4 New* NHL Teams that SHOULD be...

[sparkychewbarky]

Liking the Kraken sparky. I assume will see a mascot?

...Billy the Squid.

[Guest darkpiranha]

Liking the Kraken sparky. I assume will see a mascot?

...Billy the Squid.

Ouch! That's painful.

But perfect.

For your trident logo, did you ever try making the trident an octodent? If you keep the one tine pointing down, you can have seven tines pointing up and maybe even all bendy like the Kraken in the picture. I think the basic look of the trident points would translate well enough even with more than three points.

[The_Admiral]

Your Kraken looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[sparkychewbarky]

Your Kraken looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Hmmm...maybe he could moonlight in the off-season for East Side Mario's.

[Brian in Boston]

The Ontario Beavers and Halifax Monarchs primary logos are outstanding. The Seattle Krakens primary mark could be, but something has to be done about the "SEATTLE" lettering on the tentacle-S. I understand that it's a nostalgic shout-out to the rather devil-may-care placement of the lettering on the old Seattle Metropolitans primary logo, but it just looks horrible in the modern era. The lettering on the Krakens primary has to either be adjusted so that each of the individuals letters is aligned straight up-and-down, or I'd eliminate it entirely. I'd also think long and hard about rendering it in a slightly-stylized font and in a color other than white, as it almost looks too generic as it is.

[sparkychewbarky]

Liking the Kraken sparky. I assume will see a mascot?

...Billy the Squid.

Ouch! That's painful.

But perfect.

For your trident logo, did you ever try making the trident an octodent? If you keep the one tine pointing down, you can have seven tines pointing up and maybe even all bendy like the Kraken in the picture. I think the basic look of the trident points would translate well enough even with more than three points.

The Ontario Beavers and Halifax Monarchs primary logos are outstanding. The Seattle Krakens primary mark could be, but something has to be done about the "SEATTLE" lettering on the tentacle-S. I understand that it's a nostalgic shout-out to the rather devil-may-care placement of the lettering on the old Seattle Metropolitans primary logo, but it just looks horrible in the modern era. The lettering on the Krakens primary has to either be adjusted so that each of the individuals letters is aligned straight up-and-down, or I'd eliminate it entirely. I'd also think long and hard about rendering it in a slightly-stylized font and in a color other than white, as it almost looks too generic as it is.

Good suggestions from Darkp and Brian, the Lord Chancellor of Mirth and etc.

I'll work on those over the weekend.

I was going to do the the entire Kraken concept before moving on to the others, but it may be better to do all the logos for the 4 teams first.

Then I can respond to the C&C, get the logos "right", and then apply them to the unis, merchandise, and other good stuff.

Thanks.

[Joke Insurance]

I do feel that an NHL team in Halifax/Nova Scotia could work, despite it being in a small market. Out of the other Canadian markets proposed for new NHL teams (Saint John - Moncton, Sherbrooke, Sudbury - Thunder Bay and Saskatoon), Halifax/Nova Scotia would be the most successful.

[MDGP]

Good to see another Chewbarky series. Aside from the comments you've already received, Seattle looks pretty darn good. For whatever reason, the tentacles on the KrakenMonster are sending me a sort of steampunk vibe, which I actually like a lot. Was that intentional, or am I just seeing things?

Can't wait to see where the rest of this goes!

[sparkychewbarky]

For whatever reason, the tentacles on the KrakenMonster are sending me a sort of steampunk vibe, which I actually like a lot. Was that intentional

It wasn't intentional Lafarge, but now that you mention it, I see it too.

Maybe that's an idea that can be developed at the merchandise stage.

Thanks.

something has to be done about the "SEATTLE" lettering on the tentacle-S. I understand that it's a nostalgic shout-out to the rather devil-may-care placement of the lettering on the old Seattle Metropolitans primary logo, but it just looks horrible in the modern era. The lettering on the Krakens primary has to either be adjusted so that each of the individuals letters is aligned straight up-and-down, or I'd eliminate it entirely. I'd also think long and hard about rendering it in a slightly-stylized font and in a color other than white, as it almost looks too generic as it is.

