So, here it is, the 4th free hockey computer wallpaper from eBrush Design and Hockey Shirt Shop. This one is called ‘Hockey Fossil’. Yeah, I know, WTF? Look, don’t even try to figure out why I’m designing wallpaper of fossilized hockey equipment. I’ll be damned if I know where these disturbing ideas come from. I was fooling around with textures and earth tones and this thing just kinda happened. But, hey, it does make a really sick desktop.

And as always, this wallpaper is free for your personal use only and remains the intellectual property of eBrush Design. You may not use it for any commercial purpose. Please do not post it anywhere else without my permission. Links directly to this blog post, however, are welcome.

Download links (choose your screen resolution):
1024×768 1280×800 1280×960 1280×1024 1440×900 1440×1050 1680×1050 1600×1200

If you missed the other 3 free wallpapers, just click the ‘Freebies’ category on the piece of notebook paper to the right.

It’s all about the dangle. We here at Hockey Shirt Shop understand this. Our eBrush Design collection of hockey t-shirts already has a few designs that promote the art of the dangle, as well as your personal dangleness. We’ve just added new color and shape options to our classic ‘iDangle‘ iPod parody design. And don’t forget the two dangle-ized definition designs, ‘disendangle’ and ‘endanglement‘.

But three designs, my friends, are simply not enough. Because we all know you really can’t overstate one’s dangleocity. So, allow me to present an eBrush Design creation for those with the sickest of all sticks  – ‘The Danglemeister‘ – now available in admittedly way too many variations (I got a little carried away).

Guess it’s about time I post a couple new designs. I’ve been spending too much time watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and not enough time working Here are the latest creations from HockeyShirtShop. The first is the classic coach’s mantra ‘Put the Biscuit in the Basket’ and the second one is the declaration of dedication ‘Go Hard or Go Home’. I created versions of ‘Go Hard’ with and without a hockey stick. So it works for any sport.

If you’re a individual of few words, you might want to opt for a design I released a few weeks ago that pares that message down to a single word . . .  ‘Hard’.

Spring is here and it’s playoff time! The offices here at HockeyShirtShop are buzzing. We’re super-psyched! Not because of the playoffs, although we are certainly excited about that, but we’re all revved up over the long-awaited announcement of an exciting new product. A product that has been in the works ’round here for a very long time . . . The Hockey Fan Hat!

We designed and built this puppy for you, the (been-workin’-all-week-and-now-I’m-gonna-get-nasty-at-the-rink) hockey fans.
It’s SAFE! Sportin’ a state-of-the-art full-helmet cage made of space-age polymer. Take a puck, or a fist in the face and laugh it off.
It’s WARM! Lined with synthetic bleached weasel fur. And not to worry, even with the lining, there’s plenty of room for your flow to retain it’s full awesomeness.
It’s RECEPTIVE! No more wrestling pucks away from young children. Take ‘em right off the stick with the patented head-mounted ‘Scrotuff’ microweave puck catcher.

I hope you are as excited about this new bucket as we are. Just download the flyer/order form by clicking this link and get ready to wear the most exciting, innovative hockey gadget in years. The ‘Hockey Fan Hat’ from HockeyShirtShop!

Come and get it! Presenting “Stick Spectrum”, the third in a series of free hockey-themed computer desktop wallpaper from Hockey Shirt Shop and eBrush Design. This one lays out a pattern of hockey sticks in a spectrum of color, crowned by a sparkling puck. This design is also available here as a framed print as well as on t-shirts and other gifts.

As always, this free wallpaper is for your personal use only and remains the intellectual property of eBrush Design. You may not use it for any commercial purpose. Please do not post it anywhere else without my permission. Links directly to this blog post, however, are welcome.

Download links (choose your screen resolution):
1024×768 1152×864 1280×800 1280×960 1280×1024 1440×1050 1600×1200

Links to past free wallpapers:
FaceOff
BlackStack

Here’s another free wallpaper for you hockey fans that like a relatively quiet desktop on your computer. This wallpaper, tagged “BlackStack”, was composed in black and white, but I’m making a color version available for those that need more flavor. Again, my theme is the hockey puck itself. Please feel free to download the resolution that best fits your display. Remember, these are for personal use only. They may not be used for any commercial purposes. And please do not post them anywhere else without my permission. However, links directly to this blog post are welcome.

“FaceOff” wallpaper is also still available as a free download. And as always, thank you for following my blog at HockeyShirtShop!

