HSS: THE BLOG » Cool Stuff

Light The Lamp: Strange new hockey wallpaper for computers, iPad and iPhone

Mark — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:55:16 +0000

*Note: Currently, this is a special advanced release only for our Facebook friends. Links below will become active to the general public on a future date. ‘Like’ us on Facebook and download it now!

If you’ve been collecting the free wallpapers I’ve created for Hockey Shirt Shop you know they are a little bit different than the run-of-the-mill NHL team logo/action photograph wallpaper that typically comes up on your Google searches. Not that there’s anything wrong with those. But my ‘goal’ (pun intended) is to hopefully give you wallpaper that is a little more functional as a computer desktop and just a tad quirkier than those. Really, when was the last time you saw the form of a fossilized hockey stick eternalized in the face of a layer of bedrock? Or the entire spectrum of light reflected in an arrangement of hockey sticks? Let’s face it, my hockey wallpaper wouldn’t necessarily fall into the category ‘traditional’. I’m trying to create something unique and useful with imagery that starts with the lines, shapes and textures that exist in the game of hockey, but ends up in an unexpected direction.

That being said, I think I’m going to stretch you a little with this new release, the 6th wallpaper released by HockeyShirtShop and eBrushDesign. It’s called ‘Light The Lamp’ and it’s available for multiple computer screen resolutions as well as for the iPad, iPhone 4 and 3Gs.

*I’m also going to do something a little different this time. I’m going to reward my Facebook friends with an early release of ‘Light The Lamp’. For a while, the download links will only be active from a special page accessible only from our Facebook page. If you would like to take advantage of this early release, it’s simple. Just ‘Like’ us on Facebook with the convenient Facebook button on this page. Hey, we’re no different than you. We just want folks to like us

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 (not currently active)

iPad iPhone 4 iPhone 3Gs (.zip)
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Good Reading for Hockey Moms

Mark — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:30:15 +0000

Promise not to take my man card away if I tell you something?

I’ve been hooked on this blog I found the other day. Nothing to be ashamed of there, right? Well, the thing is, it’s a hockey mom blog. No, no, really, listen. First of all, Meg Handy can write like nobody’s business. She is just flat funny. True, it is definitely written from a woman’s point of view. It’s kinda like ‘Sex and the City’ with hockey instead of sex. You other hockey mom’s will dig it, for sure. And any of you dudes that just appreciate witty, insightful writing . . . well, you might just catch yourself giggling.

I strongly recommend ‘Cowbells and Dreams . . .the hockey mom blog. Life, love and getting to the rink on time.’ by Meg Handy

Sick Fantasy Hockey Team Names

Mark — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:44:18 +0000

It won’t be long now. Hockey season is getting so close you can smell it – if you know what I mean. And with the start of of the season looming, many of you are tuning up for your fantasy league draft. But before you dive in, don’t you think you should give some thought to what you’re gonna name your team this year? Well, we here at the Shirt Shop have gathered up some classics to inspire you. Here’s a list of the most amusing fantasy hockey team names I’ve seen over the last couple of years.

Jaromir Jagr Bombs
I’m smart, You Arnott
Timonen Pumba
Redden The Face
Auld Betts Are Off
Lord of the Wings
Don’t cry for me Jan Hrdina
Vanek At The Disco!
Osgood As It Gets
Kimmo Therapy
Backstrom To The Future
Its Aucoin Flip
Honey Nut Chelios
Orange Letang
Don’t Toews Me Bro
The Crash Test Domis
Selanne and Cheese
Montreal RE-Habs
Malkin Cookies
Check Me From Behind
Red Squid-marks
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brodeur
It Takes Two To Tanguay
Live Long and Prospal
It’s Not a Job, It’s a Kariya
Nit-Pitkanen
The Hip Czechs
Kane’s Taxi Squad
Battlestar Battaglia
My Jokes Getzlafs
Freisen My Selanne
You’re Darn Tyutin!
Two To Tanguay
3rd Laraque From The Sun
Hamburger Halpern
Must Be Jokinene

Kids, cover your eyes for these last few . . .

Unhook Her Brashear
Pootie Letang
DoanAte Semin
Dangling Peca
Big Test Icicles
got Zhitnik on my Peca

New! ‘Hockey Fossil’ free wallpaper

Mark — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:54:08 +0000

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.

Download links (choose your screen resolution):
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If you missed the other 3 free wallpapers, just click the ‘Freebies’ category on the piece of notebook paper to the right.

