Custom hockey pucks are special ice hockey pucks for enthusiasts and fans
that want to promote a crest or logo of either the sponsor or team on the face
of the puck. Custom hockey pucks are used for hockey clubs and organizations as
well as in a number of different events and occasions, for example at weddings,
birthdays or corporate promotions. Custom hockey pucks are
made with a special screening process also known as silkscreen with different
“colors” made with carefully measured designs. Different kinds of prints on
custom hockey pucks are usually chosen for different reasons depending on the
need. Sending a message through team and competition sports is an ancient
custom, one that brings us together as a people, “the people of ice hockey”.
Be those messages from the emperor of Constanople, before the chariot races
in 529 AD, a group of Athenian philosophers sitting around a Greek wrestling
match talking about politics, or ice hockey fans trapped behind the barrier wall
shouting to each other about the difference between French fries and Freedom
fries. The billboards with sport drink advertisements may only be communicating
a product but ice hockey inspires dialogue and union as well as healthy
competition and sales.
People who use custom hockey
pucks for sales do so with one intention, however, there are others. Hockey
clubs and organizations, use custom hockey pucks for a variety of different
things, such as trophies, prizes, gifts… etc. Then there are private or social
occasions such as coming home parties, weddings, birthdays, company gatherings
and promotional sports expos. When enthusiasts receive an ice hockey puck with
a special reminder of that special occasion, they keep the puck in a place where
others will se it and comment “hey isn’t that hockey puck from…?”
Custom hockey pucks can be produced in such large quantities for such low
prices do to the screening process also known as silk screening that is used to
create the print. Screens or colors as they are indicated, are actually
specific parts of the image that all possess the same color. A screen is a
frame made from aluminum or wood with a nylon mesh that is tightly stretched
with a light sensitive layer of emulsion or film that is exposed to ultra-violet
light over the top of a printed copy of the colored layer. Only the hardened
layer of film remains that was exposed to the ultra-violet light, the rest is
washed away with water leaving an open stencil of “that” specific color.
Anything in the image that is the chosen color (yellow for example), will be
contained in one screen specifically made for those regions, a roll of paint is
generously painted over the entire screen, but only the open stencil will
receive the chosen color (yellow for example).
As each color needs a different layer of ink in the form of a screen, the
more colors needed in any given image, the more individual screens need to be
produced. Most screening processes do up to five different colors, but 7 or
more is possible and can still come out looking aesthetic. The more colors
found in any given design the harder it becomes to use the screening process to
color pucks, and the more expensive the design gets. The best thing for price
is decide on a single color that “uses” the color of the ice hockey puck as a
background color. Most ice hockey logos and crests already come well prepared
for this, as details and colors complicate and tend to diminish when more than
seven colors are used.
Custom hockey pucks usually come with a crest or logo of a sponsor or team on
the face of the puck. Ice hockey has been about sponsors for as long as its
first organized amateur leagues, back when the Stanely Cup was first donated as
a prize. Custom hockey pucks are an excellent novelty for fans and collectors
alike, especially when they are so different. Crested logos made custom for
middle school ice hockey leagues or Jr. division can come with different kinds
of sponsor names on one side and the team crest on the other for games,
training, gifts and awards alike. Depending on the occasion and the desired
effect, custom hockey pucks offer a diversity that is economically accessible,
especially when produced in large quantities.
