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With the 10 year naming rights deal expiring this past summer, and no known extension being announced, it is possible the Canucks could soon return to a renamed arena. Here is who we believe might be the front-runner, and fans are not going to appreciate it. The arena in Vancouver has been known as Rogers Arena since July of 2010 when it took over the naming rights to the then General Motors Place. Many thought it would simply be Rogers Place to maintain a part of the old name, but we all know that name would later be used in Edmonton instead. And because Rogers now has their name on another building, you have to wonder if they will shift their focus to the newer facility, home to the Oilers. While they are a large company and could certainly afford to continue paying to have their logo on both buildings, there has been no public announcement of an extension. So lets assume, for a moment, that the Canucks are to get a new naming rights partner. Who might that be. While it could be a number of local or national corporations, there is one name that seems to show up more and more lately around the home of the Canucks. This is the part where Canucks fans may not appreciate this post because of a particular rival team's arena, but I feel its necessary to acknowledge the possibility that TD Bank could be a front-runner if the time comes for a new name. TD has been steadily increasing their presence around Rogers Arena for the past few seasons, and while this does not mean they are a shoe-in, it certainly shows they have a great and growing interest in this team. Now you might think they would never name another sports facility in North America after the TD brand. After all they already have TD Garden in Boston, TD Place in Ottawa, TD Station in Saint John, TD Arena in Charleston, and TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. Why would they ever consider another one? Well when Scottrade Center was bought out by TD Ameritrade, the home of the Blues nearly became TD Ameritrade Center. Ultimately, TD showed no interest in the St. Louis market. We circle back to their increased interest in the Vancouver market though, and it would seem plausible that they could add this venue to their portfolio. So, if they did take over naming rights, what would they call it? So many names are already used, and I somehow find it hard to believe they would use TD Ameritrade Centre since it sounds a little too American, and this is Canada. So our prediction (and we know this is still a long shot) is that the next name for the home of the Canucks will be TD Forum. Check out our ice concept below.

Our suspicions following the "Pepsi" branding omission in NHL 21 have now been confirmed. The home arena of the Colorado Avalanche has been renamed Ball Arena. Ball Corporation and KSE announced the naming rights deal Thursday. In addition, the partnership includes aluminum beverage packaging deals with Arsenal of soccer's Premier League, which plays in London's Emirates Stadium, and with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams in their new home, SoFi Stadium. Ball Corporation is a Colorado-based company that provides sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers. Of course, at TheFaceoff.net, we see this as an opportunity for a new look at center ice. Check out our concepts below and let us know what you think in the comments.

There has been no news on the naming rights front for the Avalanche since last September when the team renewed their naming rights agreement for a one year extension. That extension is now up, and NHL 21 may have just given us a clue suggesting that Pepsi will not renew the naming rights to the home of the Avs. EA Sports has removed the "Pepsi Center" name from center ice and atop the scoreboard in their newest release, NHL 21. Although they forgot to remove the tiny logos from behind the players benches, it is clear that they intentionally removed the name from the game, which usually only occurs when they lose the license to use their name and branding in the game. So why, after so many years would this license not be renewed? There are a couple real possibilities here. It could be something as simple as a missed request to sign the licensing agreement. This has happened before with a few NHL teams including the Avalanche several years ago. This would be more understandable than ever as we are going through a time where many of the usual people working the team offices may be laid off. The other possibility is that Pepsi has chosen not to renew their naming rights, and the building will sit in limbo until a new deal has been struck with a new naming rights partner. At this point, we will have to wait for any potential news to come out from the team or the arena, but I would not criticize EA Sports at this point for this missing branding. If the building should be renamed at some point this season, it is very likely that EA will patch it into the game with one of their title updates. What do you think of this potential development? Is a name change coming, or did someone drop the ball on the paperwork?

As we mentioned yesterday, Nassau Coliseum is in NHL 21, but we also noticed a strange scoreboard. Unfortunately we could only catch a small portion of it from the video we received. Today we have footage of the entire scoreboard, and it has left us with more questions than answers. Where did this board come from? Is it real? This scoreboard is nothing like the incredibly simple and small real-life scoreboard, and also bares little resemblance to any scoreboard I have seen in the NHL or AHL. It contains enough detail that I can't imagine EA just came up with a generic scoreboard without some specific inspiration. Could it be a new scoreboard for Nassau Coliseum that most of us have yet to see? Doubtful, as it would make little sense to purchase a brand new, state-of-the-art scoreboard for a single season of NHL action. Also, their current board was just installed following the recent renovations. Honestly, we have thought of several possibilities and none of them seem plausible than another. Never-the-less, it is great to be able to play in the Coliseum one last time. What do you think of this board? What are your thoughts on the possibility that it might be real? Let us know in the comments below.

