The Hockey News Is Ranking The NHL Logos From 30 to 1

[Spiny Norman]

And, Calgary's team would be known as the Frackers.

or the mother frackers

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

or the mother frackers

Or the poop shooters...

 

[IPostedWhat]

No. 16: San Jose Sharks

On the heels of Sharknado 2 comes San Jose’s logo, checking it at No. 16 in THN’s rankings. As you can imagine, any image falling in the middle of the pack divided the voters.

Half the room praised it for its sense of fun and wonder – It’s a friggin’ shark! When is a shark not cool? – and the other condemned it for being too cartoony and reeking of the 1990s predatory animal team name boom (cough, Jurassic Park, cough, Toronto Raptors).

On the plus side, San Jose’s current shark logo is one mean S.O.B. Its teeth are razor-sharp and its eyes glow with the same yellowy orange found in San Jose’s uniform scheme. Sharks are scary enough. When their eyes glow demonically, it’s just cruel.

Then again, nothing about the shark feels overly real. The teal and black suggest it’s coated with water and shadow, but the world associates sharks with grey more than any other color since most of them are, you know, grey. The glowing eyes and cartoony sneer also make the shark look like some kind of cyborg mutant Shredder and Krang cooked up to battle the Ninja Turtles. Holy mackrel, Donny! It’s Robo-Shark!

HISTORY OF THE SHARKS LOGO
Toronto’s shameless use of the Raptor was deplorable, but the shark, which was chosen out of 5,000-plus fan entries before the team began play in 1991-92, is entirely defensible. Sharks are found all over the Pacific Ocean and specifically in the Bay Area’s Red Triangle, so it’s not a stretch for a San Jose team to feature one. Better yet, the region is known for its shark research facilities.

Note that I said ‘Sharks’ was chosen out of the 5,000 entries – not that it won. Ownership did you a huge favor, San Jose fans. The winning entry was the Blades. Really? That’s the best the Silicon Valley could come up with? Woof. The Gunds decided ‘Blades’ sucked sounded too much like a weapon and had gang connotations in the area, so they went with something equally deadly but not man-made.

It’s not a bad start, as it’s really hard to screw up a shark. But the logo also looks more like a first draft, as it’s crudely drawn. According to the brain trust behind the design, the decision was deliberate, as they didn’t want to scare children. And the triangle wasn’t simply capitalizing on Pittsburgh’s success at the time – it actually stands for the Bay Area trifecta of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland.

The new and still-active primary logo arrived for 2007-08. Even if you’re not a fan of the design, it’s undeniably better than the first. The shark is much more three-dimensional, menacing, powerful – pick any adjective you want. It’s bursting out of the logo to bite that stick. It would make the original shark wet itself. Hmm, that doesn’t work. Dry itself?

Dissenting opinion: “The original Sharks logo made me a fan of the team back when they joined the league – I miss you, Pat Falloon! – and I was but a burgeoning hockey fan. The updated, more 3-D version is even better. It has a menacing, comic-book-villain factor to it. It easily belongs in the top 10, if not the top five. Some of the logos that are ahead of it in the rankings can’t hold the Sharks’ water…(sorry about that).” – Edward Fraser

 

[dash]

I've always thought the Sharks logo is pretty cool...

 

[dare2be]

I've always thought the Sharks logo is pretty cool...

Only because you think it just ate the Penguin logo, amirite?

 

[IPostedWhat]

Only because you think it just ate the Penguin logo, amirite?

inb4 the pic of the broken stick in throat logo

 

[Center Ice]

Say no more:

http://SportsHoopla.com/qbva3g9

 

[IPostedWhat]

No. 15: Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators presented our panel with an interesting debate point: How much do we like certain logos simply because we’ve grown up with them? The Preds have only been around since 1998, so they do not benefit from any sort of nostalgia. And though the design is definitely new-school, Nashville has barely changed their mascot in the past decade and a half, so clearly the team and its fans are happy. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

History of the Predators logo
While Nashville is more synonymous with country music than paleontology, there is a direct reason the Predators sport a saber-toothed tiger on the front of their sweater. Back in 1971, construction workers unearthed a prehistoric cave downtown as they were digging down for a building’s foundation. In that cave, they found a nine-inch long fang and a leg bone belonging to a saber-toothed tiger, dating back as much as 80,000 years ago.

The actual Nashville logo was created by local firm JDK Design.

Though the team has come up with numerous looks and third jerseys over the years, only two primary logos have ever been worn. The second, introduced in 2011-12, is a slightly different take on the original, with an altered color scheme and simpler design. Also, the tiger’s eye now has a more distinct pupil.

