Attack, Blaze Unveil New Looks
Thursday · Aug 4 · 2011 | 12:12 AM PDTA minor league and a junior league team have unveiled new identities for the 2011-12 season this week.
On Wednesday afternoon, the OHL's Owen Sound Attack held a press conference to show off their updated logo and new uniforms.
The revised primary mark consists of a new text element plus a simplified version of the ferocious bear featured in the logo the Attack had used since 2000. The broken stick and the rest of the creature's hulking body have been discarded leaving us with just the growling head.
They're following the trend we've been seeing throughout hockey branding lately... simplify. They haven't gone out and rebranded from the ground up. They've merely removed the extraneous elements of the existing brand.
Owen Sound Attack unveil new sweaters / AttackEven the jerseys are highly simplified — going for the Blackhawks-style stripes instead of the claw-shaped design that was previously featured.
The release on their website is poorly written, but includes this quote from forward Daniel Zweep:
“A bunch of us saw the new design halfway through last season and we loved it,” said Zweep. “It’s definitely a lot cleaner and more traditional. We can’t wait to throw them on and get back out on that ice.”
All right, something tells me that may not be a direct quote but I digress. For better or worse, traditional is indeed the trend of late.
Is the new logo an improvement? I'd call it more of a lateral move. The old one certainly had that late 90s look about it. This one just looks like any other simplified 90s logo. No better, no worse.
The only thing that bugs me about these jerseys is really a construct of the Reebok Edge template... that silly shoulder piping. If you're going to do the piping, it only makes sense for the shoulder yoke to be a different color. And even then, I'd do away with it.
You can read fan reaction to the new look on the Attack's Facebook page.
In the minors, the Central Hockey League's Bloomington Blaze unveiled their logo and uniforms on Tuesday, just a couple weeks after announcing their existence.
The CHL welcomed the team from Bloomington, Ill. in mid-July as a replacement for the Bloomington PrairieThunder. The Blaze will have the same general manager, coach, arena, and probably players as the PrairieThunder. However, since there's new ownership, I'm not sure the Blaze continues the PrairieThunder lineage. It's a little confusing.
The Pantagraph, a central Illinois newspaper, reported the logo was designed by "Skye Design Studios in New England." And while a Google search turns up a variety of companies (and individuals) under that name, none seem to be based in New England. I'd be curious to see what other work they've done.
The black burning "B" is not a bad logo. Bold and simple; and it manages to avoid looking like the Calgary Flames for the most part. I kind of like it. But here's where things get interesting. The jerseys...
CHL Bloomington Blaze jerseys / BlazeThis week we got our first look at the Ottawa Senators' new Heritage Jersey. We could finally put the crazy-striped third jersey out of our minds. And then the Blaze came along.
Indeed, that is the "SENS" jersey template you see there (right) with the new Blaze logo plastered on the front. That sweater will not die. I suppose the good news here is that we get to see what it would look like in white.
Guess it's time for a confession. I never really hated the Sens' third jersey. I just hated that it said "SENS" on the front instead of bearing, you know, an actual logo. It may be a little odd-looking, but you can't deny this is a killer jersey. And honestly, it seems to work with the Blaze logo.
So all in all, I don't truly have anything bad to say about the Blaze's identity. All I will say to their marketing people is this: Get your website up already! (Not that it matters anymore. The logo and jerseys have been documented now.)
If you're so inclined, you can find commentary on their logo and uniforms from fans on their Facebook page — their only online existence at the moment.
Between the Senators, Attack and Blaze, that's a lot of red and black this week. But there's going to be more. The Sens are holding a press conference to announce 20th anniversary details on Thursday afternoon. Maybe we'll get to see the new jersey in color? Or perhaps in a photograph? Stay tuned to Icethetics.
Reader Comments (15)
I agree with you on the Blaze. Decent-good logo, and I like the SENS jerseys (sans SENS) as well. Glad to hear it, too. I thought I may have been the only one who liked it.
I also agree on the Blaze logo which is doing a great job on not-looking like a Flames knockoff.
However, the SENS jersey still lacks a fitting logo in my opinion, or ar least a fitting color scheme. Why didn't the include some yellow?
Both logos look pretty good.
I like the new Attack jersey, I always felt the old one was kind of 90s/early 00s looking in terms of flashiness. The Blaze jerseys are okay but the whole concept (including the name) seem like kind of a rip off of the Kamloops Blazers. If just the name or just the logo were similar I wouldn't mind but when they are both that similar it seems like they were too lazy to come up with their own identity.
I really like the Blaze logo, although I think they should've used the pre-Reebok Edge era Flames jerseys instead of that Sens third jersey template, those would've looked awsome with the Blaze logo as the crest.
That Owen Sound logo is terrible! The face is all screwed up. Looks more like something from Tales of the Crypt, than a bear. Probably the worst logo I've seen for a team in North America. So disappointed.
The Blaze looks alright. I'll have to wait to see it in action, rather than just renderings. I'm not totally sold on it yet.
The Bloomington flaming "B" is a way nicer design than the Calgary flaming "C".
The Arizona Sundogs of the same CHL used the "Sens" jersey template last year, as well.
The worst logo in North America, McBain?
Guess you haven't laid your eyes on the CT Whale, eh?
http://www.ctwhale.com/
The Attack logo looks more like a man-eating pig than a bear. But the Blaze logo looks great, never would've believed there could be a flaming letter that doesn't look exactly like the Flames' C. Guess I was wrong.
BW,
Totally forgot about the Whale. Its a close one.
The Whale logo is terrible, but personally, I think this logo is way worse because it's trying to be fierce. This looks like a melted bear pig. This actually looks like a mistake.
"It may be a little odd-looking, but you can't deny this is a killer jersey."
I can and will.
McBain, I see where you're coming from. I'm no designer, but I think that illustrating the bear growling would be a difficult task (maybe one of the excellent designers here could do better). I totally get where you're coming from. I think the new logo is terribly executed, not because of the rendering of the bear.
There are several big issues. The Owen Sound font and the Attack font do not match at all. They should have kept the custom Attack font for Owen Sound. Also, the lack of yellow anywhere but on the bear is an issue. It's the primary logo colour, but nowhere on the jerseys and not incorporated into the text at all. You also have a circular and dynamic bear and a really flat logo. And the last thing is that with no team name on the front you may have some confused people thinking it's the "Owen Sound Bears" (or Bearpigs). Also, it's not the Attacks fault, but the mess of the OHL logo and the Reebok logo just make me angry. It really detracts from the front of the jersey, when not worn in full equipment.
The Owen Sound team should be renamed "Manbearpigs."
Is the Owen Sound bear kissing a plate glass window?