timberwolf Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 We’re so back. Before I dive into the project, I want to credit @MJD7 and @SFGiants58 for the inspiration for this collection. Their threads - MLB Multiverse and MLB: The Defunct Saga - paved the way for this idea. I highly encourage everyone to check those out. Most NHL relocations result in a full-scale rebrand but I wanted to imagine what some of these franchises would look like if they had to retool the existing brand to fit their community. It allowed me to experiment with some iconic marks and under-utilized alternate logos from the league’s history… as well as come up with some of my own. This project is entirely for fun. I tried to avoid getting fixated on “what the team would’ve done” and rather “what could be done”. Without further ado… let’s get into the art! Here’s what I have drawn up and ready in the chamber! Devils Depart for Nashville Predators Head out for Hamilton Penguins Leave for Hamilton Penguins Pack Up for Portland Leafs & Oilers Swap Cities Oilers Find New Home in Houston Rockies Roll out for Houston Habs Hit the Road for Cleveland Barons Never Fold Blue Jackets Stick with the Insect Capitals Head North to Regina Blues Swing Over to Saskatoon More to Come… I’ll be updating this original post with links throughout the series. Excited to get rolling! Additional note - I’m going to be doing my best to gather all the necessary information for the backstory explanations, as some of these concepts need some context. However, if I miss anything or there’s some additional info that I’m not aware of, please let me know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Devils Depart for Nashville In 1995, the Devils had just won their first Stanley Cup. Now, the average fan would think that the champion of their respective league would have strong roots in the community with no chance of relocation anytime soon… right? Unfortunately, wrong. While the New Jersey faithful was celebrating the summit of the hockey world, the haunting possibility of a relocation to Nashville loomed over the organization. The Devils had fallen on some difficult financial times in the 90s and a hot dispute regarding their arena lease in the Meadowlands wasn’t making things any better. The team’s owner, John McMullen began to explore relocation, much to the dismay of the Devils faithful. At the same time, Nashville was pushing for an NHL team - even offering a $20M bonus package for any franchise that moved to Tennessee. Ultimately, the Devils restructured their deal in New Jersey and stayed put. New ownership in the 2000s stabilized the franchise and the Devils captured two more Cups. In an alternate timeline, the deal was never restructured and the Devils departed for Tennessee. The Predators were born, albeit with a different identity. Here’s how they look today… The Preds’ Winter Classic patch is severely underused and I’ve always wanted to come up with a design that features the cat front and centre. I don’t mind their current logo and I don’t believe a change is required, but the retro cat should be featured on a uniform sometime soon. The main addition to the colour scheme is the “Predators Gold” which has become an iconic piece of the brand today. Small accents of red are seen throughout the set to give the brand a bit more ferocity. In this alternate universe, black was chosen as the dark component, as opposed to navy. Predators Gold remains the primary colour, with elements of red and white strewn throughout. The Preds used a small white stripe through navy for several years, so I brought that detail back to life here. Once again, red accents can be seen to give the set a bit more pop. I’d love to know what you guys think. There’s much more to come! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxwasson Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 14 hours ago, timberwolf said: We’re so back. Before I dive into the project, I want to credit @MJD7 and @SFGiants58 for the inspiration for this collection. Their threads - MLB Multiverse and MLB: The Defunct Saga - paved the way for this idea. I highly encourage everyone to check those out. Most NHL relocations result in a full-scale rebrand but I wanted to imagine what some of these franchises would look like if they had to retool the existing brand to fit their community. It allowed me to experiment with some iconic marks and under-utilized alternate logos from the league’s history… as well as come up with some of my own. This project is entirely for fun. I tried to avoid getting fixated on “what the team would’ve done” and rather “what could be done”. Without further ado… let’s get into the art! Here’s what I have drawn up and ready in the chamber! Devils Depart for Nashville Predators Head out for Hamilton Penguins Leave for Hamilton Penguins Pack up for Portland Leafs & Oilers Swap Cities Oilers Find New Home in Houston Rockies Roll out for Houston Habs Hit the Road for Cleveland Barons Never Fold Blue Jackets Stick with the Insect Capitals Head North to Regina Blues Swing Over to Saskatoon More to Come… I’ll be updating this original post with links throughout the series. Excited to get rolling! Additional note - I’m going to be doing my best to gather all the necessary information for the backstory explanations, as some of these concepts need some context. However, if I miss anything or there’s some additional info that I’m not aware of, please let me know! You're missing the Penguins almost relocations to Hamilton/Kitchener-Waterloo/Kansas City in 2006 and the Islanders almost relocation to Kansas City in 2009, but otherwise it looks like you're off to a great start here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 2 minutes ago, maxwasson said: You're missing the Penguins almost relocations to Hamilton/Kitchener-Waterloo/Kansas City in 2006 and the Islanders almost relocation to Kansas City in 2009, but otherwise it looks like you're off to a great start here. I actually have the Pens relocations in the drafts! The Hamilton one is up there, Kitchener/Waterloo & Kansas City aren't done so I haven't put them in the list yet. Isles to KC is interesting. I'll have to look into that one. Thanks for the feedback! