2016-17 NHL Uniform and Logo Changes

[ldconcepts]

^ Don't recognize that exact version, sparky, but a lot of people have done it, including me, Brandon Moore, and McElroy...

[hockey week]

Interesting piece on the Ducks' change to their current logo set. Most interestingly is that they never wanted to depict a duck

 

Quote

It became clear that the owners and management didn’t want an angry duck, an animated duck, an aggressive duck, or an ornithologically correct duck — no matter the illustrative style,“

 

and the "leaked" images we've all seen of various logos were rejected long before those photos came out - it was a deliberate counter-leak.

Good read:

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/smighty-ducks-anaheim-ducks-logo-history-nhl-disney-uniforms-movie-stanely-cup-playoffs-finals/c4sh1ts4rq661uy46ewiiikh5

[Morgan33]

So many promising logos and this is what they end up with...

 

 

It's also astounding how they can come up with a graphic like this and still pick the one you can barely see.

 

[The_Admiral]

Quote

Jettisoning eggplant and jade was an easy call — ownership immediately signaled it wanted to go with a more refined color palette that was more evocative of Orange County.

 

I don't think black, beige, orange, and grey are all that evocative of Southern California. Too autumnal. Sounds like working backward from a conclusion to me. The logo did remind me of skateboard logos, though.

[BrianLion]

I've always said they made a mistake by keeping the Ducks moniker when they tanked the old color scheme and went with the current black/gold/orange mess. Either be the "Ducks" and own the name, or go another route. 

[JayMac]

1 hour ago, BrianLion said:

I've always said they made a mistake by keeping the Ducks moniker when they tanked the old color scheme and went with the current black/gold/orange mess. Either be the "Ducks" and own the name, or go another route. 

I agree. The organization should have made a clean break from the (Mighty) Ducks name. If you wanted to get rid of eggplant and jade, that's fine. The black and beige with a touch of orange is a bad choice, IMO. It is better now that they are emphasizing orange a little more but it is just a bad identity.

[Sport]

I think what they went with was the best choice out of all of those leaked logos, most of which are either Thrashers copycats or belong in minor league baseball. 

 

The problem was they inexplicably chose the wordmark as their primary logo when the D is clearly the right option. 

[charger77]

Do we have a clear shot of the Leafs new letter & number font?

 

Found it!

 

[wildwing64]

16 hours ago, hockey week said:

Interesting piece on the Ducks' change to their current logo set. Most interestingly is that they never wanted to depict a duck

and the "leaked" images we've all seen of various logos were rejected long before those photos came out - it was a deliberate counter-leak.

Good read:

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/smighty-ducks-anaheim-ducks-logo-history-nhl-disney-uniforms-movie-stanely-cup-playoffs-finals/c4sh1ts4rq661uy46ewiiikh5

 

I think this was posted in last year's NHL thread, but yeah, definitely an interesting look at the design process. There was even an attempt to un-Disney the duck mask, which instead looks like it was repeatedly pummeled with a crowbar. 

 

Of the "counter-leaked" logos, the full-bodied duck on the shield was easily my favourite and I was hoping they would have gone in that direction. Maybe a tad overdesigned by NHL standards but definitely preferable to what they ultimately went with. Oh well.

 

10 hours ago, Morgo said:

It's also astounding how they can come up with a graphic like this and still pick the one you can barely see.

 

 

Looks like this was the point where the designers were practically begging the Ducks not to go in that direction.

 

I mean, I get why they did it. They wanted to literally spell out that they were no longer the "Mighty" Ducks. Either that or they wanted to cash in on the popularity of that wordmark third jersey. I don't mind the D foot as a simpler, more traditional mark, but it doesn't really convey the name as effectively as other team logos, or the duck mask for that matter. Maybe it would be less abstract had it been primarily orange from the beginning, seeing as real life duck feet aren't typically beige.

 

 

On 7/4/2016 at 6:26 PM, Morgo said:

Think of the Leafs new look as the 2007-08 to 2009-10 set...  I give it about two, three, seasons before they realize the error of their ways and reinstate the classic hem and sock stripes.

 

Unpopular opinion: I actually prefer the new sock stripes.

[OnWis97]

11 minutes ago, wildwing64 said:

 

Unpopular opinion: I actually prefer the new sock stripes.

I do too.  The old ones were a bit too old-timey for my taste.  Certainly, an O6 team makes sense for "old-timey" but I just don't like how much real estate those stripes took up.

 

That's the only improvement on the uniform, in my opinion.  #BallardLeafForLife

[OnWis97]

On 7/5/2016 at 11:14 AM, McCarthy said:

I prefer the new guy to the Ballard leaf, but I wouldn't hate it if they took the text off the Ballard leaf and used it on the shoulders. That would be a better nod to the 70's/80's uniforms than the lone hem stripe. The percentage of people outside this board who got that connection numbers in the single digits. 

Is that why they went with that hem stripe?  Is that known?

 

If so, yeah, that's far to subtle of a nod to make it worth it.  As a fan of those uniforms, it does nothing for me.  The Ballard Leaf made those great.  The smaller version on the shoulders (and, I am totally with you on wanting those on the shoulder) made them great.  The single hem stripe was neither here nor there.  It's definitely not worth doing this for the small handful of hard core uniform followers (far less than 1% of the team/league fan base) at the expense of separating themselves from the Lightning and having a nicer jersey.

