First off I dont love the logos but I also don't hate them, I'll pass he when I see the final product of the whole uniform. However I have a feeling that red is not going to be a major color in the Jerseys design. With that alternate blue color and the striping in the background of the website I feel like we are going to see something like the Florida Panthers alternates. Let's hope not. Powder blue like colors are so overdone in the NHL since the Penguins brought it back. How does True North not have a Winnipeg Jets logo design in place 3 or 4 years ago when they first started to chase a team? I know they wanted to go with the name Moose but it was obvious to everyone else that they could not possibly go with any other name than the Jets. At the very least they should have done up a Jets logo package just in case. For me, while the primary logo feels like a secondary logo, there are still some classic logos that are more simple, like the Rangers, Maple Leafs, Bruins and Flyers. And all of those feels like primary logos to NHL Jerseys. They could probably just tweak the logo to make it feel more primary: remove the circle and replace it with outlines. Make the jet in blue shades, have white oulines for the jet to separate it from the leaf, then have a silver/grey outline for the leaf and jet on top of that. While the circle connects to the Royal Canadian Air Force, it doesn't feel fitting as a Baseball Jerseys logo. As a Canadian who's father was in the Air Force I actually really like the branding of this team. It shows a ton of national pride. Is it bland? Maybe...does it seem rushed? Possibly...I respect this blog regarding the design expertise the author has so I don't believe that this most recent post is an "angry" rant. I will also note that the best point made in this post is that the Bolts new look is similar in it's simplicity (I think the secondary mark should be the primary) and that as a fan the author likes it. That being said, I'll take this new look over a cartoon any day. Maybe I'm biased regarding this siimple but bold look being a Wings fan... This package looks rushed. It is not eye catching and the primary is very confusing. Seriously: what is your eye supposed to focus on? The plane and the maple leaf both take up the same real estate!! And when you scale it down all you see is a circle with a blob in the centre. Oh and it has a MLB Jerseys everywhere!!! I'm sorry but it's time to stop plastering the maple leaf on everything in canada. especlally on any nhl team that is not the mapleleafs. I think this is a great set of branding marks. I like the factthat it is indeed understated. I think it honours the RCAF as they had wished and breathes new life into a name and brand that I thought was kind if lame with a boring logo. We live in an era where everybody can take a swing at designing logo's and this one keeps it simple and even better doesn'tuse an oveabundance of black. This will look great as the team moves forward with it's history.
Agree with most of what you wrote. I too come from a design/branding background and think this is quite nice. The word mark has to go and I would've used something other than (the typeface) Gotham in the shoulder patch as it's already overused and doesn't fit in well with the "airforce" theme, but all in all I think it's a solid effort and a nice re-brand. If they can get the jerseys right, I think it will look good once they hit the ice as well as on merchandise. However, I get the point that this is the airforce logo with a jet on it and lacks inspiration but as I've said, it looks good to me. The shoulder patch with the leaf is fine. Perhaps the only thing is that flame shooting out of the jet... Anyway, looking forward to see these on hockey jerseys. Not the strongest in the league but far from the weakest. And Chris, no need to justify yourself. Those of us who get it get it. Hope that all is well in Seattle. Cheers! I was one of the few mentioned who was put off by your original tweets dismissing the logo. The issue I had was only the tone of the tweets, both adamantly denying the validity of the logo as well as so immediately calling the logo "terrible" or a "joke." But, this post was well-considered and fair. I look forward to the design news on your site and visit often, so I was glad to read this post. On to the logo itself. Is it a home run? Not by a long shot. It looks very designed-by-committee, and as a graphic designer myself I've been in a lot of those committee meetings. True North had their arms turned to adopt a name they didn't want. They very clearly wanted to use the Moose, but they answered the calls of their fans and gave them what they wanted. So, they had a month to design a new brand identity. On that, they succeeded in honoring the MLB jerseys of the past while starting a new chapter. Certainly the primary mark could use some more work, which it will undoubtedly get over the next 5-10 years, I'm sure. But that said, it does its job quite well, I think. The nods to the RCAF and True North are handled with class (unlike the Orca Bay disaster in Vancouver). The maple leaf does overpower the jet, sadly, but they at least avoided the pitfall that so many concept admissions made by focusing only on the jet. My initial impression was, honestly, "Oh, thank god it's not awful." And really, that was what I was hoping for. It's clean, suggests a more retro-throwback aesthetic that's very popular right now without falling in to a fad, and is a platform to build on. I wouldn't be surprised if, in 10 years, the primary mark moves to the shoulder and is replaced by something more unique and thoughtful. It's very hard to judge a new brand. It doesn't have history behind it to inform any emotional feelings and you're left to judge it on its technical merits. In this case, it's being judged against a classic logo that had many decades of history before being banished to the desert. It's definitely a hard situation to assess in a short time. Thanks for the hard work on the blog. I look forward to seeing more from this team as their sweaters and the rest of the uniform is released. I love the classic simplicity and the homage to Canada's Air force. The moment I saw the design I knew I would be buying a Baseball Jerseys. I think everyone is judging with their eyes and not their hearts. I am not a Canadian (born in Chicago) but I feel this gives the team an identity that firmly roots it back in Canada. Also, I am thrilled Canada has gotten a team back. This logo has a strong retro/classic feel that the original Jets logo lacked (I liked it but it always felt like WHA). I read so many comments on this blog about people being thrilled to see the NHL returning to its heritage and in this design, I believe True North hit a home run. And Chris, I also like the new TB Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys for the same reason; which is why I am surprised you don't like this.
