Photo via @FL_Everblades

There’s helping out your arena’s title sponsor and then there’s what the Florida Everblades are doing this season. With the Germain Arena newly renamed Hertz Arena, the Everblades have made the ice a yellow tint for the season and most likely beyond that.

Of course, this sort of thing has happened before, but mostly as a one-off situation. Whether it be for Breast Cancer Awareness Night, St. Patrick’s Day, the NHL using the AHL as a testing ground for blue ice— there has been numerous times the ice has been colored…or that one time it was painted and looked like a meth’d out European rink.

Yet, the life of me, this is the first time I believe a team has done this for a full season. Granted, I’m sure teams have done it and if they have pop into the comment section to let me hear about it. The upside is that it’s not a bright yellow like the Predators uniforms. The yellow that is in the pictures just looks like the Hertz Arena needs a new lighting rig for the ice. When you look at the Hertz logo— it could have been much worse.

It’s not like the Everblades need an advantage at home, though. From 2014-15 until last year, the Everblades have registered 25, 23, 25, and 27 wins at the Hertz Arena, ranking among the top home records in the ECHL during that time– tied for second last year with Colorado just one win behind Toledo.

This team could be different for the Everblades, as Michael Kirkpatrick, Mitchell Heard, and Callum Booth are gone; but adding Justin Auger,  Kyle Platzer, and Jamie Phillips may need some time to adjust, but will probably fill-in just nicely as they get things going throughout the season.

There are not rave reviews after the start of the season. As I mentioned, many fans complained that the ice looked like it was dimly lit, but the players have a different take on it all, as Joe Cox told the Naples Daily News: “It definitely made the ice a little bit slushier, so the puck was definitely bouncing a little bit more, moving slow.”

Overall, this is good synergy for the Everblades and Hertz. On top of the ice, the warm-up jerseys for the Everblades is bright yellow with Hertz under the collar. This is a team that’s making sure they’re taking care of their sponsors and keeping them happy by getting their name out there. Every dollar counts in the minor leagues and if you have to go to extremes like tinting the ice yellow….well, it’ll at least give it that old-time hockey feel out there.