Stanley Cup playoff stuff

Mark — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:36:19 +0000

Dude! It’s on! The Stanley Cup playoffs!

If you’re a hockey fan, I think it’s safe to say you’re lovin’ you some Versus right now. But for some of us that’s just not enough to ease our hockey jones. So here, HockeyShirtShop will do our part. Check out these fascinating cup-related links while you’re between games.

Really great stuff on this page!
Records, great stories about chasing the cup, videos, commercials. And best of all – you really need to grab this – an awesome, free downloadable .pdf media guide as well as individual media guides for all playoff teams.

Believe me, you could blow a bunch of time on that page alone. But if that’s still not enough, check out these really sick ‘Top Ten’ videos.

Top 10 NHL Playoff Moments (CBC Digital Archives)
Top 10 NHL Playoff Goals (ESPN)

Amazing Hockey Fan Hat released

Mark — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:00:46 +0000

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!

Stick Spectrum: free hockey desktop wallpaper

Mark — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:12:29 +0000

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):
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Links to past free wallpapers:
FaceOff
BlackStack

“BlackStack” Free Hockey Desktop Wallpaper!

Mark — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:20:50 +0000

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

Sick nasty shootout goal

Mark — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:06:09 +0000

O.K. I realize I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I just gotta have a link to it on my blog. It’s simply one of the most creative goals I’ve ever seen.

It happened on March 31, 2009 by Linus Omark of Sweden in an exhibition game against Switzerland.

Related designs from the eBrush Design hockey collection? Of course there is!
But only one that does it justice . . . Wicked Sick & Nasty

Handsome Hat Trick t-shirt

Mark — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:59:20 +0000

Pat Crowley, one of the most creative, talented people I have ever worked with, recently started a blog called “My Handsome Life”. It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at society’s last taboo, conceit. Join Pat as he explores his inner, and outer handsomeness and celebrates the handsomeness of others. Read along as he shuns the surgery-enhanced “beauties” of today’s society as merely “nouveau riche”. And celebrates the vanishing world of “Old Money” handsomeness.

Yea, I know. Pat’s blog is not really about hockey. But there is handsomeness to be found on the ice, for sure. In fact, this blog inspired my latest t-shirt design – “Hat Trick”. Sick Speed, Mad Skills AND you’re Handsome! That’s a Hat Trick, and you’ve got it.

Free Hockey Desktop Wallpaper

Mark — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:04:11 +0000

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:

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

More Funny Hockey Commercials

Mark — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:29:56 +0000

My last post was a smelly hockey equipment commercial. If you could relate to that, here’s another one for you.

There are actually quite a few hysterical hockey commercials out there. Unfortunately for Americans, many of them seem to get released only in Canada. And If you don’t look for them on the Web or have a source like The HockeyShirtShop Blog, you may never see them. But hey, I’m here for ya! For example, the first three links below are McDonalds commercials only released in Canada. Below those are just a few of my favorites.

McDonalds commercial #1
McDonalds commercial #2
McDonalds commercial #3

ESPN Security
Figure Skater
Spitball
Roller Girls
Ice Bath
Stud Goalie
Hockey Baby
Bowling

Funny Smelly Hockey Equipment Commercial

Mark — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:01:34 +0000

If you’ve played hockey, or have a child that plays, you know just how stinky hockey equipment can get. I came across this commercial that just cracked me up. It’s really gross! So watch it at your own peril.

Speaking of stinky hockey equipment, here’s a link to one of my t-shirt designs that happens to address this particular olfactory offense – “Smell My Bag” Disgusting? No doubt. But it happens to be one of my best selling t-shirts. What is wrong with you people?

One More for the Pittsburgh Fans

Mark — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:48:56 +0000

I certainly never intended this blog to be a rah-rah site for my personal favorite teams. So to all of you that aren’t Pittsburgh fans, I apologize and ask you to indulge me one more time. It was just such an unusual year. A friend sent me a link to this video and I had to share it with all you Penguins/Steelers fans out there.

Also, if you get a chance, check out my Pittsburgh t-shirt designs “got ‘burgh?” and “The Joy of Six“.

Honda Hockey Parents Commercial

Mark — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:37:42 +0000

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

Recommended Hockey Blog

Mark — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:03:11 +0000

A quick post to recommend a very nice hockey blog I came across, For The Love of Hockey. It’s a collection of very interesting minutiae from around the hockey world. Loaded with how-to videos and links to fascinating items from all over the web, this blog will undoubtedly be a frequent stop during your hockey browsing.

