2015-16 NHL Uniform and Logo Changes

[zpqmaowl]

The Giant Pacific Walrus.

[daniel75]

habsfan had the original idea... It could work...

That is the best Lightning jersey I have ever seen, and exactly what they should be wearing. Frankly I'm astounded how the dismal 2011 rebrand has suddenly become so accepted. Is it because they've won a few playoff series last season? How anyone can accept the current blandness while concepts like this exist is beyond comprehension.

It's because that logo sucks, i miss their old colors, but the new logo albeit bland is a big improvement. IMO.

[The_Admiral]

Photographer Ginger Morneau snapped these photos of a giant pacific octopus attacking and eating a seagull. (Ginger Morneau/BirdFellow)

He's just working his way up from the AHL.

[Gothamite]

Frankly I'm astounded how the dismal 2011 rebrand has suddenly become so accepted. Is it because they've won a few playoff series last season? How anyone can accept the current blandness while concepts like this exist is beyond comprehension.[/b

It's because that logo sucks, i miss their old colors, but the new logo albeit bland is a big improvement. IMO.

Exactly. Their new logo is such an incredible upgrade from the old one that I'm willing to overlook any number of flaws in the uniform.

[hockey week]

I've come around on the Mighty Ducks' logo. Partially because I think it looks sharp in the current colour scheme. I wouldn't even mind a return to jade and eggplant though. The only part of the Ducks' initial identity I still really oppose is the "Mighty Ducks" moniker. "Anaheim Ducks" works just fine. The "Mighty Ducks" name was the step too far.

I just want to get that out of the way so that people realise I'm not trying to pick on the duckmask logo in and of itself.

The joke is, it's not even really that cartoony... At least comparatively speaking to the other logos of the era.

Pardon? They literally built a cartoon around it!

Again, the logo's fine. Let's not pretend it's something it's not though. That's clearly an old school goalie mask in the style of a Disney-branded cartoon duck.

As for the other logos of its era? What logo introduced around the same time is more cartoony? The Panthers'? The Sharks'? The Senators'? Sorry, I'm not seeing an early/mid 90s NHL logo that's more of a cartoon then a logo that's modledded after one of the most well-known cartoon characters of all time.

What makes great is the symmetry and how all the elements seamlessly fit together.

The elements are all separate to some degree. It's a cartoon duck mask. On top of a circle, on top of two crossed hockey sticks, on top of a triangle.

It's actually pretty standard 90s fair. Something representing the team's namesake in front of a framing shape with something indicating the sport. Sharks' logo, Islanders' fisherman, Avs' logo. Just to name a few. Not saying that makes it bad. It's one of the best from that era of design, and certainly still works today. Again though. Let's not make it into something it's not.

As for the 'Webbed D,' what's great about it? It's awkwardly shaped, has too many outlines, doesn't depict a duck, and is basically an amputation of a generic word mark.

A generic wordmark? You mean this one?

Doesn't your preference for the Mighty Ducks' logo mean you want to erase this from history?

Exactly. It's cartoony, far more cartoony than anything else in the NHL, even for the era it was created in.

The silly nostalgia of 90s kids seeing a team in green and purple take on teams like Iceland and Trinidad on the big screen come to life on the ice is overruling all sorts of real, actual history. Other than one run in 2003, there is nothing special about anything that happened in purple and green. Let it fade into the darkness that was the 1990s and be done with it.

[Morgan33]

I also think the Ducks could capitalize on being the West's 'orange team'. It's a great look for them.

My thoughts exactly, let the Kings have black.

Again, the logo's fine. Let's not pretend it's something it's not though. That's clearly an old school goalie mask in the style of a Disney-branded cartoon duck.

As for the other logos of its era? What logo introduced around the same time is more cartoony? The Panthers'? The Sharks'? The Senators'? Sorry, I'm not seeing an early/mid 90s NHL logo that's more of a cartoon then a logo that's modledded after one of the most well-known cartoon characters of all time.

I was thinking of the Islander's fisherman... That is a cartoony logo, but point taken.

The elements are all separate to some degree. It's a cartoon duck mask. On top of a circle, on top of two crossed hockey sticks, on top of a triangle.

It's actually pretty standard 90s fair. Something representing the team's namesake in front of a framing shape with something indicating the sport. Sharks' logo, Islanders' fisherman, Avs' logo. Just to name a few. Not saying that makes it bad. It's one of the best from that era of design, and certainly still works today. Again though. Let's not make it into something it's not.

What I mean is, it just works as a hockey crest. Compact shape, represents the sport and team namesake while looking pretty damn good in the process.

Doesn't your preference for the Mighty Ducks' logo mean you want to erase this from history?

