NHL team branding that you like, dislike, or have an opinion about

[PhysicalGraffiti]

The Tampa Bay Lightning.

Between Jeff Vinik and Steve Yzerman, they wanted some new look and made it in the vain of the Leafs and Red Wings.

A team with a unique identity and name was stripped of this by utilizing a logo picked straight out of Microsoft Clip Art. And if that wasn't bad enough, they put that pathetic logo on jerseys stolen from the Leafs and faded in the sun.

They had victory stripes under the arms since the inception, something unique and not everyone noticed and created by founder Phil Esposito. They got rid of that feature, despite my recollection that they spoke of bringing them back.

Fans were initially upset with the rebrand, especially with the lack of black. So they acquiesced by putting black lines around the numbers and adding a bolt to the pants with a black outline. This was a feeble attempt at appeasement, yet because many fans are fickle, it was forgotten quickly, and fans and season ticket holders seemed to just let it go.

They have black thirds, but doesn't make up for the uber plain blue and white Leafs copy. They are not the Leafs and have not been in the league for 100 years. They shouldn't look like that.

Vinik wanted his branding so bad that he permitted the joke they wear on the ice and allowing it to go on this long. Cups don't void lack of aesthetics. Pens changed a year after theirs.

Now it's been way too many years with the same bland and uninspired look. The bland look went stale long ago, and Vinik is one of the few that doesn't think so. My hope that as he steps away from the team, the new ownership group finally fixes the mess that this team is.

When original 6 teams have more complex and involved logos with depth than a team from the 90's with a name like Lightning, it's pretty sad.

 

[MadArcand]

Most of the teams I like well enough, some more than others, random shout out to New Jersey (except for the gray abomination), Buffalo, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit Toronto and Ottawa, but:

Anaheim... for the love of god go back to the actual duck colours instead of the orange, or are you trying to insinuate you're roasted ducks??

Dallas, neon green is bush league par excellence.

Tampa, bring back the black.

Utah, why the Winnipeg-ish colors, just why?

Vegas, take your hoplite helmet and stick it where the sun doesn't shine alongside the whole gray color scheme.

Washington, you're not CapiLals, fix your goddamned wordmark.

 

[Hostile Offer]

On the positive side, I loved Florida's rebrand. It's just so clean. It's both really detailed but not busy at all. It's a super local mascot, and the colors are a natural fit. In particular I like the shoulder logo.

View attachment 1031575

The stick and palm tree jerseys had great potential, but they ruined them with the ugly shades of yellow/red on top of black. That and the diagonal sleeve stripes look cheap and amateurish. But I'd love this as an alternate if they made slight changes.

View attachment 1031580

Honestly, I really don't like their rebranding. Thought their original Panther logo and colours were amazing (too bad the team sucked back then) and they kinda lamed it up with the rebranding. Not the worst in the league by any means but a clear step in the wrong direction in my eyes.

I also don't like the Golden Knights branding at all. The colour scheme and name are just too weird and messy to me (although just "Knights" would be even worse). The logo is great IMO but everything around just doesn't work. The team has been around for a while and I still haven't grown into the Golden Knights name, unlike the Kraken for example. Seattle did a great job with their branding, just too bad the team itself is hopelessly meh.

On a completely different angle I also don't like the Stars. Boring ass logo and overwhelmingly meh shade of green as the main colour.

Then there are teams whose jerseys I absolutely hate but who have great branding otherwise IMO, like the Preds, Oilers and Ducks (after their Mighty Duck logo return).

 

[Son of Nogatco]

Anaheim... for the love of god go back to the actual duck colours instead of the orange, or are you trying to insinuate you're roasted ducks??

That’s actually a really good point. They got kind of a rotisserie chicken thing going

 

[D1az]

I've always loved the Red Wings' whole set.
The logo is just perfect (someone did an amazing job designing that one back in the day) and the colors are great as well.
And I especially like their away-jerseys.

 

[kerrabria]

What’s a desert knight though? Aren’t knights from England/france/Western Europe?

