Ranking the Four Expansion Teams

[Advantage 2,770]

Now that the four Expansion teams have been announced, I have been reflecting a lot of the names of the team’s, the GM’s selected, the logos, etc.  I don’t love them all and I certainly haven’t hidden that but I am excited to see four new teams to the league and to see us settle on sixteen teams for a while.

 

Therefore, I will be ranking the four teams by Name, Logo and GM.  I will add that I hope no one takes offense to this and it is just my opinion.

 

NAME:

 

1. London United
I don’t know why but I love the soccer style name and I think it fits London perfectly.  While this wasn’t my first choice of city to add to the league, I do feel this is the best combination of names selected.

 

2. Warsaw Predators
I don’t mind the name and I definitely support Warsaw getting a team.  While I know we debated a few different names (and definitely prefer Wizards) I think it was a solid choice overall regardless of the NHL-affiliated name.

 

3. Los Angeles Stars
While it’s sorta just bland and nothing special, I do feel the LA Stars fits fine and should be an adequate middle-of-the-pack name in the Victory Hockey League.  I liked the city choice and felt it was a good option to add.

 

4. Chicago Phoenix
Chicago is a truly great choice and I have ZERO issue with them getting a team.  They were in fact my top city possible and I am thrilled to get a team.  However, I HATE that their team name is the “Phoenix”.  Just yuck and while I understand why they chose it, to me I just can’t stand the pairing.

 

LOGO:

1. Los Angeles Stars
I like their logo a lot, especially after seeing it on a jersey.  I feel it’s pretty clean and looks similar to some already professional logos, without being too close and looking exactly like them.  This won’t vault to my favourite logo in the league, nor will any of these, but this should be close to the top as an easy-to-please clean-cut logo.

 

2. London United
I know some have issues with it but I don’t mind the busiest of it and I do feel it fits the name quite well.  Obviously there are some good London tie-ins but overall I just think it stands out among a lot of the logos in the league.  While it doesn’t necessarily strike me as a hockey logo, it isn’t bad to look at either.

3. Warsaw Predators
I LOVE the colours but I don’t love the logo myself.  It’s decent and certainly better than a lot of current VHL logos but it doesn’t really stick out for me despite the colours.  I’d like to have seen some slight alterations but overall it still is in the better half of league logos.

 

4. Chicago Phoenix
I have gone on record to say this is definitely not one of my favourite logos in the league.  I’m not sure if it is as bad as Calgary’s is for me, but it’s definitely up there.  Just don’t personally like the logo at all and I feel like I’ve seen one’s like this quite often in the past whether in other leagues or not.

 

GENERAL MANAGERS:

 

1. McWolf
I’m a bit biased as I already play for him in Saskatoon, but I feel McWolf is the VHLM GM I was most excited to see get a team after Gustav received Davos.  I think he will do an exceptional job as the leader of London and will definitely manage a team I will look at going to in the future.

 

2. Josh
This one is close between the second and third spots but I am curious to see how Josh will do as the leader of the Los Angeles Stars.  I’ve seen Muffins as a GM before so I’m fairly interested to see someone new in the role a bit more, despite the fact I think both will probably do decent jobs.

 

3. Muffins
As I’ve said, Muffins has already been a GM and I think he’ll do a decent job as he has done before.  We will see how he does leading Warsaw but I could see them doing alright in the future.

 

4. JeffD
We will see here as I’m not as familiar with him and have mainly seen him in more defensive moods, but I won’t completely count him out as I am simply just not as familiar with him and not the best judge here.

 

OVERALL RANKINGS

1. London United

2. Los Angeles Stars

3. Warsaw Predators

4. Chicago Phoenix
 

[Banackock 7,673]

Mostly the same but I love Warsaw having a team. City name is cool, Poland is unique and some of my family comes from there. 
 

Though, I expect Stockholm to make a return. Sweet logo, location etc. Who cares about the old history, lol. Winnipeg got their team back in the NHL.