With the news that the New York Islanders will play all of their home games at Nassau Coliseum for the 2021 season, many wondered if EA Sports NHL 21 would replace Barclays Center with the old barn. Today, via an early access look at NHL 21, we discovered that the Coliseum is indeed in the game. Our apologized to Islanders fans but these screenshots come from a Stanley Cup celebration which will certainly not make your day. It is great to see this arena back in the game. We noticed that there is no arena name around center ice. This is likely due to the fact that the real life arena has been stripped of its NYCB Live name, and will revert back to its former name. I would imagine this will be patched in later on. We also noticed a very strange looking scoreboard in the screenshots which looks nothing like their current board, or the previous ones. Unfortunately we didn't get a great look at it, but it makes us curious about the possibility of a new scoreboard in real life. It would seem doubtful that they would have a new board for their final season though. ​Take a look at the screenshots below and tell us what you think in the comments.

After a presentation from the NHL, we now have an idea of what the return to play will look like in Edmonton and Toronto. With no home-team advantage, the NHL will use some new and innovated methods to create a unique feel for each game. "This is going to be an unusual, to say the least, endeavor. It will be challenging at times, but I assure you we, in conjunction with the [NHL] Players' Association, who we work with every step of the way, are trying to do everything possible to make this an experience that hopefully you'll never forget, but in a good way." - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman Per NHL.com, there will be 12 exhibition games -- six in each city -- from Tuesday through Thursday, and play will officially resume with the Stanley Cup Qualifiers on Aug. 1, when there will be three games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and two at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The Qualifiers will consist of two round-robins -- one for the top four teams in the East, another with the top four teams in the West -- to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and eight best-of-5 series with the winners advancing to the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs will take place in the hub cities, and Edmonton will host each conference final and the Stanley Cup Final, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Sept. 22 and will end no later than Oct. 4. As for game presentation, each of the 24 teams will have their own goal horn, goal song, crowd chants and other key elements of their game day experience. Additionally, they will use crowd audio from EA Sports to help simulate crowd noise during the games. Here is what the setup will look like.

Continuing our "What If" series with a look at what the Seals center ice might look like today if they were still an NHL team in Oakland. We are using Oracle Arena for this concept, because in our fantasy world, it has been retrofitted for hockey.

Continuing our series of "What If", lets try out the Kansas City Scouts. Their logo would look nice at center ice.

Continuing our "What If" series with a look at what the North Stars center ice might look like today if they were still the NHL team for Minnesota.

With the start of the All Star Weekend just 7 days away, things are starting to get busy at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The first sign of the special event coming to the Gateway City came weeks ago when the All Star logo replaced the Stanley Cup logo on the front exterior of the arena. Fans briefly mourned the loss of the well earned décor but we ultimately knew that it had to come down eventually. It was time to move on and hope the Blues will bring back another championship very soon. Following Wednesday night's overtime loss against the Flyers, Enterprise crews quickly began working on the ice. The Olympia ice re-surfacers scraped the ice down to the logos which were then removed. Next they continued to scrape down until all other hockey markings were gone. Then it was on to the new markings and logos that will be used for the All Star weekend. Fabric lines and logos were installed including a fancy blue line with trumps and stars inside it and a large All Star logo uninterrupted by the usual red line. More decorations and signage will be going up all around the arena throughout the weekend and next week crews will put up the finishing touches. This year's event will include a women's competition as well as a Top Golf style shooting event. Four Blues players will participate in this year's festivities and they will find familiar leadership with their own coach, Craig Berube, behind the bench. Below are some more photos of the rink, and you can click the button to visit our 2020 NHL All Star center ice page.

The 2020 NHL All Star event is set to begin in St. Louis in a couple weeks and the jerseys were unveiled this week. The design was lackluster at best. The only local flair is the sheet music-like scale that appears under the logo and wraps halfway around the jersey. Otherwise the logo is straight black or white, with a single color primary team logo. Many of those single color logos went with an odd secondary color choice. ​ Some teams actually look decent in a single color logo like the Stars. Others look quite bizarre such as the Bruins and Penguins which uses a very bright color, even on the white jersey. This will be a strange new look for the All Star Game, and proves that we will never be able to predict what future year's jerseys might look like.

Continuing our "What If" series with a look at what the original Winnipeg Jets center ice might look like today if they played in the Bell MTS Centre, home of the current Jets franchise.

Its hard to imagine another NHL team in St. Louis, but before the Blues, there was the Eagles. What if they were still around?