Our River Rats have worn that Jersey a lot over the past few seasons. They typically wear them when they are playing their rivals up the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87), the Adirondack Phantoms. The Phantoms also wear a specialty jersey during these games against Albany, a photo of which can be found here. The Minnesota Wild will celebrate their 10th anniversary next season. And we all know that no anniversary can be properly celebrated in the NHL without its own branding. Meet the Wild's 10th anniversary logo. It started showing up recently on the team's official website in ads meant to promote 2010-11 season tickets. It's simple — a red X in the form of a pair of crossed hockey sticks with the years 2000 and 2010 in a wheat banner surrounding the primary logo. Gets the job done. The Columbus Blue Jackets are also celebrating 10 seasons in the NHL this fall. However I have not yet come across their anniversary logo. I'm not even certain they'll have one. (But they probably will because it means being able to sell more stuff.) That's not all. I also have a handful of AHL specialty jersey updates. It was subsequently announced that frequent Icethetics contributor Mike Ivall was named the winner and his sweater design would be implemented for a couple of games in late February. That did not happen. The Wolf Pack instead told Icethetics that it would be worn for the final home game of the season on Fan Appreciation Night. That was last Saturday. And the MLB Jerseys looked great. Congrats to Mike! Nice to see an Icethetics artist taking his concept art all the way to the pros. NHL, here we come! And there are a ton more photos on the Wolf Pack's Facebook page if you'd like to see more of the jersey. But nothing really beats a fight pose. he design is similar to their third jersey — a knock-off of the Blackhawks' Winter Classic/third Baseball Jerseys — though it swaps the red and black. And the logo text is replaced with "Support Our Troops." The Penguins defeated Albany 4-3 in the game and now the two teams are facing each other in the first round of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs. The Penguins are also utilizing their Facebook page to provide even more photos for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately none of these guys is in a fight stance, but they're still worth looking at anyway. I though that Hartford picture was old at first glance. The player's pants have the old CCM logo on them. Hartford must be going through some old Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys stock.
This has come up before. It's important to note that discounts and sales aren't always indicative of selling off stock in order to launch a new product. Sometimes it's just about meeting certain sales quotas. And the Penguins have no plans at the moment of changing their home or road uniforms. Just watching the BOSTON BRUINS TEAM JERSEYS come back against Sabres tonight on Versus. How I do love overtime playoff hockey! But I saw something funny during the broadcast. Bruins or Killer Bees? After one of the Bruins' goals, they showed some cutaways of cheering fans. I'm not sure who this guy was actually rooting for. He was holding a poster that said Killer B's. What was odd was that it had a "killer bee" on it. And not just any bee. Take a look at the screenshot to the right. That's the logo of the rio grande valley killer bees of the Central Hockey League. So that's weird. And random. And it's not just that he's using another team's logo to cheer on his team. It's that it's aBOSTON RED SOX JERSEYS logo that doesn't represent his team at all. I know that fans often call the Bruins the B's, but they don't mean the insect. Also worth checking out if you're bored, there's a new board game out by cse Games in which the goal is to collect various historic Hockey Canada jerseys. Basically, you play rock-paper-scissors to collect pieces from your opponents to complete a puzzle. And the pieces haveHOCKEY JERSEYS on them. I would offer an educated guess that the Pens had been blowing out the blues with intention of debuting a new alternate for 2010-2011, but then the likely venue for Winter Classic 2011 switched to Heinz Field. No point in making TWO new jerseys in one season. To all those complaining about the Pens' presence in another WC so so, I'll say this: The game will likely never feature a Canadian teamJERSEYS, as it is an event tailor-made for broadcast on NBC, and the network sees no advertising dollars from outside the US. Fair or not, it will never happen, so you might as well just get over it now. New York might well've had a shot, but the powers-that-be decided to host a bowl game in Yankee Stadium on New Year's Day. So blame them, not Crosby or Ovechkin. In case you're one of those Icethetics readers who just sticks to the blog, I want to remind you to check out the logo tournaments going on right now under the vote! tab at the top of the page. The NHL Tournament of Logos playoffs just kicked off today. The Canadiens, Red Wings, Flyers and Blues logos are among the finalists and we need your votes to help determine which one is truly the best. If you haven't voted yet, now is the time. Concurrently with the NHLToL playoffs we're running a mini-tournament of third jersey logos. Might want to check that out too while you're there. It includes all of the new alternate MLB JERSEYS introduced this season including Minnesota, Florida and Chicago.
