Hampton Roads Rhinos

[BrianVlietDesign]

Back in 1996, there was an expansion bid put together by George Shinn to bring a National Hockey League franchise to Norfolk, Virginia. This team were to be called the Hampton Roads Rhinos. Obviously, he was unsuccessful in his attempt and any chance of the Whalers possibly coming there was a long shot. However, since then there has been a fairly big number of people who want to see a team in Norfolk. The NHL has even mentioned Norfolk as a possible relocation or expansion spot sometime in the future. But, with cities like Winnipeg, Kansas City, and Seattle as front runners it could be a while.

But, what if the Rhinos had actually been inducted into the league? What would they have looked like then, and even today? I explored this idea and came up with a series of uniforms that somewhat "document" the evolution of uniforms over the years and what some of their sweaters could have have looked like based on trends in the NHL during the past decade or so.

First, I start with what they would have worn in their 1997-1998 inaugural season. Their colors were red, white, blue, and silver. The uniforms designs I feel would have mimicked the horns of a rhino and would have been similar to the at the time Sabres look, but with a Hurricanes meets Lightning edge.

Home:

Away:

I figured by sometime near 2003 or 2004, the Rhinos would have introduced an alternate somewhere along the line. I think they would have wanted a more traditional hockey look. Many clubs, including Colorado, Anaheim, and Minnesota began the trend and I believe Hampton Roads would have followed this.

Alternate:

And eventually, the alternate jersey would take over as their home uniform in 2005 (post-lockout).

Home:

Away:

By the 2007-2008 season this is what I could have seen the Rhinos currently wearing. Numbers above the shoulder crests are becoming widely popular amongst the league and the Rhinos would be the only team to not have the numbers on the shoulders, but on the crest. They would also undergo a color change to represent a new era of the franchise. They would however keep their current logos for history sake (similar to the current Canucks) and the fan favorite Alternate logo would be placed upon the helmets and pants.

Home:

Away:

I think an alternate would be introduced by the 2010-2011 season, but I wanted to post these first and post the alternate later.

C+C please. Thank you.

[ChuckNorris]

Interesting, i could actually see this for an NHL team that played in the 90s. only thing is I think there should be a logo with only a rhinos head like the ducks had the duck face.

[Lights Out]

I like everything up to the "modern" uniforms. I don't think mauve works for an aggressive sport such as hockey. I also don't think a team with that kind of logo would suddenly become conformist when the Edge uniforms came in.

[BrianVlietDesign]

I like everything up to the "modern" uniforms. I don't think mauve works for an aggressive sport such as hockey. I also don't think a team with that kind of logo would suddenly become conformist when the Edge uniforms came in.

I see what you're saying, but the same could have been said about the Mighty Ducks about having eggplant and the Thrashers introudcing powder blue. I mean, does powder blue on the Pens and Thrashers make them look anymore aggressive than a shade of purple on the Rhinos?

Purple, in most variation is looked upon as a regal color. With many of the NHL's franchises adapting interesting color pallettes nowadays I think this could have been unique.

[BrianVlietDesign]

Interesting, i could actually see this for an NHL team that played in the 90s. only thing is I think there should be a logo with only a rhinos head like the ducks had the duck face.

I was thinking of doing something like that. Maybe for a shoulder on the 90s uniform. I'll work on that and post it soon.

[Cody21]

[huge quote snipped]

can i have a copy of this logo plz?????????

[Raymie]

Since I put the original "I wonder if..." call out there, I will offer my rebuttal.

I believe the Rhinos would have been light purple-mauve (as here), athletic gold, and silver accents for their first NHL look as well. (You need more secondary logos; consider tracing the rhino head only. The HR is good for the first set.)

What you have as the primary set would have made a good third jersey (if quickly dated). Original Rhinos NHL jerseys would be much plainer — the logo itself is pretty wild. Used up through the 02-03 season.

They would have undergone a redesign earlier than you have them (more like the Phoenix Coyotes) with a new rhino primary, a full body secondary on the alt and a new shoulder crest. Updated logos to drop the 90s style. Much darker purple (think Northwestern) with the athletic gold, white, and silver. Some nice things. Probably a BFBS alt.

In addition I don't think what you would have had in use would have been usable after the Edge redesign (those could be, say, 2004-07 uniforms). You'd have to change the piping a bit for Edge.

With the Edge redesign they would have changed their piping. The BFBS alt probably disappears during 07-08, and the new alt introduced in 2008-09 is gold, not black, with either the full body rhino OR a roundel crest.

