Ode to the Ice Bats

Late last week, I heard that the American Hockey League (AHL) granted an expansion franchise to Austin, Texas. Immediately, I got excited--would this be the return of the Austin Ice Bats?

To my dismay, the answer is no.

Instead, the Austin-based team will be known as the Texas Stars, and will be affiliated with the NHL's Dallas Stars.

The Dallas Stars did not have their own AHL team this season. Thus, they had to disperse their minor-leaguers among several other AHL teams. Part of the reason why the Dallas Stars had to get rid of Sean Avery was because none of the minor league teams they had agreements with would take Avery for a conditioning assignment once he finished his anger management classes and was reinstated into the league.

Then again I'm not sure why the AHL has insisted on being a 29-team league for so long, especially IF the AHL is the premier minor league AND there are 30 NHL teams. The math doesn't add up.

30 NHL teams / 29 AHL teams = WTF?

The Austin Ice Bats have played in either the WPHL or CHL--low-level minor leagues--from their inception in 1996 until 2008, when they had to disband operations due to lack of funds and fan support, as well as the rumored (now true) AHL franchise in Austin. Any team that can survive playing in Texas-based hockey leagues for 12 years definitely deserved a long look as an AHL franchise.

While this most likely marks the end of the Ice Bats'--or at least their run in Austin--it also gives us another boring-as-hell hockey logo.


Great. The Dallas Stars foisted a slightly-updated version of their lame logo on their affiliate.


They also foisted their dumb name upon them too. From 1967 to 1993, they were the Minnesota North Stars, which was one of the coolest team names in hockey. Changing that to just the Stars when they headed south was as lazy as their logo design.

Two years ago, the Dallas Stars were affiliated with an AHL team in Iowa. That team's name? The Iowa Stars. Ah, always an original. I'm sure you can imagine what their logo looked like.

The Ice Bats, on the other hand, have a badass name and logo. As far as "animal-with-hockey-stick" logos go, the Ice Bats are second only to the Pittsburgh Penguins.


One other minor detail (no pun intended) that I like about the Bats' logo is the pattern on the gloves--it's the Texas Flag. It's not just a screeching bat with a hockey stick--it's a screeching bat with a hockey stick AND state pride.

Just for the hell of it--as if I don't have enough things going on already--I created a "What if" logo, showing us what the Ice Bats might have looked like if they were affiliated with the Dallas Stars. I might be onto something here.