2016-17 NHL Uniform and Logo Changes

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

So much yellow last night watching Nashville and Pittsburgh. Sooo...much....yellow...

It gave me a unnatural craving for yellow lollipops

 

and then I ate lots of yellow Jell-O

 

and then I drank gallons of Lemonade

 

So I looked in the mirror afterward and looked what happened to me!!!!

 

I used to be a brownish grey color and now I'm this?!? My friends at the Coral Reef where I work were making fun of me all day today.

I swear if I hear another "Yello-0 there Octo. You're looking sunny today" I going to punch someone in the back of the head!!

 

 

[goalieboy82]

the Penguins vs Predators game looked like something out of the 1980's.

 

[Thomas]

1 hour ago, The Giant Pacific Octopus said:

So much yellow last night watching Nashville and Pittsburgh. Sooo...much....yellow...

It gave me a unnatural craving for yellow lollipops

 

 

and then I ate lots of yellow Jell-O

 

 

and then I drank gallons of Lemonade

 

 

So I looked in the mirror afterward and looked what happened to me!!!!

 

 

I used to be a brownish grey color and now I'm this?!? My friends at the Coral Reef where I work were making fun of me all day today.

I swear if I hear another "Yello-0 there Octo. You're looking sunny today" I going to punch someone in the back of the head!!

 

 

How did your ink look/taste after you digested all those things ?

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

9 minutes ago, Thomas said:

How did your ink look/taste after you digested all those things ?

[Thomas]

a bit pineapplely i would guess

[GFB]

You need to hydrate and drink some water, GPO.

[NYYNYR]

Two good test cases for why the league should consider color v. color match-ups : 

 

 

 

[dont care]

I don't see what you are getting at, the red wings leafs winter classic is a better representation.

[IceCap]

15 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Yeah, it kind of should.  

I'm usually in full agreement with you on these issues, and I do agree 100% with your reasoning here. 

 

I just don't feel like there's any case to be made in the case of the Chicago Blackhawks' logo. 

It's not a cartoonish caricature of a Native person. It's a respectful depiction of a Native warrior used by a team named after a Native military leader who defied the US government. I just cannot see what is offensive about this.

This isn't a Washington Redskins situation where the name is undeniably a slur. It isn't a Cleveland Indians situation where the logo is essentially a red Sambo. 

 

Now I'm not going to claim I have any insight into what is considered offensive by Natives. I don't have an ounce in Native blood in me, and I can't speak to their cultural experiences. That being said? I am of an ethnicity that's had a rough time of it. And I'm trying to think of this in terms that relate to that. 

 

What if if there was a sports team named the Maccabees (that wasn't based in Israel) that used a respectful depiction of a 2nd Century BCE Jewish warrior? Not a cartoonish caricature, but a respectful depiction. 

I don't think I would take issue with that. 

[clonewars2008]

18 hours ago, Cosmic said:

Look at the Halloween costume guidelines for an idea of what would stand up today.

 

 

Well all you non -Canadians can't be hockey players anymore for Halloween. 

[VancouverFan69]

2 hours ago, NYYNYR said:

Two good test cases for why the league should consider color v. color match-ups : 

 

 

 

Too bad darks can't be worn on the road. The Penguins' black vs the Preds' yellow would be a beautiful match up.

[hockey week]

1 hour ago, Ice_Cap said:

What if if there was a sports team named the Maccabees (that wasn't based in Israel) that used a respectful depiction of a 2nd Century BCE Jewish warrior? Not a cartoonish caricature, but a respectful depiction. 

I don't think I would take issue with that. 

 

See, I definitely think there can be respectful portrayals of various cultural groups, and in fact I think that should happen more often. I find it to be a celebration of a culture. I'd love there to be Hussars or Cossacks as sports teams, because I'd be able to root for a representation of my heritage. I would feel included and proud, if it's done correctly. 

 

But, my peoples don't have the same history of centuries of oppression like the Native Americans do. So it IS difficult to relate. And I don't pretend to know or understand their plight, but from what I do know and understand, I think there CAN be a right way to do this.

 

What I am concerned about, is that I have not heard Native American groups bring up the Blackhawks as an issue. They've taken issue with Washington and North Dakota, but they've embraced Florida State, so clearly this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. What I don't want is for a bunch of white people to tell Native Americans what they should and should not be offended by, what they should and should not accept, and how they should and should not be depicted. When there are Native advocacy groups crying foul, I will absolutely listen. Until then...I'm not so sure this is a problem.

[IceCap]

1 hour ago, hockey week said:

But, my peoples don't have the same history of centuries of oppression like the Native Americans do. So it IS difficult to relate.

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not interested in playing the "Oppression Olympics." Trying to compare two historical tragedies to decide which group "had it worst" is absolutely awful and cheapens the death of suffering of both tragedies.

 

That being said? My people, Jews, do have quite a history of centuries of oppression. The exact same sort of oppression? No, but a long trail of hardships none the less (one of the Nazi defences at the Nuremberg Trials was that what they had done to the Jews of Eastern Europe was no different from what the US had done to the Native population).

