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

[GrumpyKoala]

I hate glitters on uniforms...

You know who you are....

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

You think it should look more realistic as in more like an orca?

Or more realistic as in more similar stylistically to the indigenous artwork it’s inspired by?

More like, just do the design over again in a different art style because the current one isn't very good. Id suggest something stylized because thats the norm for NHL logos, but the point is the current one sucks in every way, it doesnt have the detail of a photorealistic logo, and as a simple logo its not well thought out enough to be drawn from memory.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

I think Canes and Caps have the most bland logos in hockey.

Caps have those other alternatives like the Eagle and White House logos that they should consider switching to full-time.

Canes logo is just meh and could be so much better.

Another suggestion: teams like Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals (to me at least) seem more associated with white jerseys hence they should be their home colours.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

I also feel like they've gone through 600 iterations of the green and blue/orca logo uniforms since the late 90s. "VANCOUVER" wordmark to no Vancouver wordmark, brought back the hockey stick in a rink and the demented lumberjack, the late 90s wine and tin foil silver trim with dark blue "Messier-era" jerseys, etc. It's weird how their team colors are all over the place through the last 3 decades.

They should just stick with that nice white, cool green and blue colour scheme that they started with in the 70s, it looks good, and theres no room for confusing colour schemes with anyone else in the league.

I like the demented lumberjack, although it might be a bit too out there to use as a main logo.

 

[Jive Pawnbroker]

The Devils’ branding checks a lot of boxes:

- distinctive name that’s a nod to local history/folklore

- brilliant logo

- strong/aggressive color scheme (teams wearing red have a proven advantage over teams that don’t)

Only thing I would change is adding a bit more color as an accent - I find their current setup a little too boring and generic.

View attachment 1031923

^^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.

I'd like it better if they changed the logo to David Puddy's painted face lol.

 

[Corrupt University]

Dallas, Panthers and Tampa need to go back to their 90’s/2000’s look. Each had a more unique identity than today

My thoughts exactly.

Could be said about most teams honestly.

 

[tarheelhockey]

There are two that I would fully reboot all the way down to changing the name and colors:

Wild - This could be a marketing class case study in being “too clever by half”. It’s actually a pretty inspired concept that probably made a great presentation in the boardroom. In practice it’s bland and doesn’t convey a coherent identity. 25 years they’ve had the label of being boring. That’s just an abject failure from a marketing standpoint. Frankly, the brand doesn’t mean enough to be worth preserving — just blow it up and start over.

Blue Jackets - This is like if Utah had gone with “Wasatch”. Nobody knows what this name is supposed to mean until it’s explained to them by someone else who had it explained to them. Outside of the immediate local area it doesn’t resonate at all, and even if it did, I’m not sure the Civil War is really something you want to evoke in a national brand (it’s “Atlanta Flames” thinking). And it translates so poorly to a visual identity — they started off with a cartoonishly bad concept, then tried to make it more “major league” by making it so generic that it just blends into the background. I know the fanbase is diehard and will defend it, but they could have done so much better and would lose next to nothing if they scrapped it.


A few others that have good potential but mid-to-poor execution: Ducks, Capitals, Kings, Hurricanes, Predators

Some that are executed reasonably well, but limited by a low-ceiling choice of name and colors: Islanders, Oilers, Canucks, Senators

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Homer vote, but the Devils have A+ branding. You just see that logo and you're like, Yup, NJ Devils.

No best Logo is Montreal Canadiens and Chicago BlackHawks in my books

 

[StreetHawk]

They should just stick with that nice white, cool green and blue colour scheme that they started with in the 70s, it looks good, and theres no room for confusing colour schemes with anyone else in the league.

I like the demented lumberjack, although it might be a bit too out there to use as a main logo.

Canucks have had 3 different color schemes. Kings too, and Sabres blue have been much darker shades, plus their black ones as well.

Need to commit to 1 scheme.

NHL overall, too many blue/red/black the basic colors for the dark jerseys.

Need more greens, purples. Respect to Nash/LV who go yellow/gold, Ana/Phi for Orange, and Min/Dal for their green.

 

[Giant Panda]

For me, it comes down to identity. Some teams are great at having gear that matches their identity, others are the new Mammoth.



Dislike:

Islanders - boring colors, boring designs, uninspired. Worst jerseys among major north American sports teams.

Anaheim - the orange doesn't fit. It's not ugly, I just don't see the connection between their theme and the orange. I like their black and gold jersey, it's really nice. Even the black and orange one is fantastic. The all orange one just doesn't work for me.

Nashville - Too much mustard. With a lot of accents or design, it looks great. When it looks like a bottle of mustard, it's awful. I just don't think that much of a bad shade of yellow can look good. If they added more black to the shoulders it would look so much better.

