Season Preview 2010, Part III
The Icethetics Season Preview is giving you a chance to catch your breath here at mid-week. There have been plenty of new logos to digest over the past two days. Now it's time to take a look at some of them in action in the place where every game begins: center ice.
New Center Ice Logos
A handful of NHL teams will display special anniversary logos inside their center ice circle for the 2010-11 season.
Sabres center iceThe Buffalo Sabres have painted their 40th anniversary logo inside the big circle at HSBC Arena.
The team is trying its hardest to rebrand itself with that original logo. It is on everything these days. As it should be.
Also, the center red line now features a string of white stars running across it. A number of teams are getting more creative with the design of that red line. We'll outline some of them this afternoon.
Canucks center iceAlso celebrating 40 years in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks are using their anniversary mark at center this season.
The logo itself remains mostly intact, but for a few minor alterations. In order to prevent overlap with the red line, the small Canucks primary logo was been removed from its spot between 1970 and 2010. Also, as you can see, the ends of the ribbons are cropped to fit the logo nicely inside the circle.
GM Place was renamed Rogers Arena over the summer and obviously the new paint job represents that change.
Wild center iceCelebrating a decade since the NHL's return to the state, the Minnesota Wild will have their 10th anniversary logo on the ice inside the Xcel Energy Center.
The Columbus Blue Jackets having also unveiled a logo for their 10th anniversary but are not joining the Wild by placing it at center ice. The Jackets' standard primary logo remains there at Nationwide Arena this year.
Also confirmed as remaining unchanged is the Nashville Predators logo at Bridgestone Arena. It was rumored over the summer the Preds would be altering the color scheme of their primary logo to match their third jersey. It now appears that won't happen until at least next season, 2011-12.
Rangers center iceFinally, the New York Rangers are celebrating a big year — their 85th as a member of the NHL. The logo commemorating the event is already in place at Madison Square Garden.
It's a great logo, but I'm not sure the vintage white was such a good idea on white ice. At least the Sabres knew better than to do that.
Additionally, I understand the San Jose Sharks have their 20th anniversary logo painted at center ice at HP Pavilion but I haven't managed to come across any photos yet.
I tried to be comprehensive with this post, but same as yesterday, I'm counting on you guys to help me out if I missed anything. Tomorrow it's the minor league edition of JerseyWatch 2010 as the Season Preview pushes toward the last big pre-season update to NHL JerseyWatch 2010.
Chris
As expected, I overlooked a handful of new center ice designs for 2010-11. But some awesome Icethetics readers have us covered.
Sharks center iceShaun emailed this in from a San Jose Sharks pre-season game on TSN.
The Sharks are using one of their five 20th anniversary logos at center ice, but it's not the same as the one on their helmet and sleeves. At least they're getting their money's worth.
This logo is actually slightly different from the one previously unveiled.The number 20 is spelled out as TWENTY and the areas behind the years are teal instead of black.
Hurricanes center iceAdditionally, the Carolina Hurricanes, who are hosting the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, will use that all-star logo at center ice in the RBC Center.
This version appears to use a much darker shade of maroon, almost black, in fact. Of course if it had a little more red it might resemble the Hurricanes' logo a little better. I also have to wonder whether it will remain for the length of the season or be replaced after the All-Star Game in late January.
A copule of other teams haven't done much with the center ice logo, but are getting creative with the red line.
;)
Maple Leafs center red lineAs mentioned earlier this month, the Toronto Maple Leafs have added little Canadian flags along the red line, with the maple leaf in the middle replaced by the team's logo — in red!
An article on the Leafs' website describes it as an expression of the team's patriotism. That's different, but it makes for a neat looking center line anyway.
Blues center red lineDavid posted this photo in the comments of the new red line for the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. It features a string of white Blue Notes running the length of the line. It's kind of neat.
For what it's worth, the Tampa Bay Lightning have also done this, with lightning bolts down the red line, for a number of years. It's just a neat way to make your red line your own.
Stay tuned for the minor league JerseyWatch later today.
Reader Comments (20)
That's a pretty spiffy logo at MSG.
I can't wait to see that new/old Sabres logo next Saturday in person! The Mrs. and I are driving all the way from NS, Canada for the home opener against the Rangers. It'll be great to be back in Buffalo and welcoming in another NHL season! :D
I don't like the red font with the Canucks. I understand that Rogers branding is all red, but it seems out of place.
Chris, you wont have to wait long to see the center ice at the HP Pavilion, my Canucks play the Sharks tonight at 7:30PM PST, game photos are normally made available a few minutes after the game on Canucks.com. I'm actually kind of curious which version of the anniversary logo they'll have painted at center.
New logo isn't everywhere, yet. Apparently TSN hasn't got the memo, and used the Slug logo during the Hockeyville broadcast last night.
Chris, although the blues did not change their center ice logo, they did change up their red line. It now has little Blues Logos repeating down the red line. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidtroy/5008071629/
The Buffalo Sabres logo excluded, I can't stand the use of anniversary logos at center ice. They look terrible, especially that big "X" in Minnesota, totally unattractive. Honestly, these teams should keep their primary logos at center ice and put the anniversary versions in the neutral zone where the advertising is, but of course that would dimish revenue. Pity.
The Rangers logo at centre ice looks dirty.
Wow... MSG looks all kinds of awful.
Give it a shot, see what it looks like in action, but until then I just feel the compulsive need to scrub with bleach.
CSN has a bad angle shot of the Sharks XX logo at http://twitpic.com/2qhxh1
don't forget the ASG logo in raleigh!
Ya think in buffalo there might be 40 stars on the buffalo center line? there seems to be an awful lot of them compared to normal center line white spacing
I actually don't mind the use of Anniversary logos... when they work. I don't mind the Wild "X" because it looks good centered in the middle of the face-off circle, however the Canucks' 40-year logo looks odd because the shape makes it look weird because the whole logo looks like it's moved up to the top of the circle! The rest of them look good too but the off-white of Rangers' logo looks more dirty than vintage
Love the Sabres' centre ice logo, but not so big on the Canucks' one.
I don't even really want to say what it looks like at center ice at MSG...
It'd be nice if the font for "ARENA" matched the "ROGERS" font. It's particularly jarring when you have a common letter - R - looking completely different in each word. Throws the whole thing off, I think.
On a side note, it looks like CBC Sports' Sabres page hasn't been updated yet, either...
At least it's small and up in one spot on the top of the page, unlike TSN's big honking logo placement. On the plus side, ESPN.com did update their Sabres page earlier this week, so they've got that going for them.
The Flames also have a different centre ice. Since the Pengrowth sponsorship of the Saddledome has expired, centre ice no longer bares any writing around the centre circle. It is rumoured that ScotiaBank will be the next sponsor of the Saddledome.
Let's not forget that the Pens home ice now reads Consol Energy Center and not Mellon Arena. Biggest news written in the ice.
the canes have storm flags on their red line
I was thinking about the Maple Leaf red line. Are we maybe looking too far into it? maybe it is just red Maple leaf logos in white rectangles. What made me think of this is that the proportions are way out of wack when it comes to the white in the line. Just saying.