“BlackStack” download links:

1920×1200 BlackStack or ColorStack
1600×1200 BlackStack or ColorStack
1280×1024 BlackStack or ColorStack
1280×960 BlackStack or ColorStack
1024×768 BlackStack or ColorStack

I thought it was about time I created a few designs exclusively for the hockey ladies. Not the puck bunnies or the hockey moms, but the women who actually play the game. Every time I watch a women’s hockey game I’m always impressed with the high level of skill at which these ladies compete. The competition is often just as fierce as the men. So, while the USA Women’s Ice Hockey team is in the Olympic spotlight, let me introduce two new hockey designs from eBrush Design and HockeyShirtShop, specifically for the chicks with sticks. You go, girls!

Women’s Hockey Symbol
Sugar & Spice on Ice. Yeah, Right.

A few days ago a friend of my asked if my hockey designs were available on neckties. She was looking for one for her hockey-playing son. I told her not currently, but I’d be happy to create a couple and make them available to her. Whap! It suddenly occurred to me that cool hockey-themed ties might be something that youth hockey players would find a bit more tolerable than that paisley clip-on that Mom bought them. I mean, when coach insists that the whole team wears a tie to the rink, they all groan like they just took a slap shot in the cup. But what if, instead of borrowing Dad’s old-man tie, they could rock a tie with a sick hockey design on it?

Well, as you might have guessed, I went to work creating neckties using nearly every eBrushDesign hockey graphic available on HockeyShirtShop. And get this, they are all customizable. You can make the tie any color you want, make the design smaller or move it around. Even add type to it. Put your name, team name, position and number on it if you want.

Click here to check out over 100 new youth hockey necktie designs and customize your own today!

There are many reasons that fights occur during a hockey game. One, that’s been around throughout the history of the game, is a baiting tactic called a “face wash”, also referred to by players as “stinky glove”. It’s when a player rubs his wet, putrid gloves into the face of the opposing player in an attempt to bait them into retaliation, thus drawing a penalty. There’s a New York Times article that goes into detail on this long-standing instigation technique. It’s pretty humorous to say the least.

I made a new hockey t-shirt design on this time-honored tradition. It’s called “Fear The Face Wash” and is available through HockeyShirtShop.com.

On a marginally related note, I also released another new hockey t-shirt design called “Wicked, Sick & Nasty” that is intended to refer to one’s hockey skills. But I suppose it could also refer to a perfected “face washing” technique

And while we’re on the subject, there is also our top-selling “Smell My Bag” design.

I started on this design 2 years ago. No, my designs usually don’t take that long but I could never get this one right. I’d go back and work on it from time to time, get frustrated and move on to something else. Last week, I decided that I was going to finish it, for better or worse. I’m pretty happy with the outcome. I hope you like it. It even comes with a bonus latin translation!

Apparently, the origin of the term ‘Rink Rat’ comes from Canada, circa 1940-45. It was a term used to describe a youth that spent a great deal of time at a hockey rink, helping with maintenance work, often without being paid, in exchange for free ice time. I’m sure you know some old school rink rats.

Today, the term seems to be used to describe anyone that spends an inordinate amount of time at the rink. In fact, I’ve embellished  that definition a bit to create a second Rink Rat t-shirt to go with my ‘Hockey Definitions’ line of designs.

So here they are, two new Rink Rats t-shirts for the eBrush Design collection. Hope you know someone that fits the description and would wear them with pride.

I’m on a goalie roll. I’ve cooked up another design for our heavily-padded friends. On the heals of my last post, which introduced a new goalie design “My Goal” and rounded up all the others, I come up with yet another. I guess I should have waited. But isn’t that always the way it goes? You mop the floor an hour before your cocker spaniel pees on it?
Alrighty, then! Let me introduce you to “Crease Monkey”. It comes in three flavors; black, white and chrome, and on lots of great products.
“Crease Monkey” product link
For links to my other goalie-themed designs, click this link to my last post.

God knows the goalies need some love. What a special breed they are, huh? Is there any position in any sport with more pressure on them than an ice hockey goalie?

One of my favorite all-time hockey quotes was by Jacques Plante, speaking on the matter of his occupation: “Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you.”

I made a new goalie t-shirt this week. Actually, it’s a new graphic approach to a classic phrase that has appeared on many hockey t-shirts over the years; “My goal is to deny yours”. I should point out that I have made three other shirts specifically for the netminders. You might want to take a look at these. Odds are pretty good that there will be a night in the near future in which your special goalie will need something to cheer him up – something to remind him that he is THE MAN between the pipes.

Links below to designs in photo above.

