. This year they will host the NHL and WHL teams as usual, but also the recently relocated AHL team out of Stockton, the Calgary Wranglers. This season we will see a new center line design. It looks to be a series of flames resembling those found inside the old Stockton Heat logo. It is a sharp look. This design replaces the primary "Flaming C" logo that has been in the center line for the last decade. Perhaps they wanted the red line to be a bit more neutral among its three tenants. Here is a comparison of the old design versus the new one. Let us know what you think of the new design in the comments below.

The Carolina Hurricanes finally get to host an outdoor game. Here is what we think the ice could look like for the event. The Stadium Series does not get as many easter eggs on the ice as the Winter Classic, so we kept it pretty simple.

Several years ago, the arenas were freshly created in the EA NHL series and were quite accurate. However, many arenas have had some upgrades since then, many of which have not been updated in the video game. Here we take a look at some of the most outdated arenas in NHL 22. Honda Center The seats changed a few years ago to black, but they remain red in the game as of NHL22. TD Garden A couple seasons ago, the black and yellow seats were swapped out for solid black. Last season, a new scoreboard was introduced. Little Caesars Arena Shortly after installing the original all red seats, the Red Wings addressed their attendance woes by changing all of the seats to black. SAP Center The seats should have alternating colors every several rows as they always have, but for some reason, NHL 22 went solid gray. They will also be getting a new scoreboard this fall, so that is something that can hopefully be patched in later. Enterprise Center The Blues swapped out all color in the lower bowl for all neutral colors. Black seats, gray walls, and a gray canopy up by the rafters. If you see blue in the bowl aside from the hockey boards, it it was all painted over with neutral colors. The scoreboard could use some work too. Most of the newer scoreboards EA has added are pretty accurate but the Blues board looks kind of off. It should be a little taller and the rinks should be a little more curved on the edges to reduce the 'boxy-ness' look. The whole board could be a touch larger and lower to the ice as well. Not a huge thing, but it would certainly make this board look much more like the real thing. Capital One Arena The Caps home ice got a huge makeover a few years ago including a brand new scoreboard which has yet to be in the EA NHL series. Also new are the black seats and the one-of-a-kind ribbon boards near the rafters. They also added two sided LED screens to each of the four corners of the rink, near the rafters. Do you know of any other arenas that need updates? Lets us know in the comments below.

The Devils recently revealed their 40'th Anniversary logo. The team has never used an anniversary logo at center ice, so it seems unlikely that we will see this one on ice. However, we can hold out hope that this might be the first. Here is what it might look like at center ice. Do you think they should try this at center ice, or leave it as the primary logo?

The Everett Silvertips unveiled their 20'th anniversary logo to start off the second half of the calendar year. A stylized number two that gives the impression of a sharp tooth along with a zero that holds on to the team's primary logo. The next question is: Will we see it at center ice this fall? If history is any indicator, we think we will see it on the ice. This team has celebrated with their tenth anniversary logo at center ice, and while the 15'th wasn't exactly an anniversary logo, they did celebrate with the years on the ice. So here is what the 20'th anniversary logo might look like at center ice. What do you think of the new logo? Would you like to see it at center ice this fall over the primary logo?

We are excited to announce a new feature for the center ice archive. We have begun uploading 3D Full Rink Graphics to the center ice archive! With the popularity of our previous 3D neutral zone graphics, we decided to expand them to show the entire rink. These replicate the view from the camera location on most rinks. At the time of this post, we have all of the 2022 season for the NHL complete. We have also completed various other ices around the site, and all future ice graphics that get posted will come with the 3D view. Over time, we how to have most (if not all) teams and years covered throughout the leagues that we cover. In the meantime, to help you find which teams/years have 3D graphics, we have a checkbox in the navigation bar that you can select. It will filter out all pages without 3D graphics. Down the road, once most pages have 3D rink graphics, we will remove this checkbox. We hope you will enjoy this new feature and stay tuned for more updates.