Utah Mammoth - Seattle did it better. Colors don't feel original, design feels EANHL, and the identity feels forced. Mammoth walked through most of North America, it doesn't feel unique to Utah. It lacks the edge that Seattle has and just is ok, not great and not awful. The worst thing in sports is to be bad and boring, they accomplished that with their jerseys.


Really like:

Vegas - Their merch is incredible, everything is striking and stands out.

Colorado - Best merch in the league. Nothing really stands out for them but everything they do is so well designed. I'm not the biggest fan of their logo or color but they do incredible things with them, they make the most of them.

Boston - simple but they always make it work. They know how to build around their primary logo and how to blend jerseys into their secondary logo. The black and yellow always stands out.

Florida - Pretty unique, I don't love their logos but I love how their jerseys blend the logo into the jersey. I think they usually use good design chooices.

Dallas - .... I like the neon jerseys. Not a huge fan of their modern regular jersey, it's good but not great, but I love the Modano era, simple and such a clear cut identity.

 

[SEALBound]

Homer vote, but the Devils have A+ branding. You just see that logo and you're like, Yup, NJ Devils.

Think the NJD are an excellent example of "less is more". Strong colors, strong name, strong logo...and they don't mess with it.

 

[SirPaste]

I like the Ducks logo but cant stand the color scheme, I know some like it but its just not for me.

Not a big fan of Vegas's get up either, especially the yellow jerseys, brutal.

 

[MrLunatik]

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.

@Machinehead something like this?

darker blue like the current 3rd, which IIRC is inspired by a jersey from the 70s?
striping of the 90s
liberty head

 

[thebeernerd]

I hated Vegas an entire year before they played a single game in the NHL because Bill Foley never hid the fact that he wanted to name the team for his own ego draped in the American flag and his own Army service, right down to the West Point color scheme. The only thing distinctly Las Vegas about the Golden Knights is that shoulder patch. Otherwise, there is nothing that indicates this was the city’s first major league team. The logo looks like it belongs on a f***ing energy drink, although, again, it’s part of his military ego play, since it’s evocative of a Spartan helmet (historically, not a people with knights). Awful, awful, awful. I hope he sells the team and they get rebranded a la the Anaheim Ducks.

Florida Panthers sucks for the exact same reason, but I’d argue in some ways it’s worse. The pouncing panther logo was intimidating and cool. But you have another West Point ego case owning them and he has to slather his Army service all over the new logo, evoking his Army company.

The lesson is, if a West Point alum tells you he wants to own a sports team, tell him to f*** off.

 

[Fig]

I never liked the Sens 3D logo and boycotted any items with it.

View attachment 1031589

Recommitting to the original 2D logo was the right move.

I found it!

I agree Sens 2D is better, but please tell me that I'm not alone or awfully immature in considering this photoshop someone did years ago, is pure awesomeness?

BTW, I think Sens have an amazing and excellent color scheme.

 

[NyQuil]

BTW, I think Sens have an amazing and excellent color scheme.

Well, I know that a lot of teams have red, black and white, but they are Ottawa's city colours that are generally employed for all of their sports teams with a couple of exceptions.

 

[Machinehead]

@Machinehead something like this?

darker blue like the current 3rd, which IIRC is inspired by a jersey from the 70s?
striping of the 90s
liberty head

View attachment 1032111

I'm kinda partial to the lighter blue, but I'd be fine with this. An interesting concept I've seen is the 90's Liberty arms until you get to the cutoff, and then it goes into retro striping.

It incorporates both shades of blue.

Man, I think that's fresh as hell.

The only change I'd make to these is putting the old school Rangers logo on the shoulder.

Maybe I'm just biased because you know, f***in Liberty, (fun fact: the Rangers debuted this logo the same year the New York Liberty were founded) but I always loved this logo. It's simple, bold, kinda f***in scary.

 

[The Management]

I wish some of these expansion teams would be a little more bold in their branding, especially when it comes to colour. Enough with all the black.

Utah's logo and jersey design are... fine. Safe. Boring. Looks like the branding on a fancy water bottle or a camping chair that costs way too much money from your local hardware store.

I liked Atlanta's branding and colours, and for that matter Minnesota's. They were unique and distinct and kind of loud and obnoxious, and that makes for a memorable jersey (the old Coyoyes and old Anaheim uniforms also come to mind).

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

I hated Vegas an entire year before they played a single game in the NHL because Bill Foley never hid the fact that he wanted to name the team for his own ego draped in the American flag and his own Army service, right down to the West Point color scheme. The only thing distinctly Las Vegas about the Golden Knights is that shoulder patch. Otherwise, there is nothing that indicates this was the city’s first major league team. The logo looks like it belongs on a f***ing energy drink, although, again, it’s part of his military ego play, since it’s evocative of a Spartan helmet (historically, not a people with knights). Awful, awful, awful. I hope he sells the team and they get rebranded a la the Anaheim Ducks.