Well played. Usually I'm of the mindset that a championship makes an identity untouchable but this is one exception. That is just an abysmal uniform and since it's already gone, they might as well upgrade again by adapting the new alternate. It is hands down, the best uniform they've had since changing the name and colours... Not that it's a particularly high bar.

Exactly. Their new logo is such an incredible upgrade from the old one that I'm willing to overlook any number of flaws in the uniform.

A generic bolt in a lopsided circle, they didn't even bother to enclose, is great? Had they kept the metallic silver and black, I could have lived with it, but ditching their unique palette to play Maple Leafs dress-up is unforgivable.

[WSU151]

Frankly I'm astounded how the dismal 2011 rebrand has suddenly become so accepted. Is it because they've won a few playoff series last season? How anyone can accept the current blandness while concepts like this exist is beyond comprehension.[/b

It's because that logo sucks, i miss their old colors, but the new logo albeit bland is a big improvement. IMO.

Exactly. Their new logo is such an incredible upgrade from the old one that I'm willing to overlook any number of flaws in the uniform.

The awkward, unbalanced oval is just terrible.

[habsfan1]

A lot are saying it should be the new home jersey. But how could these colors and striping work together on a white jersey? If you just color the orange in white, there would be very little orange left on the road jersey. Coloring the black stripes orange would look bad.

[wildwing64]

The silly nostalgia of 90s kids seeing a team in green and purple take on teams like Iceland and Trinidad on the big screen come to life on the ice is overruling all sorts of real, actual history. Other than one run in 2003, there is nothing special about anything that happened in purple and green. Let it fade into the darkness that was the 1990s and be done with it.

"Nothing special" happened with the Penguins in their years of double-blue-before-it-was-cool either, and yet not too long ago they were all too keen on bringing back uniforms from that era. And then the Stars based their current uniforms on their Minnesota days in which they also did "nothing special other than that one run" but in which they wore the kelly green and yellow that people go goo-goo crazy over. Myself included, by the way. Love their late 80's look.

If we're talking about "Nothing special" about anything with the Ducks, how about those years since they rebranded? They won a Cup, OK, awesome. And they did so in a bland uniform that barely meets any requirements for a hockey uniform at all, its only distinguishing features being the swooshy stripes, and the central focal point of their whole identity that was the lousy wordmark spelling out their name. Not exactly my preference for their one Cup winning uniform, but oh well. After that? The uniform somehow got worse in the Edge switchover and the team was stuck playing Carlyle's already stale system of grinding, dump and chase, low shooting, low scoring hockey. In short; a boring team in a boring uniform. If there's any era I'd like to bury in the past forever it's those four or so mediocre years after the Cup run.

From what little I've seen of the Mighty Ducks history they looked like a fun team to watch despite their lack of success. The first team were a scrappy bunch. There was also the time of the deadly Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne line. And even outside of those guys the team's had a bunch of characters that remain popular with fans to this day, among them Guy Hebert, Stu Grimson, Sean Pronger, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere to name a few. And of course, there was that one run in which they swept the God damn defending Champion Red Wings on their way to the Finals. All of that in a purple and green uniform, a colour scheme unique to the NHL, and with a pretty cool logo, which apparently only appeals to silly, nostalgic 90's kids.

Also, this is coming from someone who didn't grow up with the namesake movies and has no nostalgia for them whatsoever. I also never wanted the duck mask logo gone in the first place.

A lot are saying it should be the new home jersey. But how could these colors and striping work together on a white jersey? If you just color the orange in white, there would be very little orange left on the road jersey. Coloring the black stripes orange would look bad.

I imagine it would be more similar to the current white jersey in terms of colour balance.

[hockey week]

The silly nostalgia of 90s kids seeing a team in green and purple take on teams like Iceland and Trinidad on the big screen come to life on the ice is overruling all sorts of real, actual history. Other than one run in 2003, there is nothing special about anything that happened in purple and green. Let it fade into the darkness that was the 1990s and be done with it.

"Nothing special" happened with the Penguins in their years of double-blue-before-it-was-cool either, and yet not too long ago they were all too keen on bringing back uniforms from that era. And then the Stars based their current uniforms on their Minnesota days in which they also did "nothing special other than that one run" but in which they wore the kelly green and yellow that people go goo-goo crazy over. Myself included, by the way. Love their late 80's look.

I think everyone made those comments about the Penguins celebrating a crappy era (and similar comments were made about the Steelers gold-helmet throwbacks), but the double blue is an undisputed a good look, and the logo really wasn't any different.

I don't think anything about the Stars' green is a connection to Minnesota. It's a new green, they dropped gold to everyone's complaints, and they've turned over a new leaf with their look, not looking back. There wouldn't be an all new logo, new color, dropping an old color they've had their entire run, and a new color if they were looking back.