Miracle Hockey Skate Dryer

Mark — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:20:53 +0000

I used to be on a product panel for the newspaper I work for. It was called ‘The Man Panel’. We would write comical reviews on mostly whacked-out products for men. However, every once in a while we’d get something that was actually pretty cool to review. In one such case, I was assigned a product that I simply can not recommend highly enough. It’s not really a hockey product per se. But that’s probably because they didn’t think of it. But if you like dry skates and gloves, this is your ticket to Xanadu.

It’s called the Peet Shoe Dryer, and it has made my hockey-playin’ son a happy camper. I’ve even given it as a very popular birthday gift to his friends. It uses the basic physics principle of warm air rising to dry your skates with absolutely no noise, lights or anything to even indicate it’s actually working. In fact, I was dead sure it wasn’t working the first time I turned it on – which consists of simply plugging it in. However, when I came back a few hours later, the previously soaking wet hockey skates were not only dry, but warm and toasty like a load of laundry right out of the dryer. And as an invaluable added bonus, it removed most of the hockey stink! How cool is that?

I recommend searching at Amazon.com. You’re probably going to pay around $30. But if you or your kids are a hockey player, it will be thirty of the best bucs you’ve ever spent.

Original ‘Man Panel’ review of the Peet Shoe Dryer

Stanley Cup Champions!

Mark — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:15:04 +0000

Well I’m basking in the glow of a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup championship today. The exciting thing is, they should only get better. With their core of young stars, it certainly looks like the Pens should be a solid contender for the cup for years to come. As I said in an earlier post, it’s sure good to be a Pittsburgh fan these days. Now if the Buccos could just get it together

Looking for a championship t-shirt, hat or other type of gift? Check out my favorite Pittsburgh fan store ‘The Pittsburgh Fan’ and do a little crowin’

And don’t forget my Pittsburgh gift designs got ‘burgh? and The Joy of Six

Surreal Hockey Images

Mark — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:57:48 +0000

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

The Story of Blackhawks Compassion

Mark — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:20:24 +0000

There are lots of great hockey stories out there, but this one has always resonated with me. It is another of those that was passed around in emails, from an anonymous author. But it’s a true story, and one that all hockey fan should read. So if you happened to miss it, here is the story of Blackhawks compassion . . .

In the middle of a grueling six game road trip where a very young hockey team is away from home, the third game of the trip ends late on a cold Canadian Saturday night. This is the only break on the trip and the three days between games allow them the only break to get back home in their own beds for a couple of days before going back on the road. A scheduled commercial flight waits for them at Toronto’s International Airport for the short flight home; they could be home by midnight. This plane departs on schedule, but without a single member of the hockey team.

Back in the locker room a vote is taken after the game was complete, and a unanimous decision is made by this young team to skip this flight and stay one more day. They make arrangements to check back in the hotel and on a frozen Sunday morning charter two buses that have no heat and begin a journey two hours straight north into a sparsely inhabited Canada, but where hockey is its passion. They arrive at their destination to the surprise of the teams general manager who is there attending his fathers wake.

After a few emotional hours, this team boards the buses and head back for a two-hour trip back to Toronto. On the way they ask the drivers to stop in a tiny Canadian town because they are hungry.

To the shock of the patrons and workers at this small hockey town McDonald’s, a professional team walks out of two rickety buses and into the restaurant, which just happens to have pictures of two members of this team on its wall. The patrons know every single one of these players by sight being fanatic fans of hockey in these parts. One can only imagine their amazement of the locals seeing and entire professional hockey team sit down and have a meal in their tiny little town in the middle of a hockey season. After a while they board the buses and catch their same flight 24 hours later, giving one day to their general manager.

Have I made this up, is this an excerpt from some fictional book? No this a true story of the Blackhawks last Saturday night and they decided to attend Dale Tallon’s fathers funeral. Its amazing that such a good story can be found nowhere on the internet, and not even mentioned in the Chicago papers.

Had one of the Blackhawks got into a fight and punched some drunken loser in a Toronto bar it would be plastered all over papers and the television.

This being said, its hard to imagine any professional football, basketball or baseball team doing this, but the members of the Blackhawks claim any “hockey” team would have done this. This is one reason I continue to be a big hockey fan, and another reason I am excited about this Chicago team.

I thought I would share as this story appears to have gone unnoticed.

Hockey players are special athletes. I created this design in honor of hockey players everywhere.