It's that time of year again Blues fans. While most NHL teams are focused on building team chemistry and engaging their fans, the Blues are again taking their fans for granted while distracting themselves from the bigger problems that plague the team. The St. Louis Blues are a team with a great history. They began this history with a play-to-win mindset and found themselves playing deep into the playoffs, something that they have not been able to do in many years. Over the years many traditions have been adopted and cherished by the Blues and their fans, but one in particular dates all the way back to the inaugural season. The Blues hit the ice greeted by a full house of fans full of anticipation that was created in part by the Blues original organist, Norm Kramer. The Blues goal song was "When The Blues Go Marching In" and the crowd would sing along with excitement as the team celebrated on the ice. There have been different organists over the years, and there was even stretch of time where the organ music was recorded/programmed music. All along the goal horn remained "When The Blues Go Marching In" though the lack of personality behind the music and nobody to play just that right song at the right moment took a toll on the atmosphere. It was the one time where fans struggled to embrace the organ and seemed to set up several attempts by the Blues management to put some energy back in the building following a Blues goal. In the early 2000's, management tried at least twice, to use a locally recorded rock instrumental version of WTBGMI, but both times were met with strong opposition by the fans. A few years later they even tried to replace the goal song again through a fan poll. To the team's credit, it was the one time they actually seemed to respect the fact that the fan's should have a say in the team's traditions. This attempt ultimately failed too and the organ version returned. All the while, the in game organ music was scarce and lacked emotion. 2007 marked the return of live organ music to Blues games with the hiring of Southeast Missouri State Alumni Jeremy Boyer. Soon Blues games had a new excitement with a traditional sound that featured an array of old and new elements. Boyer played new songs and crowd prompts to bring noise and enthusiasm to the building, while continuing to play traditional hockey songs and long time St. Louis Blues fan favorites as well. He may have put his own spin on the goal song among many other songs but if you really listen you can also hear some inspiration from previous organ greats like Norm Kramer and Ernie Hays. Since Boyer took over the organ has taken on a new life and has been making fans cheer ever since. Last season, the Blues once again decided to replace the goal song and they did so by using "Tick Tick Boom" in one of the pre-season games, likely as a test to see how fans would react. It is truely a shame that the management felt the need to test this on the fans as by now you would have to think they would know their fans well enough. They did not though and the reaction on social media was not at all favorable to say the least. The Blues quickly changed back to our traditional organ version and issued a statement which, among other things, promised that "our signature organ music will remain a key feature of our game experience." Can view the full statement here. That was not the end of the drama for last season though. A couple months later fans noticed someone else was playing the organ. The goal song sounded terrible and the energy created by the new music was not up to the high standards we had become familiar with which lead to the #SaveTheOrganist campaign. The conclusion to that drama only came over time as Boyer resumed playing the organ several games in a row and no further attempts to replace him were made. That brings us to this season. I would never have expected this to happen again just one year later. I thought last year should have proved how much the fans value our organ and our organist. Here we are again though. It has come to several people's attention that their had been a lot less organ music at the games the last week or two. I dont know what the motivation was behind this but if they were hoping to change something quietly, they failed miserably last night when an empty net goal was scored and the goal song was replaced with a Black Eyed Peas song. That moment led to a large number of tweets ranging from anger to disbelieve and a feeling of betrayal by a team who has once again taken it's fans for granted. So it comes to this again. It is time to remind the Blues management of how important our traditions are. It is time to understand that while you as an employee or owner of the team may prefer an endless supply of canned music, there are 19,000 fans filling your arena every game that are paying far to much to simply be entertained by what they already here on their radios. We want our organ music back, both for goals and throughout the game to pump up the crowd and we want our organist. If there is any part of you that wishes to keep your fans happy, the answer is as simple as that. I believe @forestlivemuz sums it up best here... @FrozenFaceoff @StLouisBlues @jprutherford at the very least, a loyal fanbase should be rewarded with loyalty to highly-valued traditions — Forest Life (@forestlifemuz) November 29, 2015 Below are some examples of the support the organ has received in the past, from Blues fans and believe it or not, even other teams fans. i have a hard time truly hating the blues because i love their organist so damn much — steph of ní (@SteveHouse11) November 2, 2014 The man, the myth, the LEGEND @JABsMusic rockin the Scott. Nobody does it better! #stlblues pic.twitter.com/opoGjQzdD4 — Dan Reilly (@danreilly) November 17, 2015 I approve of "The Trooper" as between-plays music but would rather hear @JABsMusic actually play it. — Paperwork Ninja (@PaperworkNinja) October 18, 2015 So fans, please continue to tweet @StLouisBlues and include #STLBlues #NHL and #SaveTheOrgan in your tweets. Please also take a moment to sign this petition started by another die-hard Blues fan. Also below is the Blues contact information page. http://blues.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=34242

Oklahoma just can't catch a break with the weather lately. Another round of severe weather has spawned tornadoes in a region that has already been so horribly affect by the Moore tornado. The heavy rains also made a mess of the Cox Convention Center, home of the Edmonton Oilers farm team, the Oklahoma City Barons. A player tweeted out a photo of the flooded home team locker room. A photo has also surfaced showing a flooded main concourse.