Again, good advice...which I acted on.

I found a nice clean 'Belgrad' font, that has a bit of a curl on the K and R (to match the tentacle thing).

I toned down the white on the lettering to a vintage white. I think that the logos are improved.

Thanks Brian.

[sparkychewbarky]

Quebec Nordiques Logos

Now, I'm not as up on Nords' history as many of you will be, so forgive me if I get some facts wrong...

And, this is new ground for me: tweaking an existing logo. I usually go totally original from scratch, but the admiral nailed it when he stated that the Nordiques' igloo wasn't broken so it needs no fixing.

So what I've done with the Nords is pretty basic. I've re-coloured the primary "igloo" to match the new proposed colour scheme, and I've created a new secondary that also reflects the new colours and combines the fleur-de-lis with a compass shape. I remember 'bleuet' doing a nice concept a while back using the compass idea, so I thank bleuet for sparkin' the idea.

As you can see, the igloo has gone through a transformation over the years, as have the Nords' colours.

The original WHA team began their inaugural season with a palette of red, light blue and white.

The blue became darker by the time the Nordiques morphed into their classic minimalist unis at the end of their stay in Quebec.

On a personal note, I never realized that the logo was a depiction of an igloo until recently. (one of my eyes don't work right).

I always saw the logo as the letter "n", rendered as a hockey player in some kind of Inuit abstract art style.

The round shape was the guy's head. Speakin' of round heads, remember the old Joffa flower-pot helmets?

Anyway, inspired by GotPixels' great job in blending old and new blues in his recent "Texans" concept, I decided to apply the same thought to the Nordiques...

I slimmed the stick blade down a tad, to make it look less like a shovel. You couldn't shoot with that big chunk o' wood! How could you shoot with that?!

Other than that minor tweak, the igloo/inuit player/letter"n" is the way it was.

I applied the double-blue, red and white colours.

The secondary will go up on the shoulders and put some red up there, and I've kept the plain fleur-de-lis for some trim work.

[The_Admiral]

The Inuit take on the Nords' logo is interesting! I never thought about it that way, but I can kinda see it in a way. If it's any consolation, I always thought it was an elephant until learning much later that it was an igloo and a lowercase 'n' with a hockey stick. One of my favorite logos ever.

I get the rationale behind fixing the stick, but the logo itself is so abstract that to tweak the stick for the purpose of realism is hardly necessary. You could make the igloo look more like an igloo and make the n look more like an n, too, but then you'd lose the gestalt of it all. Adding the second shade of blue and the outline just makes it look too bulky. It's like one outline too many. I do like the updated single-layer fleur-de-lis for the bottom. It looks like a proprietary logo without getting too far away from what a fleur-de-lis should look like. The other one with the compass rose, again, too layered for its own good.

[sparkychewbarky]

The Inuit take on the Nords' logo is interesting! I never thought about it that way, but I can kinda see it in a way. If it's any consolation, I always thought it was an elephant until learning much later that it was an igloo and a lowercase 'n' with a hockey stick. One of my favorite logos ever.

I get the rationale behind fixing the stick, but the logo itself is so abstract that to tweak the stick for the purpose of realism is hardly necessary. You could make the igloo look more like an igloo and make the n look more like an n, too, but then you'd lose the gestalt of it all. Adding the second shade of blue and the outline just makes it look too bulky. It's like one outline too many. I do like the updated single-layer fleur-de-lis for the bottom. It looks like a proprietary logo without getting too far away from what a fleur-de-lis should look like. The other one with the compass rose, again, too layered for its own good.

You're right admiral. That outer layer of the lighter blue was unnecessary. I have a bad habit of over-working stuff.

It looks better with your suggestion. Thanks.

