4 New* NHL Teams that SHOULD be...

[Soarindude]

The Kraken name and look is absolutely perfect. Don't hate the Lightning, we got some passionate fans over here for being such a terrible team. Or maybe the seats are just so cheap that people are inclined to go.

[Grovesinternational]

Big fan of the Northlanders, Highlanders and Beavers concepts but I'm not feeling any of the Kraken logos and the Nordiques logo is pretty horrible, if your going to do the nordiques you could crete a better logo than anything they've used in the past, maybe something that incorporates the Chateau Frontenac?

[Guest darkpiranha]

I used to hate the Nordiques' logo, and when they moved to Colorado, one of my biggest joys about it was no longer having to see the old logo. However, I'm made a 180 in the last couple of years as the groundswell of support for the return of the Nordiques has grown. Plus I saw a neat documentary about the Stastny Brothers that kinda drove home for me that the Nordiques weren't just a Hey-me-too team in Quebec, but a team that had its own pride and identity and was set to finally challenge Montreal for supremacy. Their logo has also grown in stature with me, to the point where I am eagerly looking forward to its return, but with some updates, not unlike what Sparky has done here. The hockey stick always seemed a bit 70's to me, and making it a more normal size has made the whole logo feel more contemporary.

[bleuet]

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.

Hey Sparky,

I may see my dream of watching a Sparky "Nords" concept realized, lol.

Quick historical note: the original Nordiques logos was designed by a 16 years old teen!

If I'd have a suggestion, I think the puck on your Nords logo should be a little smaller, as I looks a bit unbalanced with the smaller hockey stick.

Can't wait to watch more .

[Stampman]

Not a criticism, just a question about the chocie of Kraken for a name.

I would associate kraken more with the Atlantic, and not the Pacific. Might there not be a more Pacific-specific name to say the same sort of thing?

[sparkychewbarky]

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.

Tried the octodent. It didn't look bad on it's own but was awkward with the inter-twiny "S".

I'm gonna stick with the trident as it makes more sense when you see the 3-striped unis.

Thanks darkp.

The Kraken name and look is absolutely perfect. Don't hate the Lightning, we got some passionate fans over here for being such a terrible team. Or maybe the seats are just so cheap that people are inclined to go.

Thanks Soarindude. I don't hate the Lightning.

Big fan of the Northlanders, Highlanders and Beavers concepts but I'm not feeling any of the Kraken logos and the Nordiques logo is pretty horrible, if your going to do the nordiques you could crete a better logo than anything they've used in the past, maybe something that incorporates the Chateau Frontenac?

Thanks Groves. Hopefully the Kraken logos will look better on the unis. I'm almost 100% certain that the Nords igloo logo is here to stay.

Hey Sparky,

I may see my dream of watching a Sparky "Nords" concept realized, lol.

Quick historical note: the original Nordiques logos was designed by a 16 years old teen!

If I'd have a suggestion, I think the puck on your Nords logo should be a little smaller, as I looks a bit unbalanced with the smaller hockey stick.

Can't wait to watch more .

Good to hear from you bleuet. I wonder if the kid knew he was creating such a controversial logo. It seems that one either hates it or loves it.

Not a criticism, just a question about the chocie of Kraken for a name.

I would associate kraken more with the Atlantic, and not the Pacific. Might there not be a more Pacific-specific name to say the same sort of thing?

...And you're right Stampman.

The kraken is Atlantian in origin. In fact, I think that it's a Norwegian or Swedish word.

Again, I never considered Kraken until I noticed that it was doing surprisingly well in a recent poll.

Here's the link...

http://seattlesportscentral.com/seattle-nhl-team-names/

To me it was the only fresh idea in the top 5.

[sparkychewbarky]

Ok. Thanks for all the C&C.

Except for a few minor tweaks here and there, I've got the 4 franchises' logos pretty much locked down.

Now we can have a bit of fun with them and move on to the unis...

..And here's the 4 primaries and secondaries...

[adoog4timmy55]

That Beaver primary logo may be the coolest hockey logo I have seen ANYWHERE. Very awesome job!

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

What is the Ontario Beavers' home city?

[sparkychewbarky]

Right now, they're the "Homeless Beavers".

The consensus among those in the hockey business world is that there will be another team awarded to the Southern Ontario region within the next 5 years.

Where exactly that might be is not known.

