The Next Canadian NHL Franchise

[whateverman42]

whateverman, I agree that the Hammer SHOULD have a team, and if I thought that Hamilton had a snowball's chance in hell of getting a franchise, I'd be making THEM the focus of this thread.

But it ain't gonna happen. Buffalo has a new wealthy owner who won't be moving the team, and a NEW franchise in Steeltown would conflict with TWO existing teams; not just one. (Bettman's NOT going to piss-off the Leafs)

It's more likely that the Bills will move and then the Sabres will have that market to themselves.

NoJoe, Regina sounds good. Make the case.

I think they have a chance, there was some recent news about Bettman telling Balsillie that if he waited a bit he'd get another chance at a team if he was more low-key about it. And Balsillie would probably go back to Hamilton. Of course, if his BlackBerry does not recover from its recent struggles competing with iPhones and Androids, he won't have the money to be buying hockey teams.

Copps is a complete dump. They'd need to build a new arena or at the very least spend millions upon millions in upgrades.

So in that regard they do not have an areana, just like Quebec and Halifax.

With that said, I think Hamilton, Buffalo and, Toronto could all support teams. Hamilton should get a kick at the can if you ask me. Why not? Better than bleeding out millions in Arizona.

Oh it is a dump, but with renovations I think it would come to less of a cost than building an entirely new rink. And that's what I think, they deserve a kick at the can, QC and Winnipeg recently had teams and Hamilton is on equal footing to them in every capacity. It just seems fair. I lived there for a while and its disheartening to put up with rumours and continually have your hopes dashed. Its worse than losing a team.

[VC//]

I came to see the concept.

I stayed for the women.

[Frenchie]

I like it. It just fits a visual style that seems so fitting for Quebec hockey.

Yeah!!! I remember growing up living in an igloo...

Seriously? enough of that everything retro is cool... it was an o.k. logo for a semi-pro (WHA) team in the 70s, but this logo needs to go...

I'd rather have the team called the Rempart if they wouldn't change the logo...

And I want a name that anglos can't shorten to be the Nerds or the Dicks....

[Grovesinternational]

Quebec City Citadelles! that would be my choice

[sparkychewbarky]

Challenge #3...Name and Logos

I've been putting this one off, because I'm in pretty tough against the iconic and historic 'Quebec Nordiques', name and logo.

Ice Cap put it best by noting that the Nord logo IS Quebec hockey (or something like that}

I explained how this concept is a joint venture between the Scottish-Canadian community, Nova Scotia, and the city of Halifax...

So, a 'Scottish' theme seemed appropriate.

After mulling over many ideas, I decided to run with;

Halifax Highlander Hockey Club.

I wanted to give this franchise an international feel, and by using 'Highlander' rather than 'Highlanders', I shorten a lengthy name by a letter.

Also, there is a well-known 'Halifax Highlanders' military band (I believe), and I wanted to differentiate somewhat.

For the primary logo, I used the white-on-blue Scottish saltire, and the blue-on-white Nova Scotia flag on a Highlander circular shield.

It can be used with or without a 'Halifax' or 'Highlander' wordmark. (Finalized wordmark to come later)

Pretty simple, eh?...(too simple?)

[sparkychewbarky]

I like it. It just fits a visual style that seems so fitting for Quebec hockey.

Yeah!!! I remember growing up living in an igloo...

Seriously? enough of that everything retro is cool... it was an o.k. logo for a semi-pro (WHA) team in the 70s, but this logo needs to go...

I'd rather have the team called the Rempart if they wouldn't change the logo...

And I want a name that anglos can't shorten to be the Nerds or the Dicks....

Yeah frenchie, we anglos are a wicked bunch of nerdy dicks.

[youcan'tseeme]

I love the Halifax stuff, but I think it needs to be plural. Just doesn't make sense to me as a singular name.

[aci]

I love the Halifax stuff, but I think it needs to be plural. Just doesn't make sense to me as a singular name.

I agree with this. It's a great concept thus far, with the exception of the singular name. Every singular name in the history of North American sports sucks, and with ice hockey not being a European sport, I fail to see the logic in having a Euro-style team name. It just raises questions and eyebrows.

[fumbler]

I love it, and anything that takes away from them frogs is a great plan.

Halifax Axe

[Viper]

The Halifax Supernovas. (Named for the most devastating natural phenomenon in the universe, with a built-in provincial reference to boot.)

[sparkychewbarky]

Guys...I hear ya on the "Highlander-with-an-'s'-thing", but for now I'm gonna stick with the status quo for reasons that I'll explain later.

I revamped the logos a bit, and I wasn't going to use a celtic font on 'Highlander', but what the heck...

'Halifax' has a little swirl in it (like an ocean swell) to suggest a coastal city.

It is also a "swell" logo.

[sparkychewbarky]

Here's first crack at sweaters.

Home. Away.

[CGL77]

This is amazing man. Keep up the good work.

[sparkychewbarky]

Thanks CG.

...Wasn't happy with my secondary.

So, I nixed it, and made my previous primary (the circular shield logo), my secondary.

With a joint venture between Canadian Scots, Nova Scotia, and Halifax,

I felt that the main logo should include a heraldic red rampant lion.

I added a hockey stick and 2 waves.

My colouring's a little off. Its supposed to be;

-black-blue

-50% black-blue (steely-blue)

-white

-and a yellow-gold, and red in the logos.

...Wasn't happy with my sweaters either. Too generic.

I wanted the St. Andrew's cross to be in the design, but not overpowering the logos and numbers;

So, I toned the 'crosses back by making them an outline and colouring them a shade of the black-blue background.

Like so...

[sparkychewbarky]

I made up this template a while ago, and have used it on other concepts,

but Franzen makes a great 'Highlander'. He just has that look.

[jamdawg1]

Even the music would be good.

Queen's "Princes of The Universe" from Highlander when the team comes out for pregame warmups.

"Scotland The Brave" when Goals are scored.

Crazy Stuff.

[HawkeyHouse]

I like the design that Franzen is wearing.

[sparkychewbarky]

Thanks Hawk;

and Dawg,If you like that kind of stuff, check out 'The Battle' by 'Wolfstone'...awesome!

That's the beauty of the Highlander theme: there's a ton of music, images, icons, stuff to use

for promos, game-ops, etc.

A few tweaks to the home unis...

[hockey week]

the logos are fantastic, but the jersey leaves an awful lot of be desired. They're too busy, certainly not NHL-ready. I get your gimmick, I like what you're getting at, but I think the execution is way off.

Look to these for inspiration:

I think having those stripes across the chest, perhaps much thinner, like the thickness you're currently using, would be incredibly unique and yet not crazy. Combine it with traditional-looking stripes on the sleeves and understated socks, and you'll have a HUGE winner here.

Two other thoughts: If you're going to use gold outlines on the logos, use them elsewhere, especially the numbers. The white outlines and gold outlines look odd side-by-side, and you're talking about a lot of Scottish heritage here, don't be afraid to use plaid! Having a very traditional-striped jersey (like Vancouver or 90s-Winnipeg level of traditional) with plaid made out of the various blues you're using filling in the center stripes. Every time it's toyed with (usually in a Canucks jersey), it gets rave reviews, and I think this might be the perfect place to implement it.

[zambonice]

Is this the Jets jersey finally???