Falcons Saga Isn't Over Yet
Saturday · Aug 7 · 2010 | 3:36 PM PDTMany were outraged by the blatant logo theft by a certain NAHL team last month. Now, the story gets even more pathetic as they throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.
NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons 2010-11 identity package
On Friday, the NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons officially unveiled not one, not two... but three new logos. And the worst part, is that the primary mark is the same one — with more minor alterations — that got them in trouble in the first place.
Nothing has ever really made sense about this team's branding decisions.Times Herald beat writer Paul Costanzo has been covering the team throughout Falconsgate. He says the logo above labeled "road crest" has been designated by the club as the official primary logo. The secondary logo, which presently appears on the team's website, will be worn on the home jersey.
The logo posted on Icethetics last week will more fittingly be a shoulder patch on both sweaters. By the way, not to add to the confusion, but the NAHL's website has it flipped, saying the home crest is the primary mark. And it would be odd if the home sweater gets the secondary logo. But nothing has ever really made sense about this team's branding decisions.
Which brings me to my next point: Who thought these three logos made for a single cohesive identity? Holy mismatch, Batman! They all use the same colors, mercifully, but not in the same manner. Only the home crest and shoulder patch appear to be in the same neighborhood, and you'll find out why in the next paragraph.
Having said my peace, I do like the new home crest. It is very much a solid minor league logo. In fact, I learned tonight that it was created by an Icethetics concept artist. Chad Stilson, who is also active in Icethetics contests, was hired by the Falcons to create the home crest and shoulder patch. You can see his full identity package here. (For the record, he says the team hired someone else to rework Mike Ivall's logo again.)
My thanks to Mike B. for keeping on top of this epic saga and introducing the term Falconsgate into the Icethetics lexicon.
By the way, this week's minor league wrap-up continues below, so keep reading.
Admirals go black on the road
Milwaukee Admirals unveil road jerseyThe AHL's Milwaukee Admirals unveiled a brand new road sweater on Thursday.
The Ads will wear the black jersey to the right for away games starting in the fall as they retire the grey one which has been in use for the past four seasons. Here's an excerpt from the release posted on the team's website:
The new jersey features the traditional Admirals colors (white, black, and ice blue) with black being the most prominent. Just like the home white jerseys, an Admiral skull adorns the chest, while blue accents run down the sides and also on the sleeves. The name and numbers on the backs of the jersey are white with a blue outline.
“We are excited to unveil this new look for Admirals hockey for the 2010-11 season,” said Greenberg. “The new black jerseys represent the toughness and ‘Never Say Die’ attitude by which our team plays and we look forward to playing in them for our 10th season in the American Hockey League.”
In case you don't have instant recall of the old gray sweater, all they did was fill in the gray parts with black and add a blue outline to the crest. The striping remains the same.
Kudos to C.J. for the heads-up on this one!
Chilliwack finally adds third jersey
Chilliwack unveils third jerseyThe WHL's Chilliwack Bruins unveiled their first-ever third jersey on Tuesday.
The maroon sweater will make its debut in October, according to the team. It will mark the club's 5th anniversary in the WHL. Additional details in this block quote:
For the first time in franchise history, the Bruins will wear a third jersey. The jerseys will debut on October 2nd versus the Kamloops Blazers as part of the Bruins First Nations Night. The jerseys worn that night will be auctioned off during the game and winning bidders will receive their jersey immediately following the game.
In other words, the Bruins like their new alternate jersey so much, they're giving them away as soon as the game is over. No, but seriously, if you're a Chilliwack fan, get one!
The Canadian junior clubs tend to be pretty good about designing awesome uniforms. It's those shady Americans you have to watch out for.
Thanks to Matt M. for the tip!
When Third Jerseys Attack!
Lastly, the OHL's Owen Sound Attack will also debut their first-ever third jersey this fall. The announcement, made on July 22, says the jerseys will be unveiled in "mid August."
Owen Sound Mercurys, 1951The alternate sweater will pay tribute to area's original hockey team, the Owen Sound Mercurys, which played from 1947 to 1957. They wore blue and orange, in contrast to the Attack's red and gold.
This team photo of the 1951 Allan Cup champion Mercurys (right) was the best image I could find on short notice depicting the historic uniforms the Attack will replicate this season.
The PR director had this to say on the team's website:
“Reebok has done an exceptional job in making this come to life”, says Brent Fisher, Director of Marketing and Public Relations.
“The jersey is an exact replica right down to the heavy stitching and felt crest and they have matched the pants and gloves perfectly. I wasn’t around during that time, but hopefully those who were or had relatives play on the team will be proud to see the uniform again. I hope it means something to them.”
“This is the first time the Attack have worn a third jersey and I know many of the fans and also the players are very excited about it. We can’t wait for the guys to hit the ice on September 25th,” said Fisher.
The jerseys will be worn for every Wednesday night home game throughout the season, plus the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 25. Replicas will be sold in the team store and game-worn sweaters will be auctioned off throughout the season.
Thanks to C. McPhee for the link!