 

By changing logos they abandoned that look.  May as well go all the way.

[Sport]

3 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

Is that why they went with that hem stripe?  Is that known?

 

If so, yeah, that's far to subtle of a nod to make it worth it.  As a fan of those uniforms, it does nothing for me.  The Ballard Leaf made those great.  The smaller version on the shoulders (and, I am totally with you on wanting those on the shoulder) made them great.  The single hem stripe was neither here nor there.  It's definitely not worth doing this for the small handful of hard core uniform followers (far less than 1% of the team/league fan base) at the expense of separating themselves from the Lightning and having a nicer jersey.

 

By changing logos they abandoned that look.  May as well go all the way.

I'm pretty sure that was why. This is from the team's site on the unveiling, "The club’s new uniforms are inspired by the iconic Maple Leaf uniforms of the past and feature a larger version of the team’s new logo, unveiled in February, than in past uniforms to place emphasis on the badge. Other distinguishing details include the classic four stripes on the sleeves with a single band across the bottom of the sweater and “Honour. Pride. Courage.” Stitched inside the collar."

 

http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887071

 

But yeah, super subtle nod to the 80's unis that nobody will get AND you look even more like the Lightning than you did before. Not working for me. 

[OnWis97]

Ugh.

I consider the 1980s the golden era of NHL uniforms.  And I love the Leafs of that era.  And this does nothing for me.  

[SFGiants58]

I'd say the golden era of NHL uniforms was the late '60's-early '70's. While there were a few duds in that period (double blue color scheme for the Penguins and the early Ballard Leaf uniforms), most teams were wearing their best looks or variants of them. You had the North Stars before they added drop shadow, the last years of the '67 Leafs uniforms, purple/gold Kings, the classic Canucks, etc. It was a flourishing of color that was still mostly bound by traditional elements, like the late '60's-1971 in baseball.

 

While I'm not totally pleased with the hem stripes or the sock stripes on the new Leafs' uniforms, anything that sheds the Ballard Leaf is an upgrade. The logo should have been dropped when the team shed the Ballard Leaf uniforms.

[Ark]

North Stars looked a lot better after they added black

 

I agree with the 80s/early 90s. You had the North Stars with black, green Whalers, black and gold Penguins, the Flyers and Canucks looking their best, the Flames, the Nordiques, the Blues with red as a third color, the Devils with green, the Kings with two great uniform sets, and all the great uniforms carried over from the 60s and 70s.

 

And great new uniforms with the Mighty Ducks, Sharks, Lighting, Sens, and Panthers.

[mightyduck]

11 minutes ago, Ark said:

North Stars looked a lot better after they added black

 

I agree with the 80s/early 90s. You had the North Stars with black, green Whalers, black and gold Penguins, the Flyers and Canucks looking their best, the Flames, the Nordiques, the Blues with red as a third color, the Devils with green, the Kings with two great uniform sets, and all the great uniforms carried over from the 60s and 70s.

 

And great new uniforms with the Mighty Ducks, Sharks, Lighting, Sens, and Panthers.

Completely agree with you on almost all of this.  I was always more partial to the Whalers in the Navy Blue, but I think that's just due to nostalgia for me.

[NeverSayNever]

The mid-70's were a great time for hockey uniforms with the addition of the Sabres, Canucks, Islanders, Flames, Rockies, Seals and the upstart WHA with teams like the Jets, Fighting Saints, Cougars, Golden Blades, Aeros, etc. And this was right out of 1967-68 second NHL expansion 6. Best era ever maybe in all

of pro sports history!!!!

[Lights Out]

5 hours ago, McCarthy said:

I think what they went with was the best choice out of all of those leaked logos, most of which are either Thrashers copycats or belong in minor league baseball. 

 

The problem was they inexplicably chose the wordmark as their primary logo when the D is clearly the right option. 

Gotta disagree.

 

 

Most of these suck, but top-center and bottom-left logos are lightyears better than the one they picked. IMO, they're even better than the old duck-mask logo that everyone raves over (I've never been a fan, personally).

 

The Ducks currently have one of the worst logos in sports, but after reading about the ridiculous restrictions they placed on the designers, it's their own fault that they have to wear that crap.

 

[IceCap]

The top centre one is definitely the best of that bunch.

The bottom left one is too Thrashers-esque.

 

The entire rebrand could have been salvaged if they had gone with one the D from day one. It would have debuted the new look with a strong logo that actually fit the front of the sweaters. Add in the Cup that came at the end of the season? Golden. The wordmark, that only got smaller once the Edge changeover happened, left that entire uniform feeling empty and bland.

[Sport]

28 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

Gotta disagree.

 

 

Most of these suck, but top-center and bottom-left logos are lightyears better than the one they picked.

 

The Ducks currently have one of the worst logos in sports, but after reading about the ridiculous restrictions they placed on the designers, it's their own fault that they have to wear that crap.

 

Wild Ducks Unlimited getting guillotined by an A and the Thrashers knockoff are better than the webbed foot? I can't see either one working in any sort of capacity that would've looked better on a uniform or merchandise for a major professional sports team than what they went with, and the D isn't a great logo, but it's streets ahead of all of these. 

 

Top center is straight amateur hour, it belongs in a basement with wood panelling and a plaid couch. And the other one is just too close to what was then an already existing bird named team's logo.