Silver Knights makes sense geographically but VegaS-Silver Knights sounds awkward - seems like teams have (mostly) avoided such “doubled” consonants across major sports for that same reason.

I actually don’t mind Golden Knights. I agree that the logo and and color scheme is incredibly underwhelming though, given the potential.

Desert Knights would be a pun on Desert Nights (a nod to Las Vegas night life). And then they'd be at liberty to get creative on what the logo and branding would actually look like.
And I don't agree that Vegas Silver Knights sounds awkward. The double consonants flow into one another nicely. Same with Dallas Stars, Phoenix Suns, and New Orleans Saints.

 

[daver]

I think gold and silver helmets are terrible and make me want to turn off their games.

There should be trigger warnings before letting you view them.

 

[daver]

Any branding that doesn't incorporate a hockey stick into their logo needs to be changed.

 

[BB79]

I think gold and silver helmets are terrible and make me want to turn off their games.

Chrome dome looks stupid I agree

 

[Son of Nogatco]

And I don't agree that Vegas Silver Knights sounds awkward. The double consonants flow into one another nicely. Same with Dallas Stars, Phoenix Suns, and New Orleans Saints.

True Washington Nationals is another

 

[SirKillalot]

I've always hated Vegas' branding. I thought dropping the "Las" was gimmicky and only because it would make Foley's "[Adjective] Knights" obsession too clunky.

The hit a home run with their branding, so cool.

On the positive side, I loved Florida's rebrand. It's just so clean. It's both really detailed but not busy at all. It's a super local mascot, and the colors are a natural fit. In particular I like the shoulder logo.

Didn't like the logo initially, but their jerseys are fire.

Blue Jackets - terrible name and branding. I know it has historical significance in Ohio but it’s pretty dumb when there’s a team called the Blues. Change name to Canons and color to powder blue, cream and white.

They have a through and through theme which works well.

LA, Anaheim and Washington have the worst branding and jerseys in all of sport.

What? All are solid!
Though, the orange gotta go, even if it is orange county down there.

Washington Capitals - hate them... liked the W logo, I'll even settle for the Eagle logo, but wordmarks aren't f***ing logos because you add a stick and puck and why do they still have the shitty reebok template?

They are so stylistically clean. Solid!

^^Love this version: the blue is close enough to black that it’s not a massive departure from tradition, and the blue/yellow/red combo is a subtle homage to the team’s origins as the Colorado Rockies.

This looks terrible. Like they were unsure and put stuff together. No, what they got now is superb.

The Tampa Bay Lightning.

Between Jeff Vinik and Steve Yzerman, they wanted some new look and made it in the vain of the Leafs and Red Wings.

A team with a unique identity and name was stripped of this by utilizing a logo picked straight out of Microsoft Clip Art. And if that wasn't bad enough, they put that pathetic logo on jerseys stolen from the Leafs and faded in the sun.

They had victory stripes under the arms since the inception, something unique and not everyone noticed and created by founder Phil Esposito. They got rid of that feature, despite my recollection that they spoke of bringing them back.

Fans were initially upset with the rebrand, especially with the lack of black. So they acquiesced by putting black lines around the numbers and adding a bolt to the pants with a black outline. This was a feeble attempt at appeasement, yet because many fans are fickle, it was forgotten quickly, and fans and season ticket holders seemed to just let it go.

They have black thirds, but doesn't make up for the uber plain blue and white Leafs copy. They are not the Leafs and have not been in the league for 100 years. They shouldn't look like that.

Vinik wanted his branding so bad that he permitted the joke they wear on the ice and allowing it to go on this long. Cups don't void lack of aesthetics. Pens changed a year after theirs.

Now it's been way too many years with the same bland and uninspired look. The bland look went stale long ago, and Vinik is one of the few that doesn't think so. My hope that as he steps away from the team, the new ownership group finally fixes the mess that this team is.

When original 6 teams have more complex and involved logos with depth than a team from the 90's with a name like Lightning, it's pretty sad.