Reader Comments (21)
The new Admirals jersey is one bland piece of garbage. Black with dumb piping and one incomplete stripe down the sleeve...
What the H !
Keven,
If you ever saw the full gray uni, you'd be happy with the black. The gray was awful!
I think they should just use their blue 3rd for everything
The should have just used the bear head for the CHWK logo. The sticks and wordmark look so very high school. I also can't believe they modeled their look after the Thrashers, when they already had a winner in emulating Boston.
The new Admirals jersey is very slick, despite the apron strings.
The melted Ivall rip-off is disturbing. Dear Fighting Falcons: why not let the talented Icethetics membership take a crack at it? You already liked what we do in Mike's work!
I'm a fan of the Chilliwack Bruins 3rd jersey... like the bear's head in the logo, very cool.
As a Chilliwack Bruins season ticket holder, I am thrilled with the new 3rd jersey and will do my best to win the silent auction on one of these jerseys.
That "road" crest is extremely similar to the previous logo, which they of course stole from Mike Ivall. It's basically a re-coloring, but the exact same format.
That being said, it's a great logo... hope Ivall gets some royalties.
HOLY CRAP. that new Admirals Jersey is Amazing!!!!
Yes, now i have a reason to get a third admirals jersey! looks good, but i am going to miss the grey jerseys. The greys were the reason that i started to like the admirals. R.I.P grey :(
Man, that Chilliwack Bruins jersey is an EXACT template of the Sens 3rds, minus the color differences. I suppose Reebok is still ironing out the fine details as to how to achieve certain patterns/striping with the Edge cut of the jersey. I'm really looking forward to the day when the Ottawa 67's are able to return to the full barberpole jersey that they've come to be identified with but in the Edge cut.
That Admiral's press release is horribly inaccurate in one aspect: The traditional Admirals colors are red white and blue.
I like the Port Huron Home crest- really nice looking. On the other hand the Away logo looks like a falcon that had a run in with a window and got its beak deformed. I am pretty sure a falcon that looks like the one in the away crest would be dead within a week.
Chilliwack's third is gorgeous, although I agree with Dave that they could have left the sticks and wordmark behind. Love the First Nations bear and would love to see that as a permanent shoulder crest for the Bruins.
I am hoping that the Mercurys jerseys will look as awesome in the Edge format as they did originally. Terrific jerseys
The bear head is the current shoulder crest for the Chilliwack Bruins.
@ Brian
There are TWO teams in the AHL named the Admirals...
The Norfolk Admirals colors are red, white, & blue.
The Milwaukee Admirals are the team mentioned.
Milwaukee Admirals - best logo ever...??? (Not just the head, but the full logo)
@Lightning25
I think he's talking about the Milwaukee Admirals. The colors that they used for a long time were red, white, and blue.
I would also consider the "traditional" colors of the Norfolk Admirals to be blue and yellow.
I think the Port Huron logos now are just fine -- the home logo is the one that really caught my attention. There's a lot of shading and coloring patterns that go well between the black and the blue, and the detail is pretty impressive...but it's not so elaborate that you can't understand it.
The road logo is a good re-working of the original logo, which would have fallen to a lawsuit against the Chicago Blackhawks if Mike Ivall hadn't gotten to them first. The angling and the color scheme has changed enough that while you can still tell it's been re-arranged, it's just unique enough to get by. It might be a little unnecessary though, considering the shoulder-patch...kind of reminds me of the Columbus Blue Jackets' secondary logo that wound up being used as a primary logo by the USHL team. All in all, i don't think the work is too horrible...after all, the color scheme is consistent, which is what people will really identify the team by.
i liked the grey admirals jersey. kinda wish they didnt drop it
The Ads jersey is cool. Cleaner look and the black makes the blue piping stand out more.
The home falcons logo is amazing and I think should be used for the AHL's Springfield Falcons (along with a return to their traditional colors. I really like the shoulder patch logo with the bridge.
And because I know it'll make some people just lose their minds, the Falcons have contact us (501st Legion -- the Star Wars costume group) to do another Star Wars night with them, like we did with the Icehawks and the other minor league teams here in Michigan.
Just going by memory, we appear annually with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Muskegon Lumberjacks, and have done an appearance with the Flint Generals. I forget whether we've worked with the Michigan K-Wings, but we've also had an appearance or two with the Red Wings Alumni.
No telling on whether there will be another custom jersey like we did this past season with the Boba Fett themed jersey that got universally ridiculed here, but just wanted to put that out there as a warning, that we MAY have another hockey/Star Wars crossover jersey coming down the pike.
Am I the only one who thinks that the Bruins jersey is incredibly ugly? What color is that?
You want to know where they got they funky looking bear for the Chilliwack Bruins' jersey? Just watch the beginning of the Watership Down movie. It's completely lifted from there.
Also, I love the shoulder patch for the Falcons. The crests? Not so much. The road is an obvious rework that doesn't even look like a falcon, while the home crest is pretty generic (are they really going to have the name of the team on the crest?).