If we're talking about "Nothing special" about anything with the Ducks, how about those years since they rebranded? They won a Cup, OK, awesome. And they did so in a bland uniform that barely meets any requirements for a hockey uniform at all, its only distinguishing features being the swooshy stripes, and the central focal point of their whole identity that was the lousy wordmark spelling out their name. Not exactly my preference for their one Cup winning uniform, but oh well. After that? The uniform somehow got worse in the Edge switchover and the team was stuck playing Carlyle's already stale system of grinding, dump and chase, low shooting, low scoring hockey. In short; a boring team in a boring uniform. If there's any era I'd

like to bury in the past forever it's those four or so mediocre years after the Cup run.

They won a Cup. They won a Cup. You act like that's no big deal. The Cup is everything, that's all that matters. Calgary undoubtedly looked their best in the early 2000s, but what are they throwing back to? Their Cup win in 89. Everything. The Cup is everything.

Sure, their look was lackluster, but I really think that's because they went to the wordmark and not the webbed-D on its own.

I put this together a loooooong time ago, because I think it's undoubtedly what was supposed to happen, and what would have been a big hit

Sure it's a little dark by today's standards, but the whole league was doing that. Accent tons of orange and you'd have a great jersey even now.

Could they use something new to distance themselves from this era? Sure. But looking back to the old Mighty Ducks isn't it.

From what little I've seen of the Mighty Ducks history they looked like a fun team to watch despite their lack of success. The first team were a scrappy bunch. There was also the time of the deadly Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne line. And even outside of those guys the team's had a bunch of characters that remain popular with fans to this day, among them Guy Hebert, Stu Grimson, Sean Pronger, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere to name a few. And of course, there was that one run in which they swept the God damn defending Champion Red Wings on their way to the Finals. All of that in a purple and green uniform, a colour scheme unique to the NHL, and with a pretty cool logo, which apparently only appeals to silly, nostalgic 90's kids.

Also, this is coming from someone who didn't grow up with the namesake movies and has no nostalgia for them whatsoever. I also never wanted the duck mask logo gone in the first place.

Scrappy, sure. Fun times, maybe. But it's more 90s Senators than 70s Sabres, and that's not enough of a reason to go back to this era, even if it is just the logo (right now).

When it comes to all this, I don't see the difference between the two:

In fact:

[KittSmith_95]

That orange third looks terrific. I actually like both logos, with a slight preference to the Webbed D. But the mask is just as strong a logo.

A lot are saying it should be the new home jersey. But how could these colors and striping work together on a white jersey? If you just color the orange in white, there would be very little orange left on the road jersey. Coloring the black stripes orange would look bad.

Going darker with the white jersey would look pretty good IMO. Maybe take the striping pattern from the previous white jersey to help us out?

[ColeJ]

Orange triangle and maybe orange numbers, and boom... A white version of that would be orange enough to fit.

[wildwing64]

I don't think anything about the Stars' green is a connection to Minnesota. It's a new green, they dropped gold to everyone's complaints, and they've turned over a new leaf with their look, not looking back. There wouldn't be an all new logo, new color, dropping an old color they've had their entire run, and a new color if they were looking back.

Lack of gold aside, the green uniform is similar enough where it could be seen as an homage to the North Stars era. The logo is more or less a continued, modern day evolution of what they've had since day one: a slanted star accompanied by a letter (or, a bunch of letters) from the team name. Other than the shoulder yokes and, again, the gold, these two uniforms are still very similar to the point where a connection can be made:

They won a Cup. They won a Cup. You act like that's no big deal. Calgary undoubtedly looked their best in the early 2000s, but what are they throwing back to? Their Cup win in 89. Everything. The Cup is everything.

Steady on, I didn't mean it that way at all. Of course the Cup win was awesome, that's exactly what I said! But my point being; just because a team won a Cup in a particular uniform doesn't necessarily make it timeless, or even good. See the '99 Stars or the '04 Bolts for example, both teams with logos and/or uniforms that simply didn't age well and were updated twice since their respective Cup runs. Even the O6 teams have made changes to their uniforms in the years since they all won their Cups, mostly for the better.

As for the Flames, there's the '89 Cup win, but what else are they throwing back to? Their early years. A nostalgic period. In that sense, not much different to what other teams have done since the dawn of the throwback. If you ask me, the 80's Flames jerseys were garish and necessitated the addition of black - or at least a toning down of the white and yellow - but I think that throwback's out of rotation now anyway. Nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool, and like it or not, What I Grew Up With™ often seems to supersede Championships. The Sabres almost won the Cup in black and red, but I'd be willing to bet on older, nostalgic fans wanting the royal blue and gold uniforms back anyway. They're already being cockteased enough with Navy and useless grey accents as is.