They made something very stylistically clean and is rocking it.
The black and silver was also good, but this is better. Less cartoon-ish.


The one I am torn about is Dallas. They had a solid theme. The new style with the brighter green has grown on me, but yeah.

Nashville had better yellow jerseys before, where it was a bit more sharper.

 

[Derailed75]

Blue Jackets - terrible name and branding. I know it has historical significance in Ohio but it’s pretty dumb when there’s a team called the Blues. Change name to Canons and color to powder blue, cream and white.

Hurricanes- name is fine but go back to Whalers colors.

Mammoth- go purple instead of black on their current scheme.

Jets, Stars, Lightning, Panthers all need to go back to their 90s jerseys and schemes.

other than that, I think most teams have good branding/colors.

For the Canes I like the look, do not like the aways at all. As far as the colors they got it right. Ties everything together. Red and Black are the nautical flag colors for hurricanes and they are also NC State University colors ( who they share the arena with)

 

[miscs75]

Anaheim needs to get rid of that all orange setup. Bring back the black pants to offset the orange atleast. I'd even go as far as saying use that Vans collab jersey from this season as an alternate.

Oh and the Toronto Bay Lightning need to bring back the 90s alternate.

 

[Terrier]

Red, black and white primary colors for too many teams is annoying. At least the Devils used to have some green in there until they ditched that.

I don't like the Devils' current sweaters or, for that matter, any jersey without striping around the waste, makes it look like a practice jersey. The Devils' colors are fine, the logo is great, but the Brodeur/Stevens era sweaters were perfect. From what I see, the crowds in Newark wear as many of those as the current ones. One more thing: could we ditch the NHL logo on the neck? Jerseys looked nicer with a clean v-neck. Remember the "dead fish" on some jerseys, i.e., the Sabres?

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

I've never liked a single Islanders jersey. No offense to their fans at all. Just always god awful for me.

Sama here, sans the fisherman jersey. That's amazing.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I've said this elsewhere (sorry), but I believe the Wild is the worst name in pro sports. Sounds like an expansion WNBA team. Like the Fury or Fever. Terrible.

Fantastic logo, though.

 

[hangman005]

I miss the ducks egg plant color.

 

[Tawnos]

I've said this elsewhere (sorry), but I believe the Wild is the worst name in pro sports. Sounds like an expansion WNBA team. Like the Fury or Fever. Terrible.

Fantastic logo, though.

Logo is cool, but I've never liked their color scheme. Now, when they use the old North Stars colors with the Wild logo? Love that.

 

[AKL]

I also wouldn't mind seeing the original all-green uniforms from 2000 come back.

Not official or confirmed or anything yet, but word on the street is they're going to do a 25th anniversary alternate jersey next year based on this one.

 

[TRG]

Logo is cool, but I've never liked their color scheme. Now, when they use the old North Stars colors with the Wild logo? Love that.

View attachment 1032007

That's gorgeous.

Same with Kings purple reverse retro

 

[Machinehead]

Hell, I'll give a quick thought on all of them.