Looking ahead to the 2023, we thought it would be fun to remix all 32 NHL center ice designs. The rules we will follow are simple: No matter how perfect the ice may be, there must be a change. This could be something as small as a red line change, or as large as a complete re-design. Today we will take a look at the Atlantic Division. It would be hard to improve the Boston Bruins rink, but a subtle black circle around the logo might make it stand out slightly more. We also added a diamond pattern to the red line, though there is nothing wrong with their solid red line to complement their clean, iconic logo. The Buffalo Sabres logo should really be full circle at center ice. Also, lose the center circle itself and let the logo do the job just like it already does in Boston. Yes, I know we just added the circle back for Boston, but hey, had to change something. The Detroit Red Wings have one of the most "Hockey" logos we have ever seen, but when it comes to center ice, it always looks a bit off. We swapped the primary out for an alternate logo which really only adds a bold outline around it. Some fans miss the "Hockeytown" logo at center ice, so we brought it back. However, we think it might work better around the circle rather than over the top of their logo. While the Florida Panthers shield logo has grown on us over the years, we still prefer their original 'leaping Panther' version. This concept combines their original logo with the current branding version and keeps their name front and center. For the Montreal Canadiens, we could have just reposted their 2018 center ice design, but where is the fun in that. While many fans may want to go back to that dual logo design, we decided to just improve on their current layout by adding two more arena wordmarks around the circle like they used to have. Since the Habs' logo is much wider than it is tall, this just adds some balance to center ice. The Ottawa Senators should go back to that smaller arena wordmark they used back in 2018. It gives a much cleaner look. As for the solid red line... let's add the pattern from their logo to make it look really sharp. The Tampa Bay Lightning center ice is about as good as it gets. This concept is really just a "what if?" concept because it was hard to find anything to improve. So what if the logo was in white and their center circle color matched their home jerseys. The red line pattern could possibly be improved by ditching the slashes and just keep the lightning bolts. Same idea for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Swapped the logo and background colors. Is it better? Not really, but it's different and that was the point of this series. Some teams just need to leave things alone in reality, and this is certainly a change I could never imagine happening. We hope you enjoyed this series! Let us know what you thought and share any ideas you have for center ice changes in the comments below.

The Carolina Hurricanes are preparing to celebrate their 25'th anniversary in the Fall. The team has celebrated with their anniversary logo at center ice two other times. We think it is very likely we will see their 25'th anniversary logo at center ice this Fall, and here is what it might look like. Please note, we left the PNC Arena wordmark off as it is very likely going to have a new name next season.

Continuing our "What If" series with another look at the NHL Playoff logos. Many fans have voiced their displeasure with the league replacing the Stanley Cup logos on the rink with virtual advertisements. It is clear that those new advertisements are not going anywhere (except when they literally move around the screen because they have yet to be perfected). But what if the league could have those ads, but the ice still got a little Stanley Cup flair? Our thought is simple: Place 4 Stanley Cup Playoffs/Final logos on the ice, just beyond the blue lines, but in-line with the neutral zone ads? We also realigned the logos on the left half of the rink to make them look better. While we are at it, here is one for our French speaking friends. What do you think of this concept? Would this bring back some celebration to the rink for the playoffs? Let us know in the comments below!

Looking ahead to the 2023, we thought it would be fun to remix all 32 NHL center ice designs. The rules we will follow are simple: No matter how perfect the ice may be, there must be a change. This could be something as small as a red line change, or as large as a complete re-design. Today we will take a look at the Metropolitan Division. The Carolina Hurricanes logo makes it hard to mess up their center ice design. We simply brought back the black boxes inside a red line and wrapped them around the circle. I wish they could also have them in the center line like they used to, but black paint inside the center line breaks NHL rules. A patriotic team like the Columbus Blue Jackets should have a little more color at center ice. We gave them a think blue circle around the primary logo and moved the name inside. A couple of Columbus-style stars and the center ice really stands out. The New Jersey Devils ice has bothered us for years. The logo has an off-centered circle under it which really becomes noticeable at center ice. While we didn't change that, we did add a black circle with red trim around the edges of the circle to help distract from this. How can we really improve the New York Islanders? It is already a really nice-looking ice, and the small UBS Arena logos around the circle are balanced and subtle. We thought the red line is a bit distracting against such a large logo. We tried a solid red line but in the end, a white center line with red trim provided a clean look. The New York Rangers center ice has remained the same for several years, and it would be hard to beat. We decided to have just a bit of fun with it by removing the trim and wrapping a bit of the Manhattan skyline around the lower half of the circle. We also lightened the blue in the logo and circle a bit. The Philadelphia Flyers have a history of using a bold circle inside the center ice during its Spectrum years. We decided to bring it back but this time it wraps all the way around, and the arena name fits inside. The red line is a variation on their current triple red stripe pattern. We just made it more of a checkered look. It was very hard to find something to change on the Pittsburgh Penguins ice. The arena wordmark is perhaps the only complaint we have about it, so we moved it to the sides for balance. While there is nothing wrong with the diamond center line they have had for years, we thought we might try their primary logo on it instead. Will this finally be the year that the Washington Capitals redeem themselves with their center ice design? The 'Weagle' logo would look so good at center ice, and certainly far better than their wordmark. Again, for balance, we moved the arena name to the sides. This creates a very clean look. What do you think of these changes? What would you do differently?