Brick Wall Goalie “Bring It”

Iron Goalie

OMG “One Magnificent Goalie”

“My Goal is to Deny Yours”

I don’t know about you but I like to be able to find the files on the desktop of my computer. So I choose clean and simple designs that still make a statement for my wallpaper. With that in mind, I created “FaceOff” and I’m making it available for free to you, my loyal blog readers. “FaceOff” is available in six common screen sizes so you can download the one that works best for you. I only ask that you use these for your own personal use only. They may not be used for any commercial purposes. And please do not post them anywhere else without my permission.

Remember to visit my online store for unique hockey gifts for the hockey fans in your life!

“FaceOff” Desktop Wallpaper download links:

1920 x 1200
1600 x 1200
1280 x 1024
1280 x 960
1024 x 768
800 x 600

I always loved the ‘Dogs Playing Poker’ paintings. You know the ones I’m talking about. Imitated often over the years, the originals were commissioned by the advertising firm of Brown & Bigelow around 1900 and painted by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. Prints of the the paintings have hung in bars and dens all over the country for over a hundred years.

I was thinking the other day that it would be cool to have a print of animals playing hockey to hang in my den. So I set about creating just such a scene. Today I released “Critter Classic: A Wilderness Smackdown”. A gathering of competitive critters mixing it up on a frozen pond as the sun sets on a beautiful rural setting. Perfect for the wall of your den, too.

“Critter Classic” is available as posters, framed prints, t-shirts and a variety of other gifts. It makes a unique gift for the hockey fan in your life.

Like most folks, I used the commercial breaks during the Stanley Cup playoffs to answer the call of nature or grab some munchies for the next face-off. But there was one commercial that I watched almost every time it ran. Honda, which coincidentally has been my family’s vehicle of choice for many years, has picked NHL fans as a target group recently. They ran a wonderful spot about parents toting their hockey-playing kids around, through snow, in the wee hours of the morning – hours when there’s no one else on the road but truckers and hockey parents. It was a comfortably familiar commercial for those of us who intimately know the routine.

There are a few bumper stickers in the eBrush Design collection that go hand-in-hand with the spirit of this commercial – and perhaps just as comfortably familiar.

Hockey Taxi
(Endless Shift) Hockey Taxi
Driver Carries No Cash (Kid Plays Hockey)
I Have No Life (My Son Plays Hockey)
Caution: This Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops at Hockey Rinks
What’s Life Without Goals (Play Hockey)
Hockey ATM

This morning I released a new design for Hockey Shirt Shop and eBrush Design. If there are any out there that doubt the general supremacy of hockey players over all other athletes, I offer this design. It makes reference to direct evidence that hockey players are not your run-of-the-mill jocks. Hockey players walk on water. What other sport can say that? Get this new hockey design on a t-shirt or one of the many other hockey gifts available through HockeyShirtShop.com or this direct link to my fulfillment service at Zazzle.

Your son, daughter or grandchild plays hockey. You gotcha a camera and are fixin’ to take some great hockey pictures of him tearing up the ice. Boy are you going to be disappointed. If you don’t end up with a bunch of blinding flash reflections off the glass, then you’ll probably score some really nice shots of the safety netting. And even in a best case scenario, you’ll get a memory card full of very dark blurry images of what looks like might be a hockey player, but could just as easily be Sasquatch.

Been there, my friends. And it ain’t pretty. But if you’re really determined to take good hockey action photos, listen up. I’m gonna tell you exactly what you need to do to make it happen. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m very excited to announce a new hockey t-shirt design at HockeyShirtShop.com.

The ‘Mullet’ certainly had it’s day as the official hair of hockey. But those days have gone the way of the leisure suit – sorry Mr. Melrose. Today, ‘The ‘Flow’ is the way to go. Locks of flowing hair, cascading out from under your lid. Damn, you look good!

‘The Flow’ comes in 4 colors: Gold, Red, Blue and Monochrome, on a variety of shirt styles and dozens of products.

Stop by the shop and let it flow, today!

I do a lot of digital imaging in Photoshop in my professional life as a designer. We’re always passing around cool images that other artists have created – impossible situations created with multiple photographs. If you enjoy looking at this type of surreal photographic images crafted by talented Photoshop wizards, check out Worth 1000 – as in ‘a picture is worth 1000 words’. Below are the links to a series of hockey-themed images submitted as part of a contest. You can see them all by clicking the links below or using the drop-down menu at the website.

SET 1 SET 2 SET 3 SET 4 SET 5 SET 6