What if the NHL absorbed 8 teams from the WHA? A Hockey Week Alternate History - Sportslogos page NHL 2015

[hockey week]

The Houston Aeros

Houston was one of the stronger franchises in the WHA and there's no reason it should have been excluded from induction into the NHL. Houston typically does very well in minor league attendance and is often discussed for locations of possible expansion.

1976-77

Their last year in the WHA, they feature odd striping. From WHAuniforms.com

1978-84

The Houston Aeros fix their road jerseys and adopt a more unique font

1984-85

With the success of the Houston Oilers in the NFL, the Aeros get in on the city unity and good vibes and go with baby blue as their primary color

1985-88

The diagonal wordmark on the blue jerseys lasts only a year, it has poor visibility, especially on television, and even worse recognition among sports fans in other cities. Similar things happened to the Pittsburgh Penguins' white jerseys in 1974.

1988 Playoffs - Peak Oil

The friendly support, some would say piggybacking on the popularity, of the Houston Oilers peaked in the 1988 playoffs with these special jerseys, worn in the first two games at home in their series against the Edmonton Oilers. The Houston Aeros would pay fines for the sudden, unapproved change in apparel, and the NHL forced them to wear their usual home whites in Game 5. The city of Houston, however, loved it. These jerseys are the stuff of legend among jersey collectors and great storytelling among sportswriters.

1988-91

The home jersey finally falls in line with the road jersey

1991-96

It's the start of the 90s and Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center and the Space Shuttle, finally gets with the times. A sleek, double-colored logo expresses their speed and looks to the future! However, the font of the logo actually stems from their original logo, which was never worn on a jersey. It's the look toward the future, without forgetting the past.

1996-97

The loss of the Houston Oilers to Tennessee marks a huge end to a great sports partnership. "Love Ya Blue!" only applies to the Aeros now. Just like the Steelers did when the Browns left Cleveland, the Aeros wore a black armband of loss. Considering that it was from their own city, they wore the band for the rest of the season following the announcement.

To be continued...

[T-ROY]

The font you have for the Aeros in the 90s I feel is too 2000s.

[hockey week]

1997-98

The Aeros drop their black armband and return to the usual jerseys

1998-2003

It's the era when many teams were revitalizing their images. Maybe they strayed too much in the 90s, maybe their look just became stuffy, but the Aeros joined that bandwagon towards the tail end of that trend. A new logo that was less dated and more universal, and finally gets away from simply telling you what the team name is. It's a supremely unique look, with the shoulder stripe featuring one color if they're coming head on, another if they're looking away. Some said it was a crazy idea in management to improve play, a la Vancouver's Flying Vs, but nothing official ever comes out to confirm that rumor.

2003-07

The Aeros adopt a full-on-Texan alternate, they say it's for patriotism and pride in Texas, most people realize that they're trying to gain favor with the new NFL team in town, the Houston Texans. The alternate is absolutely loved in some circles and loathed in others. It does introduce a new secondary logo that gets a fair amount of use.

2007-13

The Edge jersey switchover destroyed some teams and gave others a chance to clean up their act. The Aeros had been around for a long time and they wanted to start acting like one of the elder statesmen of teams - much to the chagrin of some people shouting Original Six dress up. The look was toned down (much like the Dallas Stars did in our own history) and was one of the bigger success stories, and best sellers, of the new reebok jerseys.

2013-present

Following the massive success of their Winter Classic at Cincinnati, vintage Aeros apparel became a hot-ticket item. Vintage is in again. The Aeros clean up the look and make it something unique, something of their own.

Overall, this is a team whose identity went way off the rails and found its way back. Sure, it never changed the team colors, but it's a very Washington Capitals/Dallas Stars/LA Kings kinda mashup story.

Next up: If there's a team in Houston, the North Stars can't move to Dallas...

[Guest darkpiranha]

I was about to post that I think it was ME that suggested the WHA idea, but then realized that I had posted that suggestion in another alternate history thread. I completely thought you and he were the same guy, as your threads are so similar.

http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/96530-nhl-evolution-faux-historys/

But you're different people! Did you know that?

Either way, I'm glad someone is rising to the occasion and bringing these fake histories into the light!

Keep em coming! Great stuff so far.

[JackieMoon]

Love the Stingers' concept!

[BBallSuperFan]

Not sure if you saw, but you posted up the same picture twice during the 80's stuff. At least, I don't see a difference between the 84-85 and 85-88 sets.

