IceCaps Unveil Familiar Uniforms
Thursday · Sep 22 · 2011 | 10:48 AM PDT
IceCaps jerseys unveiled / Dave SalterThe AHL's St. John's IceCaps officially unveiled their uniforms today. It should surprise no one that they are identical to those of their NHL parent club, the Winnipeg Jets.
IceCaps owner Danny Williams and player Jason King were on hand this morning to model the new sweaters for cameras. And for an AHL team, they look incredibly good.
Now a moment ago I said "identical," but obviously that would be silly. The IceCaps have their own primary logo on the front and the Jets' logo on the shoulders. Add in an advertisement or two and that's it as far as differences.
Here's how the new look was described in a press release on the AHL's website:
The jerseys, which are modeled after the parent Winnipeg Jets uniforms, consist largely of two shades of blue. The primary navy blue base of the home dark jerseys is referred to as Polar Night Blue. The lighter, secondary blue is called Aviator Blue. Each jersey includes sleeve piping, accenting the colors.
The IceCaps will wear the white jerseys at home and the blue jerseys for road games.
“I could not be more pleased with the final product we are unveiling today which will be the signature look of the St. John’s IceCaps,” said Mr. Williams. “These are incredibly sharp looking jerseys that are sure to catch the eye throughout the league.”
If you haven't been following along this summer, the IceCaps were known as the Manitoba Moose until that club was displaced by the purchase and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg. The team, still owned by True North along with the Jets, moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and unveiled their logo on July 29.
As I said yesterday, I like the Jets' new uniforms, so naturally I like the IceCaps' as well. I almost like them better because I like their primary logo better. But despite my understanding that advertising is necessary to the business aspect of an AHL franchise, I've never liked it on the uniforms. Otherwise, solid look.
IceCaps uniforms nearly identical to Jets / AHL
But wait, there's more minor league news...
San Francisco Bulls joining ECHL in 2012
San Francisco Bulls joining ECHLYesterday, the ECHL Board of Governors approved the membership of a new franchise to begin play in the 2012-13 season. They're called the San Francisco Bulls and appropriately, they'll play at the Cow Palace.
But before you get too excited, the logo being used to represent the new California club on the ECHL's website is absolutely atrocious. It's not design. It's just a sad mess.
The bull head looks like some sort of futuristic, metallic thing while the font couldn't look more dated. And the crossed hockey sticks look like a tacked-on afterthought. Painful is what it is.
I'm hoping that by the time next summer rolls around, they'll have a real logo to show us. And maybe a revised color scheme? Who thought gold, red and black used in this way was a good idea? The 49ers do it right. This doesn't.
In any case, next year the ECHL celebrates its 25th anniversary and it's cool to see them adding new teams in west coast markets after so many have come and gone in the recent past. Heck, if the Florida Everblades were to visit, I might even fly down to see a game.
Reader Comments (24)
It's nice the Bay Area is getting some minor hockey as an alternative to the Sharks, but horrible branding so far for the SF Bulls. Atrocious logo and color combination (the red is actually very orange on their website, www.sfbulls.com, it's like they are combining the Giants orange and Niners gold, plus the font looks just like a knockoff of the Giants logo font) and the name could be better, did they choose it specifically because they are playing at the Cow Palace? Can't imagine what the jerseys would look like with this "bull"crap.
On the positive side about the Bulls logo and colors, they are much better than that of the San Francisco Spiders of the IHL, who also played in the Cow Palace, which is actually in Daly City, Calif. The Spiders' uniforms were a mess. http://www.hockeyjimm.com/jerseys/IHL/images/03_SpidersR_f.jpg
Ah yes, the IHL days of the San Francisco Spiders, Los Angeles Ice Dogs, Detroit Vipers (now there was horrible collision of color), Quebec Rafales.
Wow. It's amazing what a decent (although not great!) logo can do to a jersey. The Jets jersey falls flat because they have an awful logo for a pro team. In the future it should be relegated to the shoulder (or trashcan) and a new primary designed.
Love the IceCaps jerseys. Exactly what I was hoping for.
Yeah, those IceCaps jerseys further drive home the obvious fact that the Jets' uniforms belong on an AHL team.
Confirmed what we all knew: Jets logo looks GREAT as a shoulder patch.
The Bulls logo looks like General Grievous from Star Wars
"The primary navy blue base of the home dark jerseys..."
whoever wrote the article for the AHL should get fired. AHL teams wear WHITE AT HOME!
good work...
San Francisco Bulls...? Okay, that name sound tacky... I don't see any Bulls in SF except in the outskirt of the valley... And yes, that logo look atrocious... Just bad as the Colorado Eagles! I hope this is just a template before the time closer for the season...
I don't know Chris, I never imagined that an ice cap would be constricted by a circle!
Wow, that Bulls logo is awful. With a name like Bulls, you'd expect something a little more threatening that that. The only thing that logo is threatening is my eyes.
On the other hand, the IceCaps jerseys are very nice. I too like them better than the Jets, but the logo is the dealbreaker there.
RoF Hockey: A little over the top with the outrage, maybe? That paragraph was referring to the Jets' jerseys, which are blue at home. The very next paragraph says the IceCaps will wear white at home — as we all know is standard in the AHL.
It is really sad when a monir league team has a better logo and therefore a better uniform than its parent club. The Jets' logo is a good shoulder patch AT BEST.
Ditto on the roundel making a great shoulder patch. That's where it belongs.
Perhaps I missed something is the Thrashers/Jets move, but what team will farm for the Vancouver Canucks, with the Moose gone?
Another team that played in the Cow Palace was the San Francisco Shamrocks of the Pacific Hockey League (1970's) who had a great logo.
With any luck the Bulls will either redo their logo, or at the very least change it somewhat - at least removing the wordmarks and cross sticks when using it as a jersey crest.
The worst part? The bull is constricted by a circle.
;)
Actually the font is pretty bad. Difficult to read.
JD: It has been mentioned here before. The Canucks are now affiliated with the Chicago Wolves, who were previously with the Thrashers.
I've been saying all along, and it's nice to see so many agree, that the Jets primary logo makes a nice shoulder logo and not much more.
I think people are giving this IceCaps logo too much credit. Short of there being the tiny tip of a mountain or iceberg (which is it?), it's just words... There is nothing to it. This logo is not any stronger than the Jets logo... Infact, I think it's weaker. But that's just my opinion.
I still can't get around that Ice Caps name and logo. I'm sure that Dairy Queen secretly owns this team.
The San Francisco Bulls logo looks very similar to the logo of the WHL's Red Deer Rebels (though the Rebels' one looks many times better than this).
With a gem like Alcatraz located in the San Francisco bay, why wouldn't you want to create a team image around that? Should have called them the "San Francisco Rock", or the "San Francisco Convicts" or something. A team name like "Bulls" is too obvious... I mean, what other names were in the running? "Wildcats"? "Jaguars"? Way to leave me feeling underwhelmed in every way possible.
At least put the hockey sticks as the bull horns!