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Section30 Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I don't know how realistic it was, but I've heard there was allegedly talk of the Whalers moving to Minnesota during the time Hartford was looking at possible cities and after the Stars left for Dallas (so sometime between 1994 & 1997). Honestly I could have seen the brand being able to work in Minnesota too. The colors fit MN great and the logo could stay intact if they renamed the team to Walleyes or Walleye instead of Whalers (Walleye are the Minnesota state fish so it would be a perfect fit). Quote Minnesota Amateur Hockey League MAHL Wiki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 20 minutes ago, Section30 said: I don't know how realistic it was, but I've heard there was allegedly talk of the Whalers moving to Minnesota during the time Hartford was looking at possible cities and after the Stars left for Dallas (so sometime between 1994 & 1997). Honestly I could have seen the brand being able to work in Minnesota too. The colors fit MN great and the logo could stay intact if they renamed the team to Walleyes or Walleye instead of Whalers (Walleye are the Minnesota state fish so it would be a perfect fit). Upon further research, it appears as though Richard Gordon (Whalers owner) was definitely flirting with Minneapolis but it doesn't seem like there was any real advancement on an agreement. However, that's good enough for me. I'll add them to the concept list. Thanks for the suggestion! Predators Head out for Hamilton The Jim Balsillie era. Some of you will be familiar with that name and his many failed attempts at moving an NHL franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. Here’s one of them… It was 2007. The Preds were having financial struggles (this is going to become a recurring theme in this series) and their attendance numbers were less than encouraging. Nashville won 51 games that year… but still ranked 23rd in average attendance. Near the end of May 2024, Preds’ owner Craig Leipold had reached a “tentative” agreement with Balsillie to sell the team. While it seemed like the deal was on the 1-yard line, the rumoured relocation was put to bed a month later when Leipold decided to deny the binding agreement and keep the Preds in Tennessee. So what happens if Leipold goes through with the deal? What if Jim gets his hands on an NHL franchise? I’m fully aware the Ti-Cats already exist and the city likely wouldn’t allow two franchises with nearly the same name so they likely would’ve gone in a different direction with the nickname… maybe even sticking with the Hamilton Predators. The logo graphic says “Tigers” but that’s more of a proxy than a final decision. You could view this concept with the name “Hamilton Predators” and it still makes sense. One thing I wanted to do was pay homage to the original Tigers that operated from 1920 to 1925. The bold H returns with some tiger stripes to match the brand. Gold carries over from the Predators, paired with black and grey to reflect Steeltown’s favourite colour scheme. I opted for gold as the primary colour to separate themselves from the other black/gold teams in the NHL. I ran through several versions where black was the primary but it ended up looking too Bruin-esque so I avoided it. The striping pattern reflects the many-striped sweaters of the 20s Tigers, although I did remove a few to reduce the clutter. The grey gave the design a bit of an “industrial” feel, which further separates them from the Penguins & Bruins and matches the Hammer’s brand. Let me know what you think! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenatorJake Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 These concepts are excellent and much nicer than anything the Preds have ever worn. Which is unfortunate as there is potential for a nice look there. It just sorta never came together for me. IIRC the Colorado Rockies almost moved to Ottawa in 1982. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 The Coyotes were rumored to be moving all over the place in previous years - Hamilton at least. Might want to find those to add. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxwasson Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 1 hour ago, raz said: The Coyotes were rumored to be moving all over the place in previous years - Hamilton at least. Might want to find those to add. They were also linked to move to Houston, Kansas City, and Quebec City. Maybe some other cities, but they maybe just names thrown out there for speculation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 23 hours ago, SenatorJake said: These concepts are excellent and much nicer than anything the Preds have ever worn. Which is unfortunate as there is potential for a nice look there. It just sorta never came together for me. IIRC the Colorado Rockies almost moved to Ottawa in 1982. Much appreciated. I agree about the Preds. There's a lot of potential for a sweet set of sweaters, just seems like they always miss the mark. Not horrible, not great, just eh. Interesting call on the Rockies/Ottawa. I'll check that story out! 23 hours ago, raz said: The Coyotes were rumored to be moving all over the place in previous years - Hamilton at least. Might want to find those to add. 22 hours ago, maxwasson said: They were also linked to move to Houston, Kansas City, and Quebec City. Maybe some other cities, but they maybe just names thrown out there for speculation. I have a Hamilton Coyotes rough draft in the archives at the moment. I was debating on how many Coyote relocations to add because they've been linked with half the continent. I'll have to explore that saga a bit more and iron out some of the ones I can get a nice concept out of. There's another Penguins concept coming later this afternoon... and much more to come! I appreciate all the comments so far! