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

[hockey week]

It's been a long time since I've done an alternate history,

my previous two, the original Ottawa Senators http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/73848-what-if-the-original-senators-never-folded/

and the Montreal Maroons http://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/73802-what-if-the-maroons-never-folded/

Got some great opinions.

but someone mentioned an idea (and I wish I remembered who) that intrigued me enough to go after, because it's nowhere near as straightforward as one would think.

What if the NHL had taken more teams from the World Hockey Association?

Of course we know that the NHL absorbed the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers before the 1979-80 season, what if they took four more?

Joining the NHL in this hypothetical are:

Birmingham Bulls

Houston Aeros

Indianapolis Racers

Cincinnati Stingers

along with the usual 4.

Now, this will cause some difficulties, for instance, the Minnesota North Stars wouldn't move to Dallas if there's already a team in Houston. Columbus won't be an NHL city if there's already a team in Cincinnati, and so on.

However, I like following Doctor Who time travel logic in that some things are meant to be, so there'll be some familiar looks and logos throughout.

So without further ado, the first team to be unveiled will be:

Cincinnati Stingers

Upon entry to the NHL, the Boston Bruins threw a fit over Cincinnati's jerseys, and rightfully so. They had just lost the battle over keeping the Pittsburgh Penguins away from black and gold, they wouldn't be beaten twice. The color they would add? Cincinnati Red. However, there wasn't time to redesign the uniforms that first season, and until proper jerseys could be ordered, red fabric was sewn overtop the original stripes. It would work for the first season.

1979-80

1980-88

The gold is lightened to yellow and a new look and logo introduced for the season. The Stingers were here to stay.

1988-94

At the end of the 1980s, teams were being discouraged from using gold at home in lieu of a white jersey. Cincinnati changes their home gold to white.

To be continued...

[hockey week]

1994-98

The 90s wore on and a new look was necessary, including a new-age Totally 90s logo involving an animated mascot. Why yes, that IS Stinger of the Blue Jackets...some things are inevitable.

1998-2002

It was the late 90s and the era of wacky third jerseys!

2002-05

Things got predictably dark in the early aughts.

2005-07

The third jersey is adopted as the new road jersey,

2007-13

Switchover to the Edge jersey sees the arm stripes resurrected and a lot lost

To be continued...

[IceCap]

Another hockey week alternate history series? Sign me up!

[hockey week]

2013 Winter Classic

In our Alternate History, the 2013 Winter Classic is held in Cincinnati vs their old WHA rival the Houston Aeros.

2013-14

The fauxback Winter Classic jersey is used as a third jersey for the team

2014-present

Fauxback is back! A new fauxback jersey has been added to the team, and it's very popular. Many fans on sports boards want to see this third take over full-time, but it's difficult to tell if it ever will.

Up next, the Houston Aeros.

[hockey week]

Please bear with me, I'll post new ones as responses begin to slow. There are a lot of images and, of course, none of them are in order on photobucket, so please bear with the numerous edits necessary to display something like this.

The whole series is done, I don't want to lose inspiration and stop, it's all ready to go, just needs posted. So stay tuned!

[Morgan33]

Great start to what I'm sure will be a great series! Just like most teams in 2007, the stingers have a fresh yet classy set that gets ripped to shreds with the implementation of the RBK Edge Uniform system. Had they rectified this problem in your alternate world, I would have no complaints. The attention to detail and accuracy really sets this series apart. Looking forward to seeing more!

[mamiller99]

The current Stingers look would benefit with more black. And it hurts to see there be no CBJ.

[BigGameBob]

This is great so far and I'm looking forward to seeing Houston.

[cubsfan2015]

Nice work done,man! I can't wait to see the Racers

BTW,will you also do the teams records and their playoff appearences and their championships?

But nice job,keep on working!

10.5/10

[hockey week]

Nice work done,man! I can't wait to see the Racers

BTW,will you also do the teams records and their playoff appearences and their championships?

But nice job,keep on working!

10.5/10

I'm not going to be working through the team records, I figure with the massive differences in player rosters caused by 4 WHA teams making the NHL much bigger, much earlier would have too big of an impact. Plus, can you imagine the differences if Gretzky was still in Indianapolis and Messier still in Cincinnati? That alone would put massive shockwaves throughout history.

I'm more of a big-picture guy, I'll get into things like the team doing poorly at the ticket office, which leads to less revenue to pay players, which leads to poor play on the ice, which leads to lower ticket sales, and a team needing to move because of that, but never into the year-by-year stuff.

Thank you all for your kind words, this is only the beginning of this presentation!

[BigRed618]

Cool series. Can't wait to see the Aeros!

[PackerFan98]

This really good. Like the idea.

[AstroVilla]

This is bittersweet for me as I was 12 when the Aeros folded in 1978 after they failed in their bid to be part of the NHL merger. I was devastated. Went on to pick the North Stars as my new team (was a uni/logo nerd even back then). It almost came around full circle for me when they moved to Texas years later ...wrong city obviously. But I did feel awful for the Minnesotans I had met on my trips to the Met Center.

Would love nothing more for the Aeros to return as an NHL franchise. Pull your finger out, Leslie Alexander!

[SportsUniformConcepts]

Cincinatti wouldn't have an NHL team for more than 2 seasons. Just look at how bad the Cleveland Barons were.

Still, a great concept idea.

[MrWonka]

Damn, was going to start something similar to this..kind of. Thanks...thanks a lot...nice job..

[officeglenn]

I agree with mamiller99 that the current Stingers set could use more black, especially on the white jersey. Even just a black outline on the back numbers would set those off so nicely and really tie the whole jersey together.

The new logo introduced in 1994 could also use a stronger wordmark. Right now, it's a fairly weak font set off in a black box that really muddies it all up. If you did something with bigger lettering in a stronger, bolder font — something like the number font from ’94 to ’07 — that could easily stand on its own and be much more legible at smaller sizes.

Other than that, though, great job! I think you really captured the aesthetic feel of each of the eras nicely.

[Garren]

SWEET!!!

[logo-maker]

The only edit I would make, would be to do what the Florida Panthers did with their set recently and remove the apron stripes.from the 2014-present uniforms.

Otherwise, this is a wonderfully thought out concepts.

[DnBronc]

Cincinatti wouldn't have an NHL team for more than 2 seasons. Just look at how bad the Cleveland Barons were.

Still, a great concept idea.

That's because Cleveland got a team from another city (Oakland Seals) that was terrible.

[hockey week]

Cincinatti wouldn't have an NHL team for more than 2 seasons. Just look at how bad the Cleveland Barons were.

Still, a great concept idea.

That's because Cleveland got a team from another city (Oakland Seals) that was terrible.

The Stingers were doing just fine in attendance,

http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?page_id=4821

They were consistent.

Consider also, they still have Mark Messier. He was a Stinger first. So we're talking about better teams, and not the Golden Seals rejects. I have a few teams that move around, but with the constant hockey presence in Ohio (they thrive at minor league, Cleveland has always been big on hockey), relative success of the team, and the survival of the Columbus Blue Jackets, I saw no reason to move the Stingers.

And yeah, maybe I should've removed the apron strings a la Florida...I actually like that idea and wish I had thought about it. Maybe I'll fix it before too long.