So I'm trying to approach this topic from the point of view of a people with a long history of being looked down upon and treated accordingly. And while I cannot speak to the Native experience specifically? I can speak to the broader perspective of being part of an often-derided minority group. With that in mind? A team named the "Maccabees" with a with a respectful depiction of the subject matter as a logo wouldn't offend me.

 

1 hour ago, hockey week said:

See, I definitely think there can be respectful portrayals of various cultural groups, and in fact I think that should happen more often. I find it to be a celebration of a culture. I'd love there to be Hussars or Cossacks as sports teams, because I'd be able to root for a representation of my heritage. I would feel included and proud, if it's done correctly. 

That's why I cheer for Tottenham Hotspur FC in the Premier League.

The team has always had a sizable Jewish fanbase (relatively speaking) and so racist fans of other teams referred to the team and their fans as "Yids" (that being a derogatory term for a Jewish person). The fans of the team, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, adopted the nickname themselves as a badge of honour.

Obviously a team in the UK's largest city in one of the most high-profile leagues in the world isn't going to actively promote a racial slur as a nickname, but the fanbase's hijacking of an anti-Semitic term and turning the meaning around really did resonate with me.

[Morgan33]

I can't believe this is even a discussion.  The Blackhawks logo is one of the best in the league and as tasteful a representation of Native American as you can get.  Changing that logo, especially given the team's recent success, would be an absolute travesty.

[habsfan1]

So any chance the Jets Heritage jerseys get consideration to become new primaries??

[hockey week]

1 hour ago, habsfan1 said:

So any chance the Jets Heritage jerseys get consideration to become new primaries??

 

Why, so they can look like Rangers knockoffs? The Jets current jerseys are waaaay better. This was a good one-off.

[IceCap]

33 minutes ago, hockey week said:

 

Why, so they can look like Rangers knockoffs? The Jets current jerseys are waaaay better. This was a good one-off.

Agreed. At most it would work as a special event-only alternate.

[Morgan33]

I'd be happy if the Jets never changed their uniforms again.  The colour scheme is beautiful and the striping achieves the perfect balance of traditional and unique.  As for the uniforms used today, they're not bad but nowhere near as good as their main set.

[Thaumatrope]

4 hours ago, Morgo said:

I can't believe this is even a discussion.  The Blackhawks logo is one of the best in the league and as tasteful a representation of Native American as you can get.  Changing that logo, especially given the team's recent success, would be an absolute travesty.

 

Man. I wander away for a few weeks and then I come back to this discussion.

 

I agree completely that as far as team names and logos derived from Native Americans are concerned the Blackhawks are about as tasteful and classy as you can get. There are several other organizations that I believe have much worse names *cough* Redskins, and logos *cough* Indians, and I think the Blackhawks could successfully defend the use of their name and logo for generations to come.

 

However, I also think there's something to be said for reading the writing on the wall, and acknowledged that names based on Native American culture may no longer be appropriate. I realize this topic brings about a lot of anger, frustration, and confusion, but ultimately it can all be chalked up to the fact that societies change, and some aspects of culture that were innocent or endearing to past generations become distasteful or unacceptable to future generations. 

 

Case in point: In the 20th century it was not uncommon to find restaurants decorated in caricatures of African Americans (see here and here). What's more it wasn't uncommon to see  lawn jockeys throughout suburbia during that time as well. The point being, no matter how insistent some individuals may have been about these images and objects being tasteful or "honoring" African Americans, their use has declined significantly, and many people (myself included) find them tacky, grotesque, and racist. 

 

I believe we're heading toward a similar sentiment with Native American images. Already many high schools and colleges have changed. I currently live in a town with a very strong Native American history, and the local high school featured a headdress wearing warrior for generations before the school merged with a neighboring town and adopted a new mascot. The various artifacts of that past (including a very large carved figure complete with warbonnet) have been stored away in the upper floors of the town hall, along with all the other embarrassing historical memorabilia. 

 

As much as some may resent this change and rail against it (coincidentally it seems like the loudest voices and the most vigorous holdouts are the ones who happen to have very lucrative professional sports brands), I suspect that its only a matter of time before all Native American icons (and the most offensive names) are relegated to the dim corridors of history. They will gather dust along side other images and ideas that have also grown too small, too antiquated, or too hateful for an America (and Canada) that is increasingly diverse and increasingly aware of how something as trivial as a sports team or a lawn ornament can be an open wound. 

 

Change is constant. What is lost today will emerge as something new tomorrow. Coincidentally Blue Jacket was a contemporary of Black Hawk...and yet Columbus has a perfectly acceptable identity that doesn't even acknowledge the chief who shares their name (and who was active in the "Ohio Country"). I realize the Blackhawks are a different case, but I can easily see there being similar head scratching generations from now when people assume Chicago was named for a black bird of prey.

[Ark]

"Progress" is a meaningless concept.

 

Despite your rhetoric, the Chicago Blackhawks will never change their logo or identity, and that's a good thing.