If the jerseys are made from the "older" style cloth, bring it on. Every team should have a 2 week run where they wear retro, throwback jerseys. You couldn't be farther from the truth. As Dave points out, drab is not interesting, and having every team being blue , black or red (and having those shades be dark in general) makes teams look too similar and doesn't create brand recognition. Wow. a bright purple and gold hockey jerseys is the league's top seller? Who knew ? Doesn't hurt that Kobe is an NBA god, but still...when will the NHL learn? Non-traditional colors can complement the ones we are used to and help create an identity. It's such a slam dunk to have the Los Angeles Angels Jerseys in gold...it makes too much sense almost...Have the Kings in purple and gold...make the Canucks a permanent fixture in blue and green. Get Dallas back in green...I'm all for barber poles in Ottawa and Montl...when did it become a bad thing that you can ID the teams playing (on first glance...from far away) without having to look at the scoreboard? Dave, MP, and Michael have been saying EXACTLY the same thing that I have been saying for quite some time. I remember back in the good old 1980s of the 21-team NHL. Up until 1988, there were two home yellow-gold teams(Vancouver Canucks Jerseys & Kings), one away purple(Kings), two away greens(North Stars & Whalers), and just three away blacks(Canucks, Bruins, & Penguins). There was variety and simplicity in crests and uniform colours. There was none of this generic copycat nonsense. I don't really understand the reason for this. The Kings are not celebrating an anniversary, so why wear a throwback for a few games? What do the Kings have to do with the Vancouver Canucks history in that they will celebrate it with them in terms of throwbacks? Why not do this with the Buffalo Sabres (who are celebrating their 40th anniversary too) or this past season with Calgary (who celebrated their 30th anniversary)? I just don't get LA wearing throwbacks because Vancouver is celebrating an anniversary. It's very bothersome when I hear people in the hockey media knock the Canucks' and Kings' old home yellow-gold NHL Jerseys. Yes, the Canucks' Double Vs and the Kings yellow pants were gaudy, but not the colour schemes themselves. When there are two, even three yellows, it makes the rest of the whites look more unique. Michael is 1000% correct. The Lakers' original colours were white and double blue. If I stand correct, they took on the purple and gold the same year the Kings joined the NHL. What if Wayne Gretzky had worn the purple and gold unis? Nobody would have criticized them. I would also like to point out that if critics can call the NJ Devils old red and dark green MLB Jerseys as Christmas outfits, then why not call the Red Wing uniforms Santa Claus outfits, right? Sounds pretty double standard. I don't really understand the reason for this. The Kings are not celebrating an anniversary, so why wear a throwback for a few games? What do the Kings have to do with the Vancouver Canucks history in that they will celebrate it with them in terms of throwbacks? Why not do this with the Buffalo Sabres (who are celebrating their 40th anniversary too) or this past season with Calgary (who celebrated their 30th anniversary)? I just don't get LA wearing throwbacks because Vancouver is celebrating an anniversary.
The idea of having a Team Skane consisting of 10 players from each Malmö Redhawks and Rögle BK was scrapped after huge protests from the Rögle fan clubs. Rögle pulled out of the deal, so it seems like only Malmö will play against Columbus. Since the Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys are not in the playoffs, the big news on their website this week was the unveiling of the 10th anniversary logo. It's not the first time we've seen it, by the way. We got a preview on a few weeks ago when it started showing up in season ticket ads on the Wild's website. Despite that, the "official" unveiling was Thursday. The Wild's 10th anniversary mark will be worn on the right chest at all games next season except for the two contests in Finland, where it will be replaced by the NHL Premiere patch. The mark uses a stylized Roman numeral “X” to represent the ten years of the Wild in Minnesota. The “X” has an added touch of the crossed hockey stick look connecting it back to the State of MLB jerseys. The mark incorporates the team colors of Minnesota Wheat, Iron Range Red and Forest Green and was developed in partnership with SME in New York. Wild fans won't be able to miss it next season. By the way, the release also points out the the 10th anniversary celebration culminates with the club hosting the 2011 NHL Entry Draft next June. That says that ONLY the unified Swedish team (comprised of the two aforementioned clubs) will wear custom-designed red and yellow uniforms. Obviously they couldn't wear their own Baseball Jerseys as there would appear to be three separate teams on the ice. If indeed the Blue Jackets were also meant to be wearing specially-designed jerseys for that game — and why would they? — I would expect the release to be more specific about it. But it begs the question, why would local fans want to see an American hockey team dressed in their home colors? You want to pay homage, wear a special patch. That's my take on it. I've emailed Portzline for clarification on the subject. I'll let you know when/if I hear back. But at the moment, I would presume a miscommunication on the part of the newspaper and that the Blue Jackets will NOT be wearing anything but their own uniforms in Sweden in September. I'm not sure if Malmö still are planning on playing in the Team Skane-jerseys, however, according to Rögle's website, this is picture of what Rögle's version of the NHL Jerseys should have looked like. The main logo is a stylized version of the province Skane's coat of arms, with Skåne's flag on the left shoulder and Rögle's logo on the right.