Tampa Bay Lightning New Logos

[Bmac]

Wow, I laugh at this. The addition of the lightning bolt is great, best thing they could have done. But then they threw black in there and ruined it. I like the addition of black, but not just on the numbers like that. It looks like they tried to figure out where they could just slap on some black and decided the numbers would be easy.

[Morgan33]

The Blue and white look was definately the way to go. That being said, I don't know why they just threw black in there. It looks so out of place now, and turned a near flawless design into a jumbled mix. I love the new logo, they should just do away with the black.

This is a joke, right? They look like horse **** with the black added. Like someone else said, all they needed was a white bolt on the pants and white victory stripes (I don't care either way on those) and they'd be nice. Now it is black for ****ing black's sake and it looks awful.

I agree, this made it even worse. I was all for adding some touches of black (or of silver), but this is incredibly poorly executed. Now, they've still got the weird pseudo-Maple Wings thing going on, but with the added effect of two random treatments with black--the number outlines and the outline on the pants bolt--that don't match each other, don't match the logo, and don't match the striping. It's a knee-jerk addition of black, as if no thought was put into this.

Bravo.

You guys are kidding right? The small black outline around the bolt and numbers somehow makes these look worse? For starters the Black is so miminal that if you blur your eyes or look at the set from a distance more than three feet you can't even see it. And its not black for black's sake if the shade was always present in their identity. Honestly if they made the Black outline around the numbers Blue and ditched the outline around the bolt, this set would look no different.

Sometimes I think people complain just to hear themselves to talk

No kidding...

[Don]

I have to say this. I HATE the term "jersey system".

You should have watched the press conference unveiling. The team CEO and owner were throwing out every buzz word they could think of. They even had a Lightning "mission statement" prepared.

It just reminded me of the roll out of the the whole "Edge Uniform System", bad memories man, bad memories.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I was just thinking the same thing as Morgo. From a distance and likely on most TVs and from most seats in the arena, the black won't be noticeable. But fans will know its there, which should be enough to help ease the cries over tradition and help silence the Leafs accusations. The bolt on the pants will be a visible nod to tradition.

When the Rays were black, green and blue, the blue piping was pretty much indistinguishable from the green piping, and because of the large green wordmark was often rfead as green as well. Only those holding numbered jerseys or authentic pants might be able to see the black clearly. (Well, maybe seats on the glass and TV closeups, too.)

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

I'm glad the lightning bolts are back on the pants, but the miniscule addition of black trim on the numbers isn't even worth the addition.

Now if only they'll change the primary and secondary logos, as well as give the entire uniform a complete overhaul.

[IronChefShark]

pants, gloves, and home helmets should still be black.

[BrianVlietDesign]

As much as I like the addition of black, it's not enough. This is still incomplete. Adding the lightning bolt back to the pants looks great. But, that little slap of black isn't enough. It works with the numbers, but as Ice_Cap said, the logo needs it, too.

[BBTV]

It's clear that they have around a million blank replicas already made that can't be altered, so putting black on the numbers was all they could do.

It's an improvement, but like everyone is saying, it's odd to not have it on the logo at all, even if just a shadow.

[Survival79]

Tampa Bay Lightning tweaks new uniforms and ice ticket prices for 2011-12

Originally just blue and white, black has been added as an accent color. In addition a lightning bolt will replace a white stripe on the pants. "It will show up as an accent but it will also give us an opportunity to create merchandise featuring the color black in our uniforms," he said. "The other thing we are going to do is add an iconic bolt to the pant outlined in black."

As far as an alternate sweater is concerned, Leiweke said there will be no change to the current one which features the letters BOLTS on the front. The only modification will be in a shoulder patch which is currently in development.

"When you make changes like we?ve had people have had lots of suggestions on community activism,? Leiweke continued. ?We?ve had suggestions on building renovations and people came back and said a black accent and a bolt on the leg would make them happy. The other thing we heard was a victory stripe under the arm. We missed timing a little bit on that so it could be something we add in the future. For those fans who asked to put that back we ask them to be patient."

