Maple Leafs, Marlies reveal new logos
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In the lead-up to their centennial season, the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled their new primary logo on Tuesday night. And in a surprise twist, so did their AHL farm club, the Toronto Marlies!
The design matches up with what Icethetics first reported on Saturday. Unsurprisingly, the new Marlies mark borrows the shape of the new Leafs logo with their traditional crown design in the center.
On first glance, it may look a lot like the old leaf the team wore for decades starting in the late 1930s. And, in part, that's the point. But this new mark is filled with symbolism that goes far beyond.
First, the old leaf had 35 points. This one has 31. The relevance? It's "a nod to the year 1931 and a defining moment in team history with the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens," according to the press release.
Referencing another year, their founding in 1917, are the 17 veins found within the leaf. The Leafs say the 13 at the top are meant to symbolize the team's Stanley Cup championships.
This is a tough one for me. The number of championships your team has won shouldn't be a built into a logo this way — unless you aren't planning on winning any more. The Islanders do the same thing with the four stripes in the hockey stick that forms the "Y" in their logo. Just seems like a bad idea.
When you introduce a new logo, ideally you do it with the intention that it will live on for decades to come.
The other numbers work well since they mark years that will never change — unless someone invents time travel and steps on a butterfly or something.
So that's the logo. The wait continues for the uniforms, however. The Leafs say the jerseys will be unveiled at the NHL Draft in Buffalo on Fri., June 24.
By the way, for a quick look at how we got here, below are two past logos.
On the left is the current mark, obviously, in use since 1970 — with minor tweaks along the way. On the right is the 1938 logo on which the new design is based. The outline was added in 1963.
As for the Marlies, here are their previous logos.
The top version has been the team's primary mark since moving from St. John's in 2005. It utilizes the 1960s leaf outline. In recent years, the Marlies reintroduced their historic logo with the crown inside the leaf.
By the way, the franchise was formed in the late 1800s as the Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club — which is where the "AC" in the crown comes from.
So why unveil these logos now when they won't be used for at least another eight months? SportsLogos.net's Chris Creamer reports the team was getting ready to trademark the designs and wanted to reveal the designs on their terms rather than through a leak. Sounds like what Tampa Bay did in 2011.
What do you think of the new leaf? What do you expect from the new sweaters?