Reimagining Superheroes as Hockey Teams #20 - New York Turtles (TMNT)

[wildwing64]

Admittedly a bit late for the anniversary of me starting this thread, but for number 20 we now wrap up the New York saga with the Big Apple’s fourth and final team - or fifth if you count the Devils.

 

Without further ado, I now present the long-awaited TMNT themed team!

 

XX. New York Ninjas (Foot Clan...?)

 

Name: Some believe the nickname of New York’s fourth franchise was chosen to capitalise on either their co-tenants the Spiders or their expansion neighbours the Phantoms; however, sportswriters had been calling the team’s new signees “Ninjas” as a backhanded nod to their enigmatic Tokyo-based ownership group, and so the club adopted it as their nickname. However, it wouldn’t last long before League Commissioner Jim Gordon outed the owners as a Yakuza syndicate using the team as a front for money laundering.

 

Logo: A purple footprint on an oval, allegedly resembling a ninja kick - or maybe a person’s foot about to crush a spider?

 

Colours: Black paired with a blueish purple.

Jerseys: The home uniform was primarily black with purple stripes and a shoulder yoke, and unlike its road counterpart would be completely devoid of white if not for certain aspects requiring it for visibility - although they did bend the rules by going with white trimmed black numbers. The two clashing dark colours showed a blatant disregard for TV testing, however - befitting of their name - the Ninjas were arguably ahead of their time with a “stealthy” look that others would later try to emulate.

 

 

 

 

20. New York Turtles (TMNT)

 

Name: New owners took control of the franchise and sought to shred any ties to the previous ownership group, including the nickname. Manhattan’s Central Park inspired the club’s new identity with its lush green colours and various species of turtle that can be found there. Fans were initially unreceptive to the name change, and other teams’ fans made endless jokes about ‘Ninja Turtles’ - but naysayers would be shellshocked as the Turtles powered their way to a dynasty of four Stan Lee Cups.

 

Logo: A cartoony turtle - seemingly a hybrid of a red-eared slider and a snapping turtle - biting a hockey stick in half. Behind the turtle is a sector shape; it’s not clear if it’s meant to resemble his shell or a New York Slice, but either way it largely serves to give contrast between the turtle head and the green base of the home jersey. A comic artist was brought on board to craft the new identity and this is how he interpreted the assignment; the logo was an instant smash hit leading to broken sales records and other teams attempting to replicate this success with their own angry mascot logos.

 

Alternate Logos: The shoulder patch is a stylised turtle seen from above, with its shell split into five sectors representing the boroughs of New York City. The team’s affinity for pizza becomes more apparent with this design, which also features five orange circles resembling pepperoni slices. Additionally, the Turtles have an NYT monogram with the Y being formed by two hockey sticks.

 

Colours: Green, gold, and electric orange - all colours present on the flag of New York State and inspired by Central Park. The logos and home and third jersey numbers make use of a dark green.

 

Jerseys: The home jersey is primarily green with orange and gold stripes. The road white uniform features a green shoulder yoke and cuffs. Quite the radical departure from their old stealthy look, and much more colourful than before.

Third Jersey: Going for a more literal interpretation of their new name, the third jersey is primarily gold with green sleeves, mimicking the appearance of a turtle in its shell.

 

 

 

 

 

In the early stages of me planning this project, I only intended for two New York City teams with one being based on Captain America. For the second team I briefly considered a hybrid of Spider-man and the TMNT to be called the Ninjas - but I didn't feel that would do either of them justice, so I instead made them separate teams sharing the same rink. And now we have no less than four calling NYC home, naturally

 

I'd thought about keeping the Ninjas name for this one, but that probably wouldn't fit with a brightly coloured green and gold team. This presented me with the opportunity to explore an in-universe rebrand, with this team starting out as the Ninjas and then going from that to the Turtles as their new name. Also in a first for this series - and given how integral they are to the Turtles’ origin story - the first half of this concept is themed around their arch enemies, the Foot Clan! (With background text inspired by that time the Tampa Bay Lightning were apparently owned by the Yakuza)

 

The Ninjas’ black and purple scheme is based on the Foot soldiers in the 80’s cartoon, with a look making fun of taking cues from stealthy designs in the NHL’s Adidas era. For the Turtles I picked shades of green, gold, and a reddish orange from the New York State flag; my plan was to base the colour scheme around the Mirage Comics Turtles where they all wear the same red eye masks instead of referencing only one of them - although the red-orange may bring to mind either Raphael or Michelangelo.

 

As with the colour scheme, the main logo is loosely based around the Turtles as they appeared in the Mirage series - with some influence from the San Jose Sharks. Just as the Ninja Turtles inspired countless other similar cartoons like Street Sharks, Biker Mice from Mars, and even Disney’s Mighty Ducks, the Sharks in turn were early pioneers of the angry animal hockey mascot in the 90’s - maybe they too were inspired by the heroes in a half shell? Anyway, the orange and gold markings behind his eyes I added in reference to red-eared sliders, which were apparently the inspiration for the Ninja Turtles’ eye masks.

 

Digging a bit deeper into TMNT lore, the first alternate mark is a team coloured version of the Hamato Clan emblem - first seen in the 2012 cartoon. The second mark, an NYT monogram, was modelled after the NYC badge Leonardo wears in the 2014 movie.

 

Originally I wasn’t planning a third jersey for the Turtles (since the Ninjas set was already giving them two more) but I threw this one in as a more literal adaptation of the Ninja Turtles - somewhat reminiscent of minor league teams hosting TMNT themed games.