Sure, their look was lackluster, but I really think that's because they went to the wordmark and not the webbed-D on its own.

I put this together a loooooong time ago, because I think it's undoubtedly what was supposed to happen, and what would have been a big hit

Sure it's a little dark by today's standards, but the whole league was doing that. Accent tons of orange and you'd have a great jersey even now.

Could they use something new to distance themselves from this era? Sure. But looking back to the old Mighty Ducks isn't it.

I agree that the standalone D is an improvement. On that jersey, a marginal improvement at best. Having that from the beginning was apparently the plan from the moment ownership (or, Brian Burke) was presented with a bunch of different duck themed logos and then decided that they wanted a logo for the Ducks that doesn't feature a duck. The D logo has grown on me for its simplicity, and in a way harkening back to more traditional designs like the Canadiens, Flames, or Flyers. But what's really held it back from the beginning is that it's not immediately obvious what it's supposed to be. "Where's the duck?" "What's that thing supposed to be, a Batarang? A sideways Star Trek logo?" I think that's partially why they went with the wordmark in the first place, it just wasn't strong enough to immediately use from the get-go, apparently necessitating the name literally being spelled out. The previous wordmarked third jersey being popular at the time probably also contributed to that decision. It did what it needed to do, I guess, but they didn't need to wait eight Goddamned years to finally switch the bloody thing out.

We disagree, but between the D and the duck mask, the latter is the stronger of the two. Whether anyone likes it or not - the team included - the duck mask logo is the Ducks. That said, I doubt they'll go back to it as the primary logo anytime soon but I like that it's at least a part of their identity. I'd like it back as the primary, but a modern update might be even better.

[Rollins Man]

If you made a white matching uni for the ducks orange third it would turn out like the preds white jersey from '11-'13 in terms of color balance. Lots of yellow on the homes, mostly blue on the away, but still worked well.

[FiddySicks]

The webbed foot D logo is a fine secondary/shoulder logo. But that's just about the ONLY thing that came from the Ducks switch from eggplant and jade to black and orange that was any good whatsoever. The rest of that set (previous and current) can burn.

The duck mask logo absolutely murders anything from the current update. It's so much better that I really wonder what some of y'all who think the current look is vastly superior are smoking.

That orange alt, though, is fantastic. It's a combination that works probably better than anything the Ducks have ever used. It emphasizes orange, which is what the Ducks should've done from day one (considering they absolutely insisted on using black rather than hunter green), it puts that solid webbed foot D logo on the shoulders where it should be, and it puts that fantastic original logo front and center. I can't wait till they get a road version of that jersey and call it a day.

[WSU151]

The webbed foot D logo is a fine secondary/shoulder logo. But that's just about the ONLY thing that came from the Ducks switch from eggplant and jade to black and orange that was any good whatsoever. The rest of that set (previous and current) can burn.

The webbed foot D was a part of the eggplant and jade set?

[Gothamite]

No, he's saying that the only good thing to come from the revamp away from jade and eggplant was the webbed D, and even that is only good for a shoulder logo.

[monkeypower]

What's up with Anaheim major sports teams and their identities?

The two franchises have been known by six different names in total, with only one change coming as a result of a relocation. But with all the changes, the actual team names have remained the same minus an adjective. Now one team is using a logo more commonly known as being a part of a previous name.

If the Ducks do switch the alternate to a primary, it's almost like the only change made in 06-07 will be dropping Mighty. Has there ever been a team to switch their name and logo to a new name and a new logo, only to go back to the old logo under the new name?

[capn89]

Lack of gold aside, the green uniform is similar enough where it could be seen as an homage to the North Stars era. The logo is more or less a continued, modern day evolution of what they've had since day one: a slanted star accompanied by a letter (or, a bunch of letters) from the team name. Other than the shoulder yokes and, again, the gold, these two uniforms are still very similar to the point where a connection can be made:

So yes, in conclusion, aside from all the ways they are different they are very similar. I nominate this for the Fox News Stretch of the Year Award.

[WSU151]

Lack of gold aside, the green uniform is similar enough where it could be seen as an homage to the North Stars era. The logo is more or less a continued, modern day evolution of what they've had since day one: a slanted star accompanied by a letter (or, a bunch of letters) from the team name. Other than the shoulder yokes and, again, the gold, these two uniforms are still very similar to the point where a connection can be made:

So yes, in conclusion, aside from all the ways they are different they are very similar. I nominate this for the Fox News Stretch of the Year Award.

Homage is a bad word. Without the yoke, without the gold, without the other five things that make these jerseys different...the only thing in common is green and black. That's not really strong enough to be an "homage".