Great work so far on this. Love how each team has a uique look, and the Aeros logo is solid. Cannot wait to see the Indy Racers again.

[B-mer]

Stingers look good. I like the progression. 02-05 set is my favorite. Love the red one.

[hockey week]

Not sure if you saw, but you posted up the same picture twice during the 80's stuff. At least, I don't see a difference between the 84-85 and 85-88 sets.

Great work so far on this. Love how each team has a uique look, and the Aeros logo is solid. Cannot wait to see the Indy Racers again.

You're right. So many pictures, and none of them in order in photobucket. Thanks for the catch.

[Morgan33]

Two teams in and I am absolutely floored by this series! The Aeros set from 88 to 91 is a thing of beauty!

[sportsherald]

The font you have for the Aeros in the 90s I feel is too 2000s.

However, as hockey week said, it came from their original 1972 promotional logo.

[BBallSuperFan]

Not sure if you saw, but you posted up the same picture twice during the 80's stuff. At least, I don't see a difference between the 84-85 and 85-88 sets.

Great work so far on this. Love how each team has a uique look, and the Aeros logo is solid. Cannot wait to see the Indy Racers again.

You're right. So many pictures, and none of them in order in photobucket. Thanks for the catch.

No problem. I wish the Toros were coming back instead of the Bulls, but alas.

[hockey week]

The Minnesota North Stars were a lot of fun, perhaps the most fun team to do because they actually did move and the ownership did certain things.

We know that the team kept their design largely intact over the move,

They created an innovative third jersey that got adopted as a home and road, using the same logo

They really got into the Edge system, losing all semblance of their former look, then introduced a useless third

And then turned around their look entirely into something awesome.

We're going to see a track very similar to this, but in another city, because there's no way the NHL would risk two teams in Texas, not that early, anyway.

[Morgan33]

Can't wait to see this!

[T-ROY]

The font you have for the Aeros in the 90s I feel is too 2000s.

However, as hockey week said, it came from their original 1972 promotional logo.

I meant the number font, not the logo.

[Guest darkpiranha]

The Stars "star" jersey is one of my all-time favorite looks for any team. Sad that they ditched it. Hope you bring it back.

[YelichGraphics]

Really Cool! Great backstory, and I also love the timeline style.

[sparkychewbarky]

Wow...The present day Aeros sweaters are classically bee-yoo-ti-ful!

[McElroy19]

You should use a different image hosting site your photo bucket is overloaded. I sugest imgur

[BBallSuperFan]

The font you have for the Aeros in the 90s I feel is too 2000s.

However, as hockey week said, it came from their original 1972 promotional logo.

I meant the number font, not the logo.

That font was made by the Canes..... in the 90's.

[hockey week]

I switched over the Imgur, so hopefully the images won't go away again. After the photobucket fiasco, I won't hold back any longer.

The Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars had major issues with the North Star State, and staying there by 1993 was simply not an option. However, with hockey doing well, but not booming, in Houston, their first choice of Dallas was not an option.

However, they had known this and had been grooming a second option for a few years. Thanks to the work of George Gund, part owner of the North Stars, the NHL never expands to San Jose in 1991, thanks to Gund's interference, Hampton Roads' bid wins that 1991 expansion team slot.

So when it comes time to move, the North Stars pack up and move to sunny San Jose, California.

1993-94 California Seals

They're not Golden, but they could be. The North Stars keep a lot of their current look, just like they did in Dallas in our history, and adapt it to the Golden State. The C incorporates both the original Golden Seals look, the Star is held over for the North Stars, and the Seal is both an homage to the WHL's San Francisco Seals and something completely new. They wear a patch to commemorate the occasion and get people excited.

I do apologize for the crudeness of some of the logo drawings, I'm no logo designer and these were early on, clearly smooth lines eluded me.

The team realizes that the colors are way too dark for their new target audience and brightens them considerably the next season.

1994-96

The colors are simply too dark for California, so at the behest of their fans and their focus groups, the colors are brightened the next season.

1996-2000

The black jerseys sells alright, but it doesn't sell as well as the team would like. It's too dark, too hot. So they introduce a third jersey that adds a splash more color.

2000-02

The green third is dropped for something much more innovative, including a redesigned logo. It's in the same vein as their typical Stars logo, but incorporated for the different name. Again, some things in history are destined to happen, everything else is in flux.

To be continued...