Contenders are Hamilton, Markham, Vaughn, and don't rule out the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph "Golden Triangle Area". (population: over 600,000 within 1/2 hr.)

[kevsim1]

Right now, they're the "Homeless Beavers".

The consensus among those in the hockey business world is that there will be another team awarded to the Southern Ontario region within the next 5 years.

Where exactly that might be is not known.

Contenders are Hamilton, Markham, Vaughn, and don't rule out the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph "Golden Triangle Area". (population: over 600,000 within 1/2 hr.)

As a K-w native, I doubt we could support an NHL team. The Rangers are very well supported, but I think that Markham (despite the arena or no arena state that they're at right now) or Hamilton would be better. But hey, I'm all for having the Beavers!

[sparkychewbarky]

The Highlanders one is excellent too, though it would be nice if it said HALIFAX somewhere.

I'll be doing that in the merchandise part of the series.

I'll just plug in "Halifax" in place of "Highlanders" on the primary logo.

Makes sense from a marketing point of view...A lot of non-hockey fans might want some apparel that has their hometown's name on it.

[sparkychewbarky]

Right now, they're the "Homeless Beavers".

The consensus among those in the hockey business world is that there will be another team awarded to the Southern Ontario region within the next 5 years.

Where exactly that might be is not known.

Contenders are Hamilton, Markham, Vaughn, and don't rule out the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph "Golden Triangle Area". (population: over 600,000 within 1/2 hr.)

As a K-w native, I doubt we could support an NHL team. The Rangers are very well supported, but I think that Markham (despite the arena or no arena state that they're at right now) or Hamilton would be better. But hey, I'm all for having the Beavers!

It's not THAT crazy an idea kev.

-almost 600,000 people within roughly 1/2 hr.

-extend that to an hour , and now you're touching Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Brantford, Brampton, Mississauga, and London to the west

-AND...it's outside of Toronto and Buffalo turf!

[Guest darkpiranha]

Right now, they're the "Homeless Beavers".

The consensus among those in the hockey business world is that there will be another team awarded to the Southern Ontario region within the next 5 years.

Where exactly that might be is not known.

Contenders are Hamilton, Markham, Vaughn, and don't rule out the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph "Golden Triangle Area". (population: over 600,000 within 1/2 hr.)

As a K-w native, I doubt we could support an NHL team. The Rangers are very well supported, but I think that Markham (despite the arena or no arena state that they're at right now) or Hamilton would be better. But hey, I'm all for having the Beavers!

Right now, they're the "Homeless Beavers".

The consensus among those in the hockey business world is that there will be another team awarded to the Southern Ontario region within the next 5 years.

Where exactly that might be is not known.

Contenders are Hamilton, Markham, Vaughn, and don't rule out the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph "Golden Triangle Area". (population: over 600,000 within 1/2 hr.)

As a K-w native, I doubt we could support an NHL team. The Rangers are very well supported, but I think that Markham (despite the arena or no arena state that they're at right now) or Hamilton would be better. But hey, I'm all for having the Beavers!

It's not THAT crazy an idea kev.

-almost 600,000 people within roughly 1/2 hr.

-extend that to an hour , and now you're touching Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Brantford, Brampton, Mississauga, and London to the west

-AND...it's outside of Toronto and Buffalo turf!

How about THIS? The Beavers are a traveling team. They play games all over Ontario. A few games in Sudbury. A few games in Kitchener. Etc. They are truly Ontario's team. Green Bay Packers used to play a few games a year in Milwaukee, and for a while, the Celtics regularly played a few games in some other location as well, so there's a precedent for a team playing in multiple locations in a region.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Would a team in that area actually be supported though? I mean, everyone there is a Leafs fan (aside from the odd Sabres, Habs, Wings or bandwagoner fan)...I'd personally love it, but I don't know if it would ever work. Markham either.

(Not meant towards your concept. It's a cool idea. Just in general)

[The_Admiral]

How about THIS? The Beavers are a traveling team. They play games all over Ontario. A few games in Sudbury. A few games in Kitchener. Etc. They are truly Ontario's team. Green Bay Packers used to play a few games a year in Milwaukee, and for a while, the Celtics regularly played a few games in some other location as well, so there's a precedent for a team playing in multiple locations in a region.

They played a few games in Hartford, but it stopped being worth it, if it ever was, to have extra de facto road games in a less lucrative arena. Similarly, you're not going to make a lot of money playing in a bunch of OHL rinks and traveling up to goddamn Sudbury. The precedent is dead; it's a relic of a simpler time.

