NHL Team Logos
There's a pattern forming. Each new item I add to this list is an avenue toward other reasons to love hockey. Declaring my love for the names of the NHL teams the other day has today led me to my love for said teams' logos. For the most part, the themes of lameness and irrelevance found in the names printed on the ice continue onto the front of the sweater, and the results are delicious. As a kid, I chose my favorite sports teams based on the coolness of the uniforms (honestly, who didn't?). Even though I was drawn to the mesmerizing helmets of the St Louis Rams, I always thought hockey had the best uniforms. Instead of being banished to the side of a helmet, the logo is right there on the chest, front and center. I remember one of my first encounters with a non-Sabres logo. Some new neighbors had just moved in behind my house, and my mom took me out on the back porch to point to a red and white banner flying from the flagpole next to their front door. "The new neighbors are Detroit Red Wings fans," she said. I remember thinking to myself "That has got to be the dumbest logo I've ever seen. It has nothing to do with hockey." What I didn't know is that most of the logos in the league have nothing to do with hockey. And, what's more, once I found that out, I realized I liked it better that way. The old-school designs of such clubs as the Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens, the Edmonton Oilers, and, yes I'll admit it, the Philadelphia Flyers just ooze history like nothing else. And maybe I'm biased, but the Sabres' original logo--that beautiful rebus for "Buffalo Sabres"--is nothing short of sublime. And no matter what anyone says, no matter how many Slugs are thrown our way, fans will always recognize that as the one, true logo. So, even though the NHL contains such silly logos as the Penguins' (cute, but silly), such befuddling logos as the Wild's (is that a bear head, or not?), such ugly logos as the Hurricanes' (no one will be able to convince me it doesn't look like a puck being flushed down the toilet), there's something about the simplicity of design inherent in hockey logos that I can't help but love.
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3 comments:
I have to admit that I love the Wild's logo. I think they have a name that's difficult to represent visually and with the bear head containing the woods, etc. I feel like they do a pretty good job of representing the wild spaces of Minnesota.
I totally agree with you about the rest of them though, particularly Buffalo's. The original is just so aesthetically pleasing.
There really is no way to describe the joy I get from NHL logos. It's really pretty sad, but oh well.
Okay, I like the Wild's logo, too. At least I did, until I found out that the people who designed it are now insisting that they did not intend for it to look like a bear's head at all. For some reason, that really pisses me off. It's just stupid. First of all, how could that not be intentional? I mean did they even look at it while they were making it? And secondly, why bother denying it? What does that accomplish? It looks like a bear head. Get over it. So, I admit, my feelings for the logo suffer somewhat due to my feelings about the logo's makers. Unfair, but such is life.
At least I did, until I found out that the people who designed it are now insisting that they did not intend for it to look like a bear's head at all.
You're right...that makes it significantly less cool. Seriously, if I ever did something like that accidentally I'd never tell anyone. I'd just pretend I'd been sharp enough to think of such a thing.
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