The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), barely eight months from starting its inaugural season, unveiled its logo Thursday in downtown Minneapolis, where the conference will hold its championship tournament next March at the Target Center.
"We’re excited about our new logo, which was designed with the input of all of our member institutions," said NCHC Commissioner Jim Scherr. "It captures the spirit and traditions of our teams and their programs, as well as the significant place that college ice hockey holds in American sport."
The logo will be the Conference’s visual stamp on television, websites and in print media for years to come. Trimmed in red, the logo sports a blue field, a white hockey stick and bold block letters spelling out NCHC across the shield’s breast.
A cluster of eight stars represents the member schools whose campuses are located in six states that span three time zones: Colorado College, University of Denver, Miami University, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University.
Adrenalin Inc., a sports marketing firm whose logo designs include those of the NHL’s Kings and Coyotes, took input from every NCHC member before crafting the league’s signature symbol. "We explored a variety of options that led to the final mark," said Adrenalin’s president, Daniel S. Price. "The confidence expressed in the shield, stars and American colors position the NCHC as an important part of college hockey's new chapter."
The eight schools will be focused on the weekend of March 21-22, 2014 at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis for the right to lay claim to the first NCHC championship and to secure a guaranteed berth in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament.
Ticket packages for the 2014 NCHC Championship tournament can be reserved now at AXS.com. Packages are $130 (lower level and first 8 rows of the upper level) and $60 (rows 9 and up in the upper level) – these prices include a ticket for each of the 4 games of the tournament - 2 semifinal games, third-place game and championship game.
Meanwhile, the NCHC is partnering with a veteran in sports web design Minneapolis based TST Media to create nchchockey.com, bringing fans anywhere on the globe every possible digital detail – game-by-game, player-by-player and much more.
During its more than 22-year history, Target Center has hosted an array of outstanding ice hockey events, including National Hockey League regular-season and pre-season games, International Hockey League games, four University of Minnesota "Border Battle" show downs against Wisconsin, WCHA Final Five tournaments, Minnesota State High School tournaments, and United States Olympic Team exhibition games.