Florida Panthers sucks for the exact same reason, but I’d argue in some ways it’s worse. The pouncing panther logo was intimidating and cool. But you have another West Point ego case owning them and he has to slather his Army service all over the new logo, evoking his Army company.

The lesson is, if a West Point alum tells you he wants to own a sports team, tell him to f*** off.

you need to go to a VGK game. So many weird and disjointed mascots, tron dancers, castles, drumlines, its like the owner was pitched ideas in 2017 for the games and just said "yes".

 

[sbhnur]

There are two that I would fully reboot all the way down to changing the name and colors:

Wild - This could be a marketing class case study in being “too clever by half”. It’s actually a pretty inspired concept that probably made a great presentation in the boardroom. In practice it’s bland and doesn’t convey a coherent identity. 25 years they’ve had the label of being boring. That’s just an abject failure from a marketing standpoint. Frankly, the brand doesn’t mean enough to be worth preserving — just blow it up and start over.

Blue Jackets - This is like if Utah had gone with “Wasatch”. Nobody knows what this name is supposed to mean until it’s explained to them by someone else who had it explained to them. Outside of the immediate local area it doesn’t resonate at all, and even if it did, I’m not sure the Civil War is really something you want to evoke in a national brand (it’s “Atlanta Flames” thinking). And it translates so poorly to a visual identity — they started off with a cartoonishly bad concept, then tried to make it more “major league” by making it so generic that it just blends into the background. I know the fanbase is diehard and will defend it, but they could have done so much better and would lose next to nothing if they scrapped it.


A few others that have good potential but mid-to-poor execution: Ducks, Capitals, Kings, Hurricanes, Predators

Some that are executed reasonably well, but limited by a low-ceiling choice of name and colors: Islanders, Oilers, Canucks, Senators

Totally agree with the Minnesota part. This team is visually boring as hell. They should do a complete redesign. The jerseys look like they're worn for 25 years and being washed like 20.000 times. Change the colors, change the logo. Maybe they get to the second round then!

 

[Fig]

Well, I know that a lot of teams have red, black and white, but they are Ottawa's city colours that are generally employed for all of their sports teams with a couple of exceptions.

Yes, but IMO, Ottawa's jersey guys also do an excellent job in tying them together into great jerseys. Even for the CFL they do a great job. I don't think I've seen too many Sens variations I've disliked. Even the Sens "O" jerseys and heritage classics, there's things that kinda seem weird at first, but in the end, I've considered that it's not bad and there's far worse executions. It's a potential dislike, but IMO never a true brutal.

The color combos, ratios and lines are typically and reasonably on point. Whoever is doing the striping and piping almost always has a good grasp on how much is necessary vs too much. Even the Star Trek looking striping from 2000-2007 is IMO pretty darn good.

Like there's reasons to say, it could be better, but rarely am I like, "What were they smoking? It actually kinda bugs me."

Similar color wise, I think Panthers and Hawks occasionally get that combinations and ratios in a somewhat brutal and jarring manner. Panthers I often feel the striping is a bit thin or too busy (less is more). The Hawks '09-11 Winter Classic has seemingly so many inspirations from a Sens jersey approach, but IMO it looks like a worse execution to the Sens "O" jersey of similar design. The 75 year for the Hawks for me is a yikes.

I guess I didn't realize how impressed I am with the Sens branding. But after these posts, I guess I am quite impressed.

 

[Summer Rose]

As a Seattle resident, I was really excited about getting a team here. I was just hoping please don't name them the Kraken. Cascades was my personal choice, but that was far down the list. Emeralds or Totems was my choice for the main frontrunners. Instead they chose a drunk frat boy type of name. So many great names to choose from to capture the Pacific Northwest and you choose that.

My first choice for Seattle when they were pondering what to name the team was Sockeyes. Has a nice ring to it, and alliteration feels nice to me.

I don't actually mind that they went with Kraken though. It's a cool name. The logo they came up with is pretty bland to me, but if you made the logo an actual kraken (likely with some degree of being cartoonish), it would probably look too "busy" as a logo.

 

[DJN21]

I'm kinda partial to the lighter blue, but I'd be fine with this. An interesting concept I've seen is the 90's Liberty arms until you get to the cutoff, and then it goes into retro striping.

It incorporates both shades of blue.

View attachment 1032121

Man, I think that's fresh as hell.

The only change I'd make to these is putting the old school Rangers logo on the shoulder.

Maybe I'm just biased because you know, f***in Liberty, (fun fact: the Rangers debuted this logo the same year the New York Liberty were founded) but I always loved this logo. It's simple, bold, kinda f***in scary.

red pants are a no but the rest is absolutely beautiful

 

[MoneyManny]

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

Love the palm tree crossed with a stick logo with a sun in the back. Great satire of Florida hockey.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Anaheim - the orange doesn't fit. It's not ugly, I just don't see the connection between their theme and the orange.

The connection is that they’re the Orange County team in LA, similar to the Islanders playing up their part of NYC.