Beer League Hockey Jerseys: Funny Names + Design Guide

Last updated: June 22, 2026

We've printed jerseys for at least 20 Treasure Valley beer league teams over the past seven years, and the guys skating Tuesday nights at Idaho Ice World are not messing around when it comes to jersey identity. The play? Sometimes questionable. The jerseys? They take those seriously. This covers how to pick a name that still reads funny in year three, which nickname styles actually work on the back, where sponsor logos go, and what a full sublimated set costs for a 15-skater roster.

Team name philosophy — funny vs. serious

Beer league team names pretty much fall into three camps, and which one you pick tells the rink a lot about you before the puck drops.

Pun-based names are the most common, and honestly the most memorable. We've printed 'Ice Hole', 'Lord Stanley's Cup Of Coffee', 'Plays-Inn-The-Trapezoid', and 'Old & Slow' on enough jerseys that I could draw the fonts from memory. Pun names signal the team doesn't take itself too seriously, which is really the whole point of beer league.

Sponsor-named teams just go with the bar or restaurant funding them. 'Mulligans Hockey', 'Hawkins Pub Hockey'. It's straightforward, the sponsor gets their name on the ice every Tuesday, and nobody has to overthink the design brief.

Tough-guy names — 'Devils', 'Predators', 'Sharks' — exist, and those teams do tend to lose to the pun names. Coincidence? Probably. But I've seen it enough times to mention it.

Nicknames on the back

This is the part beer league jerseys do better than any other sport. Almost every team we work with uses nicknames instead of last names on the back. We print them exactly like last names — same sizing, same font placement. No extra setup fee. Just send the roster with what each guy goes by.

The nickname styles we see most: hockey-themed ('Wheels', 'Mitts', 'Sniper'), self-deprecating dad-bod ('Beer Belly', 'Slow Steve', 'Two-Beer Tom'), and job-based ('Doc', 'Cap', 'Sparky'). Any of those works. The job-based ones are usually funnier by season two when everyone's forgotten what half the guys actually do for work.

Sponsor logos

The sponsor is almost always a bar, restaurant, or local business helping cover ice time and jerseys. Standard placement is primary sponsor logo center-front, often with the team name sitting above it. Secondary sponsors go on the sleeves or back if you've got more than one backer.

For teams funding themselves, the front becomes the team logo or pun name, with a secondary in-joke graphic on the sleeve. (We've done a team with a cartoon beer gut as the crest. No notes, it was perfect.)

Color and design

Sublimated jerseys are the right call for beer league. Sublimation handles bold patterns and full-color artwork that screen print and embroidery can't touch, and the dye bonds directly into the fabric so it doesn't crack or peel after a season of use.

• NHL throwback look: A direct visual nod to a 1970s–80s NHL jersey, with your team name and colors swapped in. These look sharp and most rinks have at least one team doing this.
• Bar logo throwback: The sponsor bar's logo scaled up as the jersey crest. Works especially well when the bar already has a strong graphic identity.
• Original design: A custom mascot or concept specific to your team. More work upfront, but it's yours — nobody else on the ice has it.

Sock sets

Matching socks matter more than people think they will. Sublimated team-color socks run $18–$28 per pair and ship on the same timeline as jerseys. Most teams order socks as part of the kit and are glad they did — socks are visible on every single shift.

Replacement jerseys mid-season

Someone takes a slash, someone retaliates, someone sits for three shifts and also needs a new jersey. It happens. We can match your existing kit and produce a single replacement in 5–10 business days, no setup fee on the reorder. You don't have to order a full new set just because one guy decided to test the ref.

Related

• Custom Hockey Jerseys (landing page)
• Online Team Stores for Sports Teams
• Bulk Order Pricing

Building a new beer league team and need help nailing the jersey design? Reach out. Seven years in Meridian, 4.9 stars on Google, and we've done enough beer league kits to know what works at the rink and what just looks good in a mockup.