• Anaheim Ducks - I think the eggplant and jade is like, right there. Just do that.
• Boston Bruins - It's good isn't it?
• Buffalo Sabres - Wouldn't mind seeing them blend the eras a bit. A good buffalo head with the royal blue and gold.
• Calgary Flames - Good.
• Carolina Hurricanes - Go back to the originals. Like the Ducks, they dumped something iconic to them, trying to be iconic.
• Chicago Blackhawks - People have thoughts about the logo which I'm not getting into but the jerseys are S-tier.
• Colorado Avalanche - My favorite branding in the league. Love the unique mix of colors.
• Columbus Blue Jackets - I don't know, very generic for me.
• Dallas Stars - Excellent.
• Detroit Red Wings - I mean, c'mon...
• Edmonton Oilers - Love their jerseys, hate the logo. It's very 70's. I would go with the metal droplet logo from their mid-2000's alts. It's cool.
• Florida Panthers - See Anaheim and Carolina.
• Los Angeles Kings - Awesome jerseys, despise the logo. It's a random shape.
• Minnesota Wild - Great logo and colors. Would like to see better design. I'm a big blending of the eras guy. Would like to see Wild colors and logo on a Northstars layout.
• Montreal Canadiens - The logo sucks and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't, but it's Montreal I guess. The jerseys are great.
• Nashville Predators - I really liked their first rebrand. I know people hate the piping but the ones now are too yellow. They need to bring in more blue to offset it a bit.
• New Jersey Devils - go back to the old ones. Also an alternate with black and red swapped seems obvious. Can't believe they still haven't done it.
• New York Islanders - Yeah, it's good.
• New York Rangers - Hot take: kinda here for a bit of a rebrand. Nothing crazy. I'm thinking the Liberty head on a jersey more inspired by the current ones. You guessed it: blending of the eras. @MrLunatik had this right, and also I copied his format. Thanks.
• Ottawa Senators - The 2D logo is much better but they're too bland now. I would like to see them incorporate that gold stripe as they did on some of their alternates.
• Philadelphia Flyers - Drop the goofy 70's ass nameplate and just put the names. Other than that, it's great.
• Pittsburgh Penguins - I didn't hate the modern look as much as others, but yeah, the classic look is really good.
• San Jose Sharks - You've gone too far. I'd like to see more black reincorporated.
• Seattle Kraken - I love these. Excellent start for them.
• St. Louis Blues - I don't know, the jerseys are objectively fine but they just don't sing to me. The logo kicks ass.
• Tampa Bay Lightning - See San Jose, but times 100. This team desperately needs to go back to black. Do a white version of these and run with that combo.
• Toronto Maple Leafs - I mean, it's the Leafs. Wouldn't touch it.
• Utah Mammoth - The color scheme just doesn't sing to me, but I think the new logo is really cool. Hate the wordmark on the white.
• Vancouver Canucks - I'd like to see them incorporate a bit more green. I know they've rebranded a hundred times, but it's actually been awhile this time.
• Vegas Golden Knights - It's a good brand. Like the jerseys and the logo is fantastic. I preferred the charcoal primaries over the gold, but I don't find the gold offensive either.
• Washington Capitals -I know they won the Cup in these, but I'm sorry, they have to go. Just do a retro-inspired layout with the W logo. It would be perfect and it's right there.
• Winnipeg Jets - Not particularly exciting to me, but fine.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I've said this elsewhere (sorry), but I believe the Wild is the worst name in pro sports. Sounds like an expansion WNBA team. Like the Fury or Fever. Terrible.

Fantastic logo, though.

I really dislike their logo, it's clever but ugly. Aesthetics are much more important in branding. Don't like their colors either.

 

[kerrabria]

I wish I had a better understanding of design/color palettes, so I could better articulate what I like and dislike lol.

It's funny to see so much disapproval of the Dallas, Florida, and Tampa rebrands. I love all of them. I'm not a fan of the darker shades and dark-on-dark jerseys. Also don't love the overly detailed and jagged edged/sharp lines in logos.

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

Hate(d) the Lightning rebrand. The early 2000's jerseys are among my all time favorite for any team, and they should bring them back immediately. Even keep the logo, just go back to those clean jerseys.

Didn't care for Florida's as well, though they've grown on me. The logo still looks to soccer-y for me.

Someone said before, metallic helmets are an instant turn off, and so are dark helmets with white jerseys.

 

[Fig]

I really dislike their logo, it's clever but ugly. Aesthetics are much more important in branding. Don't like their colors either.

The Wild logo is OK IMO. But I agree at times it's just blatantly obvious there's some kind of missed potential.

If the Wild could utilize that negative space concept they have on the head, but convert the logo into the word Wild or some other image, I think that would be far more interesting and clever. Kinda like blending in the skate and Whalers logo concepts into the idea.

The discovery of cursive script for 3rds is also so boring in general. I'd understand as a proof of concept for figuring out colors and combos, but the way many are released this way, it's so boring and lazy.