[neo_prankster]

Great work on the Turtles!

 

I definitely want to see the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim next.

 

Maybe we could also see teams like these?

San Jose Street Sharks?

Edmonton Wolverines and Calgary Sabretooths?

New Orleans Gambits?

Tampa Bay Quicksilvers?

Minnesota or Milwaukee Mercenaries? (For a Deadpool team)

 

[coco1997]

That turtle shell/pizza logo is INCREDIBLE! 

[wildwing64]

23 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

I definitely want to see the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim next.

 

It's gonna be a long wait for them; the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will be the final team of this project.

 

23 hours ago, neo_prankster said:

Maybe we could also see teams like these?

San Jose Street Sharks?

Edmonton Wolverines and Calgary Sabretooths?

New Orleans Gambits?

Tampa Bay Quicksilvers?

Minnesota or Milwaukee Mercenaries? (For a Deadpool team)

 

Oddly the Street Sharks weren't one I considered, but I may have to do them now.

The Edmonton Wolverines are indeed on their way! Probably not Sabretooth since he's more of a villain (the New York Ninjas / Foot Clan were a one-off in that regard) but Calgary is on the list.

Gambit and Quicksilver... duly noted. Will see what I can think up for them.

Currently undecided on what I'm doing for Minnesota, however Deadpool has been assigned to Ottawa!

Milwaukee is on the Maybe Pile - got one in mind but not sure of the name yet.

 

I've got a league map in the works and may post that over the weekend.

 

22 hours ago, coco1997 said:

That turtle shell/pizza logo is INCREDIBLE! 

 

As much as I'd love to take credit for it, that design is based on the Hamato Clan emblem - kind of a mix of the 2012 and Rise of versions. My only significant change was making it match the team colours - it was too good not to use as a shoulder patch

[wildwing64]

And here's the league map. Thought it was about time I shared this to give you all an idea of how the National Hockey Super League is shaping up.

 

 

The red dots are all the currently planned locations for future teams… so far. That’s not to say I’m not adding more - both Utah and San Diego are recent additions for example. But as it stands we’re currently looking at a 40 team league. Also looking somewhat different to the real world NHL with a few new places, some glaring omissions, and the New York market being comically overcrowded - if you’ll pardon the pun.

 

The fictional cities, i.e. Angel Grove, Metropolis, Gotham, Central City (Missouri) and Coast City are approximate locations (also, the fictional city of Big Blue, Florida, is basically Mirror Universe Daytona).

 

My criteria for where I put teams is usually; 

• If a character’s stories primarily take place in a fictional city (e.g. Batman in Gotham, the Power Rangers in Angel Grove), they go there - and then I figure out where that city may be located.
• If they’re primarily set in a real world city (e.g. Spider-man, the Ghostbusters, and Ninja Turtles in New York) they go there - but no more than the current four are going to NYC.
• Or, if they’re associated with a real world city in some way, like the character being born there (e.g. Captain America in Brooklyn, Northstar in Montreal, Ghost Rider in Chicago), they go there.
• Or, if they’re not associated with any particular real or fictional city but seem like a good fit with a real place in some other way (e.g. Dragon Ball features mountains, Colorado has the Rocky Mountains, therefore the Colorado Dragons) they go there.

At the moment these are all the past and present NHL locations that are currently unaccounted for:

• Arizona / Phoenix
• Buffalo
• North Carolina / Raleigh
• Cleveland
• Dallas
• Hamilton (however Toronto is getting a second team)
• Hartford
• Kansas City (kind of covered by the fictional Central City)
• Miami / Sunrise
• Nashville
• Oakland
• Quebec City
• San Jose (may or may not put a Street Sharks team here - they do have a fictional city of their own)
• Tampa
• Las Vegas

Boston was on the above list until I settled on my choice for that city. For Minnesota I have two possible candidates and am undecided on which one I’m doing - but may end up doing both. Milwaukee and Orlando are both possible future locations, with the latter being the most likely home of a Sailor Moon team if I make that one.

 

If any given city doesn’t end up getting a team, that’s only because I didn’t know who to put there - on that note, I’m open to suggestions for any of the above.

 

For those of you who’ve been following the project, firstly, thanks! Secondly, what have been your favourite teams so far?  New Yorkers, you're spoilt for choice. Chicagoans, does your loyalty lie with the Flames or Flyers, or elsewhere?

 

Next stop; San Diego!

[Bomba Tomba]

Be cool if someone revived the Ninjas as an active franchise to form a rivalry with the Turtles

 

Maybe in New Jersey? They can perhaps do something with the "NJ" in "NINJAS"

[coco1997]

For Vegas, I'd absolutely love to see you do something James Bond-themed. It's a bit of a stretch, as Bond only visits Vegas once (in 1971's DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER), but aside from Batman, 007 is my absolute favorite franchise and I think you'd crush it. 

 

Alternately for Vegas, you could try an Elvis Presley/Captain Marvel Jr.-inspired idea. Elvis loved Captain Marvel Jr. and his '70s jumpsuits were modeled after the character's costume, and of course, Las Vegas is inextricably entwined with Elvis' legacy. I'm picturing some sort of lightning bolt logo and lots of powder blue. 

And I know this doesn't quite fit the criteria you explained above, but if you were willing to tackle another X-Men-themed franchise, you could go with the Phoenix Firebirds.