...But man, I gotta leave that stick change. The "shovel" has always bugged me.

I know it's an abstract thing, but it always looked like it was designed by someone who didn't have a clue what a hockey stick looked like.

I tried to convince myself that it was a goalie stick. That didn't work.

I had to change it so that I can move on...Turn the page so to speak.

[jmoe12]

Looks really nice, will you do a mascot for the Nordiques?

[grant1woods]

I love both of the logos... especially the Kraken

[JackieMoon]

As an American, I would even like to see the NHL go deeper into Canada (since it's their number 1 sport). Halifax and Quebec would be cool. Like one of the guys mentioned above, 2 Expansion Teams and 2 Relocations would be best. Maybe if Bettman would get ousted, Florida and Phoenix would go away. Where the NHL is about tradition, I say the Seattle team should be called the Metropolitans or Totems. Maybe, I missed something but where would the Ontario Beavers be located? Hamilton?

[kevsim1]

As an American, I would even like to see the NHL go deeper into Canada (since it's their number 1 sport). Halifax and Quebec would be cool. Like one of the guys mentioned above, 2 Expansion Teams and 2 Relocations would be best. Maybe if Bettman would get ousted, Florida and Phoenix would go away. Where the NHL is about tradition, I say the Seattle team should be called the Metropolitans or Totems. Maybe, I missed something but where would the Ontario Beavers be located? Hamilton?

Markham IIRC

[sparkychewbarky]

Looks really nice, will you do a mascot for the Nordiques?

Thanks jmoe. I may not have to. The Nords had their beloved "Badaboum", a "Youpi" look-a-like. (Why is it all Quebec mascots look the same?)

I may be able to talk him/her out of retirement.

I love both of the logos... especially the Kraken

Hi grant. I think that the whole "Kraken" concept could be a ton of fun, and, like the "Beavers", it's something that'll grow on you.

As an American, I would even like to see the NHL go deeper into Canada (since it's their number 1 sport). Halifax and Quebec would be cool. Like one of the guys mentioned above, 2 Expansion Teams and 2 Relocations would be best. Maybe if Bettman would get ousted, Florida and Phoenix would go away. Where the NHL is about tradition, I say the Seattle team should be called the Metropolitans or Totems. Maybe, I missed something but where would the Ontario Beavers be located? Hamilton?

As an American, I would even like to see the NHL go deeper into Canada (since it's their number 1 sport). Halifax and Quebec would be cool. Like one of the guys mentioned above, 2 Expansion Teams and 2 Relocations would be best. Maybe if Bettman would get ousted, Florida and Phoenix would go away. Where the NHL is about tradition, I say the Seattle team should be called the Metropolitans or Totems. Maybe, I missed something but where would the Ontario Beavers be located? Hamilton?

Markham IIRC

Hi guys. At the time I started the "Battle of Markham" series, it looked like Markham was a lock to be the location of a 2nd Southern Ontario NHL team. Now, I'm not so sure. There's growing opposition and it sounds like the Arena/NHL Team issue will be the battleground for the next Markham mayoral race. Personally, I'd love to see a team in Hamilton, but you're kind of pissin' off 2 franchises (Buffalo and T.O.) if you locate there.

I guess the advantage of being named the "Ontario Beavers" is that they could be anywhere.

[The_Admiral]

I think Badaboum is an otter, but don't take my word for it.

[sparkychewbarky]

I think Badaboum is an otter, but don't take my word for it.

You may be right.

Whatever it is, it's kind of lame.

If it is an otter, it otter stay retired.

[NatsFan2004]

Love, Love, LOVE the Beavers one. I'm not sold on the "Ontario" prefix, but that logo is All-Star quality! The Highlanders one is excellent too, though it would be nice if it said HALIFAX somewhere. Like the Seattle update and the Nords as well, though I actually like the fleur-de-lis logo better as a primary than the classic "N". To each their own, I guess..