Professional sports teams go through logo and uniform changes all the time. It’s a matter of money and sometimes just a need for change. The Toronto Maple Leafs went through a significant logo change on Tuesday night. There were rumors swirling for weeks about the potential change and finally the announcement was made. Teams go through logo and uniform changes often so that doesn’t surprise, but when “Original Six” teams do it, debate ensues. Here are some of the notable recent NHL logo changes.
Recent NHL Logo Changes Worth Looking At
The new Maple Leafs logo was first released on Tuesday night. With their 100th anniversary coming up next season, the Leafs went with an obvious throwback logo. When Original Six teams change their logos it is never a drastic change. Just take a look at this tweet from Chris Creamer of SportsLogos.net.
One-hundred years of #Leafs jersey crests, updated for 2017 #TMLtalk
Much more here –> https://t.co/Ay9H0kHd1Ipic.twitter.com/e3hEyS9tvx
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) February 3, 2016
Obviously the logo changed drastically from the Toronto St. Pats to the Leafs but other than that, there hasn’t been a huge change (why it isn’t the Toronto Maple Leaves). Other Original Six teams like the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens have kept their logos consistent. The Blackhawks and Bruins have gone through the most significant changes out of the six teams—Chicago and Boston’s logo timelines show the changes that the teams have gone through. The most recent logos have stayed the same but they have gone through other significant changes.
Even younger teams have gone through significant logo changes in their history. The Dallas Stars were the most recent team to go through a significant logo and uniform change. The team modernized their logo and got rid of the ugly gold and swapped it with a simple black and green color scheme.
Everyone remembers the great jerseys and uniforms of the 90’s. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the old Picasso Phoenix Coyotes logo. Several teams have done throwback nights or heritage nights so they can don their teams former logos and jerseys. Teams like the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins are known for wearing throwback jerseys as alternates. Pittsburgh currently wear the jerseys that Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr wore in the 90’s.
The New York Rangers and and Ottawa Senators wear heritage jerseys that have the team’s old logos or word marks on them. Other teams like the Colorado Avalanche also change up their logos for their alternate jerseys. The Avs changed their alternate jersey and added a throwback logo to honor the former Colorado NHL team, the Rockies. The San Jose Sharks also began using a throwback logo as an alternate jersey logo as well this season.
Professional sports teams change logos and jerseys all the time. Most, if not every, time it is a matter of money; to get fans to buy more jerseys, apparel, etc. Fans enjoy getting to see their favorite team don their old colors or their favorite team’s old logo. Hopefully next season the Maple Leafs go with several different uniforms and logos, similar to the way Montreal did on their 100th anniversary. It will be interesting to see what teams change their logos and uniforms next season.
Thanks to Chris Creamer at SportsLogos.net for allowing me to use his site for my logos. For virtually any logo you can think of, head to his site, sportslogos.net.
Ever wonder how teams arrived at their nicknames? Check out this series looking at the origins of NHL team nicknames:
The Origins of Team Names: Western Conference
The Origins of Team Names: Eastern Conference
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