[Drakonius26]

So after looking at this possible "improvement." How long would it take them to revert back to their previous uniforms, or is there no rule that can prohibit them from dropping this "iconic and timeless upgrade" altogether?

Something interesting to note... I usually get special clearance e-mails from NHL.com when the current stuff suddenly becomes nothing more than cannon-fodder to their shop, and while I got one early last season for the Buffaslug jerseys going down in price, I've seen nothing about the Lightning's current jerseys dropping in price. Perhaps it's the timing of them presenting their new look to everybody, but this whole rebrand screams 49er One-Day-Logo to me.

[BBTV]

So after looking at this possible "improvement." How long would it take them to revert back to their previous uniforms, or is there no rule that can prohibit them from dropping this "iconic and timeless upgrade" altogether?

Something interesting to note... I usually get special clearance e-mails from NHL.com when the current stuff suddenly becomes nothing more than cannon-fodder to their shop, and while I got one early last season for the Buffaslug jerseys going down in price, I've seen nothing about the Lightning's current jerseys dropping in price. Perhaps it's the timing of them presenting their new look to everybody, but this whole rebrand screams 49er One-Day-Logo to me.

There are zero similarities, give or take zero.

[habsfan1]

They got the right idea, yet it looks even worse now that only the numbers and pants bolt will have black accents. Either add a black trim to everything all in one shot or just keep using Leafs colors and call it a day.

[Drakonius26]

So after looking at this possible "improvement." How long would it take them to revert back to their previous uniforms, or is there no rule that can prohibit them from dropping this "iconic and timeless upgrade" altogether?

Something interesting to note... I usually get special clearance e-mails from NHL.com when the current stuff suddenly becomes nothing more than cannon-fodder to their shop, and while I got one early last season for the Buffaslug jerseys going down in price, I've seen nothing about the Lightning's current jerseys dropping in price. Perhaps it's the timing of them presenting their new look to everybody, but this whole rebrand screams 49er One-Day-Logo to me.

There are zero similarities, give or take zero.

I wouldn't be so sure, it's very tacky and a definite downgrade from their current uniforms. That right there are two similarities to the One-Day-Logo.

At this point it wouldn't be surprising if they pulled this rebrand and reworked the design multiple times. Plus, if they added black to the uniform then what was the point of unveiling anything really?

[habsfan1]

if they added black to the uniform then what was the point of unveiling anything really?

Either they already manufactured too many jerseys to make changes or the league won't grant them permission.

I just hope it doesn't take 3 years to apply the full tweeks (victory stripes included).

[capn89]

If they would have added black to the striping and logo this would be a marked improvement. As it is they look incomplete.

Nice to see the bolts return to the pants though.

This is a joke, right? They look like horse **** with the black added. Like someone else said, all they needed was a white bolt on the pants and white victory stripes (I don't care either way on those) and they'd be nice. Now it is black for ****ing black's sake and it looks awful.

Sometimes I think people complain just to hear themselves to talk

They looked fine, good even, the way they unveiled them. Then people whined, now they're adding black for black's sake and they just don't look right now. At least now no one can call them the Tampa Bay Maple Wings or whatever stupid **** it was. Hell, they might as well throw in a silver gradient while they're add it, then they can have all their old colors back. But ultimately this is two steps forward, one step back, so I guess it's still a step forward. The change, personally, takes the new look from a 7/10 to a 5/10. Again, still much better than anything they've ever worn in the past. Probably a good thing, marketing wise, don't get it perfect the first time that way you can make more money on "adjustments" to the jerseys in future sales.

[BrianLion]

Adding some black trim was the right idea, however the inconsistency in applying it only to the numbering and the pants lightning bolt makes it look really incomplete and half-assed.

[IceCap]

If they would have added black to the striping and logo this would be a marked improvement. As it is they look incomplete.

Nice to see the bolts return to the pants though.

