NHL Center Ice Review 2018-2019

Now that all 31 NHL teams have ice, I thought it would be fun to review the ones that changed this year and give a letter grade as well as some insight. Take a look and see if you agree or disagree.

Anaheim

The Ducks have a new look all around this season. They have their anniversary logo on the ice but they also changed up their red line design. At first glance, the red line has a similar appearance to Nashville’s and Vegas’ red line, but the red line is a bit more special than just that. The ducks have tied their past to their present by using a checkered design with alternating “Ducks” and “Mighty Ducks” logos. What a smart way to celebrate this milestone season. I hope they stick with this red line beyond this season. The only negative is the anniversary logo itself which just doesn’t work for me.  Otherwise, center ice looks pretty good. (B)

Arizona

The Coyotes have reverted back to the primary logo in the red line which they used a few seasons ago. Last year’s primary logo in the circle was rather small, likely left over from their previous anniversary layout. This year they have gone back to the normal size Coyote which fills most of the circle. I sort of liked the old checkered red line from the past couple seasons, but the Coyote red line works for me. (B+)

Carolina

The Hurricanes did not change their design much this season. Aside from flipping the arena layout on the bottom of the circle, the only other change was a slight color change to the red line. The black “Hurricane Warning” boxes in the red line from last season have been changed to white. I am not sure if this was a result of the NHL enforcing their rule of only allowing white in the red line, or if it was for visibility, but I like the new look. The black was just too hard to see. The whole ice feels complete now. (A)

Chicago

The Blackhawks have had the same two red line patterns since the 2009-2010 season and they are both very similar. A checkered pattern that either starts under the center faceoff dot, or starts above and below it. This year, like they have done several times before, the center dot falls in the white area. Always a solid center ice design with an iconic logo. (A)

Dallas

Ticketmaster teased us with the Stars secondary (Texas) logo at center ice and got a lot of hopes up. However, the Stars went back to the primary logo at center ice and that is quite disappointing. While I do not dislike the brand, the Stars logo just doesn’t work well at center ice in my opinion. The Texas logo worked extremely well. Hopefully next year they will give it a try. (D+)

Detroit

The Red Wings finally ditched the “Hockeytown” text over the winged wheel at center ice. The 1990’s are finally over. The Red Wing logo is so iconic, I don’t know why anybody would have ever wanted to cover it up. Now if they could just rework that hideous arena text around the circle. (B-)

Florida

I have not been a fan of the new branding for the Panthers and likewise for the new anniversary logo. Despite not liking the primary logo, I think it would have looked a lot better at center ice. Not much to say here. (C-)

Minnesota

The Wild introduced a new red line design this year. A white stripe with the shape of Minnesota up and down the line. A great addition to the layout. (B+)

Montreal

The Canadiens’ did what many of us thought we would never see. One giant primary logo at center ice. It will take some getting used to, and a part of me will miss the old two logo design. When you look carefully at the new checkered red line, you will notice that it was not randomly sized or just thrown together. They carefully spaced out the red and white spaces to match up with the majority of the red and white in the primary logo, creating less of a distraction where the red line cuts through. Nice touch. I wish they would have kept the four “Bell Centre” logos around the circle, or made the two they have now bigger. (B+)

New York Islanders

The Isles have two homes this year, so we get a new design coming out of the Nassau Coliseum… I mean NYCB Live. That will take some getting used to. Pretty plain wordmark on both top and bottom of the circle. Nothing special here, but the logo always looks good when filling the entire center ice. (B)

Ottawa

The Senators went back to the primary logo at center ice, which I have never been a fan of. I liked the uniqueness of the “O” logo last season as well as their checkered red line with the “O” in each white space. The arena logo was a bit small last year and a bit harder to read, but this year it went back to the giant hideous text from a couple years ago. Bring back the O, bring back the O line, and find a happy medium for the arena wordmark. (D-)

St. Louis

The Blues have a new arena name, and it actually looks pretty nice around center ice. Unfortunately they kept the same smaller Blue Note as they used last year which only worked because there was a circle with text filling up the extra space last year. With nothing else inside the circle, the logo just looks so small. It might have been nice to bring back some sort of red line design too, to sort of make up for the basicness of the layout now. Despite these short comings, it still is a decent ice. (B)

Toronto

The Maple Leafs also have a new arena name, and it looks pretty sharp and clean around the center circle. Perhaps it would have been cool to make it blue since Scotiabank seems to be ok with that on the scoreboard and exterior signage which can all change colors. Still, it’s a great ice! (A)

Vegas

The Golden Knights red line last year was incredible, one of the best in the league, but their inaugural ice layout was otherwise quite unimpressive. Not this year though. They are by far the most improved design this year with a new gold gradient circle. Top that with the gold glitter Golden Knights logo that was created by Knights fans, and you get a very impressive layout! (A+)