Latest Rumor: NHL Team Expected to Announce Rebranding in 2012

[bowld]

Dont think it will be Florida. They are already changing things up for next season..why bother if a complete re-brand is coming the following year?

I will go with Carolina..I hate their current look so almost anything would be an improvement

[speedy]

Also, Mac said his source mentioned the change was something "never done before" in the NHL. It's clearly not Anaheim backtracking to the Disney Era. Throw me in the pool with the ones who say Carolina.

[elliott]

Now that light blue is gone as a jersey color with the Thrashers departure, what if Carolina took on some sort of light blue color scheme to align with UNC? its easily identifiable with North Carolina in general, Panthers too.

[Ricky_Roby]

Weren't there rumours of the Phoenix Coyotes becoming the Arizona Coyotes or something like that?

That's if they're still around in 2012-2013...

[Mac the Knife]

For the record, don't take my residence in Raleigh as a consideration in your speculation. As for what team it is, I honestly don't know any more than you guys at this point. My friend wouldn't tell me with the old stand-by, "I can't confirm or deny..." when I pointedly asked about Carolina, Dallas, Florida and St. Louis (borderline southern in my book).

My source is someone who is involved in the actual brand development process. Who he works with or for, or any detail beyond that, I'm not going to provide for fear the guy gets "outed" and winds up losing his job for confiding anything in me.

One thing I can confirm, based on my friend's disclosures to me, is that a corporate branding (i.e., the Washington Freedom of WPS becoming "MagicJack") is not part of the plans, nor is it related to a team relocation.

I'm trying to pump my friend for what other information I can get, but at the same time don't want to jeopardize my relationship with this source. Suffice it to say that it's reliable enough for me to post here - and I as a general rule don't like looking foolish by posting things I suspect to be inaccurate.

[29texan]

I'm guessing Dallas because teams often move away from green during a rebrand, and Stars is a somewhat generic name that ownership probably doesn't feel like they "own".

True, but it does have significance being as Dallas is in the lone star state. North Stars hold over or not, I think the Stars name works just fine in Dallas; I doubt they're going to change.

The thing is the Cowboys pretty much own the preeminent Star logo in professional sports, so the Dallas Stars can never really be at that level of recognition with their name/logo because somebody already does it perfectly. The Stars tried another way of portraying stars with Mooterus and it was awful. I just think they are stuck with their identity and want a change that they can more fully own.

...nah.

See, they're still a TEXAS team. And several Texas teams have the star as or somewhere in their logos. The Cowboys own most of Texas in terms of fans, but not logos. I doubt Dallas changes.

I'll say Florida as well.

[justen]

I hope its not the Canes, they have a simple look and unique with the warning flag stripes. There doesn't needd to be any more baby blue in the NHL everyone now is jumping that way. Id wonder if they push back the preds another year and do a complete rebrand

[DustDevil61]

This is interesting...though I sure hope it isn't Carolina or Dallas; I find both their overall identities (the Stars' "star pattern" jerseys, anyways) to be some of the most unique in the NHL. I, for one, like the Hurricanes' uniforms and color scheme, as well as the Stars' (provided that they can, you know, use green).

If there's anything that I'd do for Carolina, I'd swap out the silver for Carolina Blue:

Though, a name like Carolina Pilots (honoring the Wright Bros.) might not be a bad idea.

If it is Dallas, let's hope that they become the Lone Stars (even if it doesn't make a lot of sense), though the name "Desperadoes" could open up the potential for an interesting color scheme (Brown/Gold, Brown/Orange come to mind for me).

It could be Phoenix (Roadrunners for a year?), Anaheim (return to Mighty Ducks?), Nashville (if they've somehow decided to stop rebranding for next year), or Florida (this is the NHL's Panthers...I wouldn't put anything past them). However, Tampa Bay might have heard enough complaints about their new look to have it become a one-year thing, but that's very unlikely. I can see the Lightning's new look growing on a lot of people (myself included) over time.

[Morgan33]

I have a terrible feeling the Dallas Stars will flush 17 years of history down the toliet. The alternates have been scrapped due to "Ownership uncertainty and the lack of effort put into their current identity is troubling as well.

This was posted before.

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/05/rolling-newsletter---whats-up-with-alter.html

Losing the Stars identity would be a huge mistake in my opinion. It has a Stanley Cup behind it and is the only thing that remains of the Northstars. If the Wild became the Northstars afterwards however I wouldn't mind at all.

[nuordr]

Why in the world would people assume these uniforms are bland?

Home - Nice set without the bland piping of the more traditional teams (Boston, Toronto)

Away- Same as the home jersey

Alternate - Beautiful

[The_Admiral]

The rebranding, I'm told, will incorporate not only a change in colors, but a change in the team's name and, quoting my friend, "something that's never been done in the NHL before."

Oh crap, they're going to be HC Something.

[WSU151]

Considering Carolina's relationship with NC State, I doubt the Hurricanes would do something that overly identifies themselves with the Tar Heels.

And I really doubt Dallas would take the name of an Arena football team (Dallas Desperadoes)

[worcat]

i couldn't imagine a well known team would even consider risking doing something along these lines. I could see Dallas wanting to get away from the North Stars past but at this point, it's a little late right? Doesn't make that much sense anyway, Stars works for the Dallas area. I could see Anaheim or Nashville or Phoenix doing this. My main bet would be Phoenix - My only idea for this is them possibly trying to save the franchise and maybe playing half their games in another city? Something similar to what the Hornets did back with Hurricane Katrina. Although this would be under different circumstances - financial reasoning. It'd be a first for sure. The Hurricanes, Stars and Ducks have a cup behind them and have mostly been successful in the past years. I cant see them doing anything although it wouldnt surprise me... But Phoenix and Nashville could be my choices.

[JQK]

I'm going to go with the Hurricanes, simply based on Mac's location. Local news travels more quickly...

[fishheatcats]

Has Jeff Loria secretly purchased the Panthers? So long Florida Panthers, hello Miami Panthers and orange and black!

Or are the Carolina Hurricanes changing their colors to navy, green, and silver, and changing their name to "Hartford Whalers"?

That's not funny.

No way it's the Panthers. They are going back to red and appealing to the hardcore fans. They would not become the Miami Panthers because A they have their own arena which is not in Miami, but in Broward County near Fort Lauderdale, and B they are named after the FLORIDA Panther animal.

[nitroseed]

COME ON, CAROLINA! That hurricane frisbee has gotta go.

[Buster]

Nashville could use a better look. "something that's never been done before" will be a team that's a tribute to Elvis. I'm not even kidding.

LA Kings?

Add on Phoenix if they're still around and they're my top 3 picks.

[DeFrank]

Hopefully Florida or Nashville, I really hate their designs! Now Phoenix... I love their logos! Great set and I hope they don't change.

[swilson160]

It's Atlanta. Nobody in the NHL has ever done a rebrand on a team that no longer exists.

[BLUELANDbeliever]

It's Atlanta. Nobody in the NHL has ever done a rebrand on a team that no longer exists.

i believe the op has probable cause to believe that his information is not of the obvious variety. Other wise, this thread is useless.