[hockey week]

I really like the design you came up with, those originals are perfect for the lunacy of that idea. The 2008 set leaves a lot to be desired though, don't you think that this team would go through a lot of the same fads that the rest of the league did? BFBS, terrible third jersey, up through fauxbacks of today. You hit it out of the park at the beginning, and it fades from there. I think you should take another stab at the alternate history, because this is too good to one-and-done it

[Midway]

Back in 1996, there was an expansion bid put together by George Shinn to bring a National Hockey League franchise to Norfolk, Virginia. This team were to be called the Hampton Roads Rhinos. Obviously, he was unsuccessful in his attempt and any chance of the Whalers possibly coming there was a long shot. However, since then there has been a fairly big number of people who want to see a team in Norfolk. The NHL has even mentioned Norfolk as a possible relocation or expansion spot sometime in the future. But, with cities like Winnipeg, Kansas City, and Seattle as front runners it could be a while.

But, what if the Rhinos had actually been inducted into the league? What would they have looked like then, and even today? I explored this idea and came up with a series of uniforms that somewhat "document" the evolution of uniforms over the years and what some of their sweaters could have have looked like based on trends in the NHL during the past decade or so.

First, I start with what they would have worn in their 1997-1998 inaugural season. Their colors were red, white, blue, and silver. The uniforms designs I feel would have mimicked the horns of a rhino and would have been similar to the at the time Sabres look, but with a Hurricanes meets Lightning edge.

Home:

Away:

I figured by sometime near 2003 or 2004, the Rhinos would have introduced an alternate somewhere along the line. I think they would have wanted a more traditional hockey look. Many clubs, including Colorado, Anaheim, and Minnesota began the trend and I believe Hampton Roads would have followed this.

Alternate:

And eventually, the alternate jersey would take over as their home uniform in 2005 (post-lockout).

Home:

Away:

By the 2007-2008 season this is what I could have seen the Rhinos currently wearing. Numbers above the shoulder crests are becoming widely popular amongst the league and the Rhinos would be the only team to not have the numbers on the shoulders, but on the crest. They would also undergo a color change to represent a new era of the franchise. They would however keep their current logos for history sake (similar to the current Canucks) and the fan favorite Alternate logo would be placed upon the helmets and pants.

Home:

Away:

I think an alternate would be introduced by the 2010-2011 season, but I wanted to post these first and post the alternate later.

C+C please. Thank you.

can i have a copy of this logo plz?????????

Or how about giving him some worthwhile C&C on a concept he spent his valuable time working on instead of just asking for things?

As far as this set goes it's pretty catchy and develops a unique identity with each uniform which is a plus. I'm not a fan of the purple shade you used itself but somehow you made it look fantastic. I'm a little iffy on the edge version's striping though so I'd like to see a side view of the look you're going for, perhaps a player model

[Patchey13]

The edge jerseys just have waaaaaay too much going on at once.

[IceCap]

I always love concepts/projects like this. Nicely done, though I have to ask, why red? All of the Rhinos promo material I can find is purple/mauve, black, grey, and athletic gold.

Also, I love what you were able to do given that logo, but I have to wonder if it would have ever seen the ice had the team come into existence. It seems just a tad cartoony for the NHL. That logo always struck me as something along the lines of the Ottawa Senators' Peace Tower wordmark promotional logo. A logo that was used during the expansion process but abandoned as soon the team was granted and serious consideration was given to the uniforms.

I also don't think a team with that kind of logo would suddenly become conformist when the Edge uniforms came in.

Those Edge uniforms are anything but conformist. Not as far as NHL uniforms go.

[dfwabel]

can i have a copy of this logo plz?????????

Looking to steal yet another logo, huh?

[missouri tigers]

Why are we commenting on a nearly two year old concept?

By the way, Cody, there are right ways to make requests and wrong ways, this is the the latter.

[Cody21]

Why are we commenting on a nearly two year old concept?

By the way, Cody, there are right ways to make requests and wrong ways, this is the the latter.

oh. sorry guys. i should made this a request. i brang this up by complete accident because i needed the logo for a concept. i wondered what this team would look like now.

[BrianVlietDesign]

I always love concepts/projects like this. Nicely done, though I have to ask, why red? All of the Rhinos promo material I can find is purple/mauve, black, grey, and athletic gold.

I have one of the Pepsi cans in which they had season ticket information on the Rhinos and the colors of the logo were red, white, blue, and silver. That's what I based the first uniforms on. After that I sort of went hog wild and I agree with a lot of people that I really should revisit this idea because it had a lot of potential.

[-kj]

The whole thing--their logos, the purple jerseys--kindof has a San Jose Rhinos feel to it.

[BrianVlietDesign]

The whole thing--their logos, the purple jerseys--kindof has a San Jose Rhinos feel to it.

I kind of noticed that, too. I wonder if maybe they had a little inspiration from them?