This is a joke, right? They look like horse **** with the black added. Like someone else said, all they needed was a white bolt on the pants and white victory stripes (I don't care either way on those) and they'd be nice. Now it is black for ****ing black's sake and it looks awful.

Sometimes I think people complain just to hear themselves to talk

They looked fine, good even, the way they unveiled them. Then people whined, now they're adding black for black's sake and they just don't look right now. At least now no one can call them the Tampa Bay Maple Wings or whatever stupid **** it was. Hell, they might as well throw in a silver gradient while they're add it, then they can have all their old colors back. But ultimately this is two steps forward, one step back, so I guess it's still a step forward. The change, personally, takes the new look from a 7/10 to a 5/10. Again, still much better than anything they've ever worn in the past. Probably a good thing, marketing wise, don't get it perfect the first time that way you can make more money on "adjustments" to the jerseys in future sales.

So when they steal the colour scheme of a team that's had it to itself for 86 years they're fine. When they add elements that call back to their own history, like black and pants bolts they've ruined it.

Or more to the point when people complain about something you like they're just complaining for the sake of complaining. When you complain about something you don't like it's a legitimate grievance.

Whatever sparky.

[TFoA]

Eh, I would have liked to see some black in the striping; having it on the numbers and pants without tying it into the striping looks odd to me.

Right. And it's on the pants bolt, but not the crest bolt?

That's my biggest peeve with the tweak. Very inconsistent. I honestly wouldn't have minded them just putting a plain white bolt on the pants, no black outline anywhere. BUT, if they were gonna add black, they should've added it on the sleeve stripes as well. Now it looks as if they threw it on there just because someone told them to.

That being said, I think it's cool that the Lightning are taking the fans' feedback & tweaking it. Hell, I'm just shocked that they're listening to fans in general. Sounds like a novel idea in these parts.

[BBTV]

So after looking at this possible "improvement." How long would it take them to revert back to their previous uniforms, or is there no rule that can prohibit them from dropping this "iconic and timeless upgrade" altogether?

Something interesting to note... I usually get special clearance e-mails from NHL.com when the current stuff suddenly becomes nothing more than cannon-fodder to their shop, and while I got one early last season for the Buffaslug jerseys going down in price, I've seen nothing about the Lightning's current jerseys dropping in price. Perhaps it's the timing of them presenting their new look to everybody, but this whole rebrand screams 49er One-Day-Logo to me.

There are zero similarities, give or take zero.

I wouldn't be so sure, it's very tacky and a definite downgrade from their current uniforms. That right there are two similarities to the One-Day-Logo.

At this point it wouldn't be surprising if they pulled this rebrand and reworked the design multiple times. Plus, if they added black to the uniform then what was the point of unveiling anything really?

The 49ers only unveiled a helmet, and it was so roundly hated by the fanbase that they had little choice but to pull it. The new Lightning gear is certainly not hated as much as that 49ers helmet, definitely not by their whole fan base.

Your comment about "tacky" and "downgrade" is purely subjective. There are plenty of people who agree with you, but there are also plenty who disagree. This isn't like the Slug, where it was 99% hate.

Merchandising like we know it today was in its infancy when the 49ers fiasco happened. They probably didn't have to jump through many hoops to simply change back. Now though, so much is done in advance and so much is invested in an identity that it would be way more costly to revert back.

You may be right about them doing some more re-work, but it's clear that they aren't going to deviate too much from what they unveiled.

It's apples and oranges.

[CJworks]

You guys are kidding right? The small black outline around the bolt and numbers somehow makes these look worse? For starters the Black is so miminal that if you blur your eyes or look at the set from a distance more than three feet you can't even see it. And its not black for black's sake if the shade was always present in their identity. Honestly if they made the Black outline around the numbers Blue and ditched the outline around the bolt, this set would look no different.

If the black is so minimal, then why the heck is it even there? Why did Tampa have to go out of their way and add these irrelevant black outlines to an already great update? If the whole idea was to try and move away from the black with the new update then why just throw it in there? Wonderful job there, Tampa.