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbird669 Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 This is an awesome series so far! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 38 minutes ago, jbird669 said: This is an awesome series so far! Much appreciated! Penguins Leave for Hamilton It’s wild to imagine a hockey landscape without the Penguins in Pittsburgh but it was famously close to happening. Maybe not as close as some of the other failed relocations on this list, but crazy nonetheless. In 2006, the Pens had a bright future ahead… but the off-ice product wasn’t very promising. The team was struggling financially and Mellon Arena needed more than just a facelift. Enter Jim Balsillie. Before Balsillie took a swing at the Predators, he attempted to buy the Pens for $185M. Initially, the plan was the keep the franchise in Pittsburgh and negotiate a new arena lease or begin the process of building a replacement. If no deal was finalized, Balsillie would be able to move the team to a city of his choosing, with Hamilton and Kitchener/Waterloo being the Canadian frontrunners. Kansas City was also a strong candidate, maybe even more realistic than the other two, but I’ll save that concept for a later date. By December of that year, the Balsillie bid had fallen apart. The league had made it very clear that they wanted the team to stay in Pittsburgh, erasing his dream of relocation. A year later, Mario Lemieux and the Pens announced a brand-new arena deal, giving the team a stable home for the future. So… what if they didn’t decide to keep the team? What if Balsillie and the NHL agreed to terms? In this fictional timeline, the new arena deal was never signed and the new stadium was never brought to fruition. Balsillie moved to team to Copps Coliseum after a bit of a facelift and the Hamilton Penguins were born. I deliberated on how to go about the Penguin rebrands for a couple of days. Ultimately I decided to keep the penguins intact, with variations on how they were presented. You’ll see something similar with the Portland Penguins. I opted for a gear symbol to represent the industrial nature of the region and to reflect how a good hockey team works. Every player is theoretically a gear in the machine that makes the engine run smoothly. I think their current black/gold/white uniforms are perfect but for the sake of this series, we’re switching it up. Grey is back in the mix to separate them from any Bruin similarities. The striping pattern is a bit of a throwback to their 1974-75 set, albeit with some differences. The Penguins era continues in the Pacific Northwest next! Let me know what you think about the Hamiltonian segment. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberwolf Posted May 23 Author Share Posted May 23 Penguins Pack Up for Portland This is a continuation of the previous backstory with a different outcome. To avoid repeating myself, here’s the SparkNotes of the Penguins’ near-relocation era… Money problems. Arena falling apart without a replacement in place. Bad. There we go. In this even more alternate universe, the Hamilton bid fell through and Jim Balsillie went home empty-handed. The Penguins’ new owner was Paul Allen, who owned the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trailblazers. I bet he had a great business card, too. Portland was one of the known potential suitors in case the Penguins decided to find a new home. The supposed investor behind the interest was Allen… so what would the team look like if the Pens had landed in Oregon? I had referenced this design approach in the Hamilton segment, but I wanted to keep the penguin as the focal point of the brand. I swapped out the triangle for an abstract shape of a rose. Portland is known as the “Rose City” or “City of Roses” so that was an easy piece to draw some inspiration from. I’m aware a rose is more flowy and isn’t perfectly symmetrical but for this design, I modified it a bit to complement the skating penguin. The black and gold hit the exits in favour of a forest green with red accents. I leaned more in the direction of white as the secondary colour to separate them from any similarities to the Minnesota Wild. I had initially experimented with using a lighter red, closer to what a rose would be, but it didn’t look very professional. I went back to the 1974-75 well for the uniform inspiration, with some changes. I flipped the sleeve design to resemble what they wear now, with the striping pattern from the 70s. Red plays the accent role with white being the secondary colour. I opted to avoid the sleeve design flip for the road uniform to balance the colours a bit more. We travel up north and then back down south for the next segment. Until then, let me know what you think about the Rose City Penguins! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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