While various Nashville sweaters have come under fire in some corners due to the jersey’s bold base colors, the logo itself is less controversial. No doubt the tiger is ferocious and aggressive, but what do you think?

Dissenting opinion: Call me an anti-traditionalist, but, like the Sharks from Friday, I’m a big fan of newer logo designs – when they’re done right. Nashville has done it right. I actually preferred the original, more metallic/robotic version, but the new one is still unjustly low on our list. And yes, I also love the mustard–yellow jersey with the 3-D saber-toothed tiger. - Edward Fraser

 

[dare2be]

Too busy for my tastes, one small reference to the city and none to hockey...meh. Would be much lower on my list.

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

Last year, the change in Dallas' logo was met with some ridicule in certain circles.

Now- in the Top 15?



I am pleased.

 

[dare2be]

This list will just add to the ridicule. It's already bordering on ridiculous.

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

This list will just add to the ridicule. It's already bordering on ridiculous.

C'mon man... don't kill my buzz.

 

[dare2be]

LOL, carry on, then.

 

[IPostedWhat]

No. 14: New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are fortunate to have the aura that comes along with being an Original Six franchise, but in THN’s 2014 NHL logo ranking contest, their reliance on tradition hasn’t pushed them to the top. Our in-house panel of judges ranked the Rangers’ current logo 14th-best.

The Blueshirts have made very few tweaks to the original team logo used in their inaugural season of 1926-27. In many ways, that’s a good thing that speaks to the positive reception it’s had with the franchise’s fan base. But at a time when brands are almost always reshaping their image, the Rangers aren’t standing out with their current logo.

HISTORY OF THE RANGERS LOGO
The Rangers – initially owned by George Lewis “Tex” Rickard, boxing promoter and president of Madison Square Garden – had their logo designed in part to differentiate from the rival New York Americans, who’d began playing at the famous arena one year sooner. Whereas the Americans’ logo spelled our their name horizontally, Rickard’s Rangers would begin their existence by spelling out their team name diagonally.

From that point on, there hasn’t been much variance at all. Oh, sure, their second logo, which was used from 1935-1947, had a bolder blue color to it, but otherwise, it was identical to their first:

And sure, their third logo (in place from 1947-53) was the most radical departure, but that was only because it was widened, thickened with an outer blue border, and had the word “Rangers” colored in red. Otherwise, it was more or less the same:

From 1953 on, there’s been even less change to the Rangers’ logo. The team abandoned the “Rangers” in red lettering from 1953-68, and returned to a bolder blue and red color for the shield, but made no significant alterations to the design itself:

From 1968-78, their logo’s words had a thinner font to them, the white space in the outer border was reduced and the overall shield looked slightly more narrow, but those were the only differences:

And finally, from 1978 to the present day, their current logo has used a couple elements of the past – namely, the softer blue of their third logo – while basically remaining true to the previous version:

Dissenting opinion: While defending my preference for the Sharks and Predators logos late last week and yesterday, I called myself an “anti-traditionalist.” Well, perhaps that’s not true after all…I quite enjoy the simplicity of the Rangers, and you can never go wrong with a shield-inspired crest. It fills the space on the front of a sweater nicely. And you have to give some bonus points for staying consistent through all these years. The Blueshirts know it’s good, so why mess with a good thing? It’s a lesson many other organizations could learn. The Rangers logo isn’t a top 5, but it’s certainly belongs in consideration for the top 10. - Edward Fraser

 

[Abe Vigoda]

No. 14: New York Rangers

Confused on this one.....we ranking shoulder logos? or actual jersey logos which are on the front of the sweater? Or historical logos?

The front of our jersey is "Rangers" spelled diagonally down to the right

 

[IPostedWhat]

Confused on this one.....we ranking shoulder logos? or actual jersey logos which are on the front of the sweater? Or historical logos?

The front of our jersey is "Rangers" spelled diagonally down to the right

They are ranking the team's official primary logo, which in the case of the Rangers, is the pic that you see posted.


New York Rangers Logos - National Hockey League (NHL) - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net

 

[Abe Vigoda]

They are ranking the team's official primary logo, which in the case of the Rangers, is the pic that you see posted.


New York Rangers Logos - National Hockey League (NHL) - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net

Got it, Thanks!

 

[Phantomphan]

Say no more:

http://SportsHoopla.com/qbva3g9

Canadians going down in flames again?

 

[dare2be]

Let's make this thread more fun. Who do you think will be next? I'll go with the Penguins.

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

Let's make this thread more fun. Who do you think will be next? I'll go with the Penguins.

I'll say the Stars. There's no way in hell they make the Top 10.