The Florida Panthers unveiled their 20th anniversary logo today. You can read about how the team plans to celebrate the end of their second decade on their website. Presumably, the logo will be worn as a special patch on the jerseys next season.
By the way, 2013 also marks 20 years of the Anaheim Ducks. So it probably won't be long before we see an anniversary logo from them as well.
It got a little lost in the shuffle last week, but on Thursday we got the first report of potential changes to the St. Louis Blues uniforms from St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jeremy Rutherford.
During a live chat with readers, he was asked if the Blues were among the teams considering a uniform update for next season. To which he replied:
I'm hearing whispers that there may be changes in store for the Blues' uniforms. Don't have any details whatsoever. But don't be surprised if we hear something.
It's news to me. The Blues were not on Reebok's list of teams making uniform changes for the 2013-14 season. Perhaps it's something in the works for the following year. Or maybe the Reebok list was incomplete. Who knows. Definitely keeping ear to the ground, though.
Personally I like the Blues' uniforms. If anything, I could see losing the piping for some more traditional striping and trim. You might think the obvious choice would be promoting the third jersey, but Rutherford had something surprising to say on that as well.
BigBruiser69: Heard Stillman is discussing probably scrapping 3rd logo. Any truth?
Rutherford: Haven't heard that specifically but could be true. Third logo has Dave Checketts imprints all over it. I know folks who would consider that a crime scene.
Tom Stillman bought the Blues a year ago from Checketts. What's odd about that exchange is I think many people would say that the best-looking sweater St. Louis has is their alternate. So the idea that the new owner would kill it just because it was conceived under his predecessor is silly.
I hope they keep it or some version of it. Even if they dump the Arch logo and go with the standard Blue Note. And I really hope they're not thinking of changing the Blue Note. Talk about a crime.
You have my thoughts. Let me have yours. Should the Blues change their uniforms? And if so, how?
We now have another Blues beat writer saying that any uniform change will not happen in time for the 2013-14 season. From Andy Strickland via his blog True Hockey:
Despite the rumors the Blues have no plans of changing their uniforms next season. There are deadlines in place to make this happen which have already passed. This process takes time when you consider the production, marketing, color scheme, design, trademarks etc…
It makes sense. If the Blues were going to make changes for next season, they would've been on Reebok's list in January. Since they're not, any "whispers" are probably looking further into the future — say 2014-15 and beyond. Still something to keep an eye on anyway.
The QMJHL's P.E.I. Rocket officially became the Charlottetown Islanders this morning. A press conference was held at the Charlottetown Civic Centre to introduce the franchise's new ownership group as well as the new branding.
Gone is the anthropomorphic missile of the past 10 years in favor of a more traditional type of junior hockey logo. The new colors are black and a muted gold — not unlike the Pittsburgh Penguins. Text is at the heart of this logo with the Confederation Bridge and an ocean wave playing supporting roles.
Oddly, the shape of Prince Edward Island itself is nowhere to be found. Perhaps in a yet-to-be-released secondary logo? Jerseys will be unveiled on June 15, according to The Guardian, but we might get an early look at the QMJHL draft on June 8.
It's not a bad logo, though clearly the new owners didn't spend a lot of money having it developed. (Or at least I hope they didn't.) The use of Arial Black for the city name sort of shouts amateur. But this is junior hockey, so the logos don't have to knock our socks off.
Share your take on the new logo in the comments. But first, one last look at the old Rocket.
P.E.I. Rocket, 2003—2013
Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)
The Carolina Hurricanes have been posting teaser images of their forthcoming new jerseys online — every morning at 10am on Instagram. It's kind of fun to try to piece together the overall look as we get closer to the unveiling on June 4.
The images above were released on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. But we actually got our first peek on Thursday with the nameplate.
So what do you think of what they've shown us so far?
While we eagerly await the unveiling of the Dallas Stars' new branding, their AHL farm club just pulled the trigger on some new sweaters. On Thursday the Texas Stars revealed their updated threads — which I would've posted here sooner if not for all the NHL craziness of the last few days.
Photo from Dallas Stars Inside Edge
From the team's press release:
In preparation for the fifth season of AHL hockey in Cedar Park, the Stars will make a significant shift in their road jersey colors. Texas is replacing the all-black away uniform with a primarily dark green jersey, the same dark green that is featured in the team’s logo, and the crest patch will feature the team’s secondary logo.
The shoulder cap is white with a primary logo patch on each side. The collar is gold and includes a white lace tie-up. The sweater will also have thick white bands on each sleeve and along the bottom hem, trimmed with black and gold. The matching socks will be principally dark green with three bands of black, gold and white just below the knee.
The Stars' new home white sweater is simply their old third jersey, unveiled back on Oct. 5, 2011. No surprises there. But the new road sweater is now green instead of black — more in line with what Dallas is reportedly planning for their rebrand.
Francis Wathier and Toby Petersen model the new Texas Stars jerseys
As wordmark-based uniforms go, this one isn't at all that bad — even if it is set in the Batman Forever font. And if you're curious about who designed the new unis...
The new jerseys were designed by the Texas Stars in conjunction with Reebok, the official and exclusive jersey supplier to the American Hockey League. The jerseys will be available in both replica and authentic versions at the Texas Stars merchandise stands beginning this Fall.
Reebok is always involved now. We just need to accept that.
Photo from Texas Stars official website
The newer of the two jerseys also has a more traditional look — which is again in line with what we expect to see from Dallas on June 4. Even if you think Texas should've come up with all new logos — and I count myself in that group — this is hard not to like. Especially the added emphasis on green, a color that was more of an afterthought on the old jerseys.
Photo from Dallas Stars Inside Edge
I am concerned for the play-by-play guys, though, as the gold name on green jersey will be rather difficult to read if you're far away. Probably should've stuck with the safter white — but then I do like this color combination. More now that it seems Dallas won't be using it anymore.
That's all I've got. I'll leave you with this graphic the Stars put on their website.
Image from Texas Stars official website