[Magnus]

you're not going to make a lot of money playing in a bunch of OHL rinks and traveling up to goddamn Sudbury.

As a Sudbury resident, I would like to suggest that perhaps Sparky's counting on climate change kicking in. I might be against a warming climate in general, but if it sends populations further north (or further inland due to rising sea level), it would likely mean growth for cities like mine - although if Sudbury ever became a warm-climate city, I would likely head for wherever I could that still had snow.

[Guest darkpiranha]

How about THIS? The Beavers are a traveling team. They play games all over Ontario. A few games in Sudbury. A few games in Kitchener. Etc. They are truly Ontario's team. Green Bay Packers used to play a few games a year in Milwaukee, and for a while, the Celtics regularly played a few games in some other location as well, so there's a precedent for a team playing in multiple locations in a region.

They played a few games in Hartford, but it stopped being worth it, if it ever was, to have extra de facto road games in a less lucrative arena. Similarly, you're not going to make a lot of money playing in a bunch of OHL rinks and traveling up to goddamn Sudbury. The precedent is dead; it's a relic of a simpler time.

lol. Well, I could really care less about the 'reality' of it, or how lucrative it might be. And my precedent point wasn't about financial viability. It was about teams playing with a regional frame of mind and spreading the love around. All I care about is how cool it would be for maybe eight cities spread all over Ontario getting five games per season. Can you imagine the good will it would create? How it could supplant the Maple Leafs as the defacto provincial team? Is it logistically and financially impossible? Of course!! But a team that would do something like this would immediately become my new favorite team.

[bleuet]

I thought "Ontario Beavers" was cool, a way to get the Sens and Leafs a bit pissed off. "We are Ontario's team".

Its a concept. A city is not mandatory IMHO.

[sparkychewbarky]

I thought "Ontario Beavers" was cool, a way to get the Sens and Leafs a bit pissed off. "We are Ontario's team".

Its a concept. A city is not mandatory IMHO.

Bingo bleuet! If it ticks the Leafs off...all the better.

How about THIS? The Beavers are a traveling team. They play games all over Ontario. A few games in Sudbury. A few games in Kitchener. Etc. They are truly Ontario's team. Green Bay Packers used to play a few games a year in Milwaukee, and for a while, the Celtics regularly played a few games in some other location as well, so there's a precedent for a team playing in multiple locations in a region.

They played a few games in Hartford, but it stopped being worth it, if it ever was, to have extra de facto road games in a less lucrative arena. Similarly, you're not going to make a lot of money playing in a bunch of OHL rinks and traveling up to goddamn Sudbury. The precedent is dead; it's a relic of a simpler time.

lol. Well, I could really care less about the 'reality' of it, or how lucrative it might be. And my precedent point wasn't about financial viability. It was about teams playing with a regional frame of mind and spreading the love around. All I care about is how cool it would be for maybe eight cities spread all over Ontario getting five games per season. Can you imagine the good will it would create? How it could supplant the Maple Leafs as the defacto provincial team? Is it logistically and financially impossible? Of course!! But a team that would do something like this would immediately become my new favorite team.

I like your concept darkp, however, the admiral's right. An NHL team's revenues are derived mostly from home gate money.

Just to survive, you have to have a large venue that's filled on most nights.

You wouldn't survive playing in smaller rinks on a regular basis, unless you had a very generous and wealthy "sugar daddy" owner.

Your idea of somehow including all of Ontario as your home turf, could maybe be achieved in other ways.

How about this idea...

Lately, it's become popular for fans to watch the game on a huge screen at some venue: a rink; a theatre; an outdoor park; etc.

It's not as good as being there, but it can be a lot of fun and have a similar atmosphere.

Remember Maple Leafs Square last year?...

What if the Beevs put together a travelling road show that would set up at various mid and small size towns throughout Ontario, throughout the year...A different place every week.

The town would provide the place and the Beavers would set up their huge "BEAVERTRON" screen, sound system, props, etc., for the upcoming Saturday night game.

The town sells tickets to the event, with proceeds going to some local charity or initiative.

The Beevs would create (as much as possible) an "at-the-game" atmosphere, with big-screen hockey, arena anthems, merchandise, give-aways, prizes, etc.

It could be an alternate way of bringing NHL hockey to small-town Ontario, and, as darkp said, "spreading the (hockey) love around".