If you’ve ever watched “The Simpsons”, which is highly likely since the show has been going for well over 35 years, you know their hometown has a baseball team called “the Springfield Isotopes”. They’re the team Homer loves to yell at saying “hurry up and lose, already”. For one night ever year the Isotopes are not only a baseball team but a hockey team as well thanks to the magic of minor league hockey promotions.
Every season the Springfield Thunderbirds hold a “Springfield Ice-O-Topes” night adopting the alter ego from the Simpsons cartoon. Notice the different spelling specifically calling to attention the “ice” in “isotopes”, since this is ice hockey, after all. The Springfield Thunderbirds are the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues and held their annual edition this past Saturday against the Providence Bruins.
Obviously a promo like this included the team wearing special edition jerseys. These jerseys are a departure from the television version. While Homer’s baseball team sported white uniforms with red accents and a script “Isotopes” across the front, the hockey version is colored with the famous Simpsons yellow. Blue, which is a primary color of the Springfield Thunderbirds, replaces the red accents. In lieu of uniform stripes we see the famous donut pattern from the donuts Homer loves so much (writing this article in the morning when we’re most susceptible to breakfast pastries might have been a mistake).
The “atom” logo featured on the team hats is the logo on the jersey crest
Before you even ask, yes the team is selling special edition Ice-o-topes merchandise. It’s a nice departure that the team is actually selling these jerseys to anyone who wants one instead of limiting them to a special auction that price out regular fans (in all fairness, those auctions are usually done for a good cause for charity). Jersey patches on the shoulders features a “Simpson-ified” version of the Thunderbirds mascot and their mascot with Krusty Brands famous tagline.
The yearly promotion features a new design for every iteration. Last year’s jersey featured that “Simpson-ified” version of the thunderbirds logo with a radioactive green color scheme. The 2021 jersey design was done as result of a fan contest.
A minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies also uses “isotopes” branding as their real name. The Albuquerque Isotopes is a reference to a “Simpsons” episode where homer protests the teams move to the same city.
A running joke on the show is that you never know which state Springfield is in. Series creator Matt Groening explains he considers it his hometown of Springfield, Oregon. Still jokes about the city’s ambiguous location remain throughout the show (in the move one character says it’s bordered by the states of Ohio, Nevada, Maine and Kentucky). For the record, the Thunderbirds are located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“The Simpsons” have had notable hockey references in their show throughout the years including a 2016 voice cameo by Wayne Gretzky. The Thunderbirds entered this past weekend 4-0 in their previous “ice-o-tope” themed nights and that streak continued with a 5-2 victory over the Providence Bruins. Maybe those jerseys are lucky and they should wear them more often.