NHL Unveils 2013 All-Star Game Logo
Friday · Apr 27 · 2012 | 10:13 AM PDT
Outside Nationwide Arena today in Columbus, the NHL unveiled the 2013 All-Star Game logo in front of a surprisingly large crowd.
The logo is par for the course on NHL All-Star logos over the past decade. Nothing surprising. The designers honed in on a recognizable symbol (Ohio's state flag) and were sure to work in some other elements of the host team's identity.
The star and crossed hockey sticks were lifted off the Jackets' shoulder patch. Though technically the sticks are an emblem on a Union soldier's hat, but you get the picture. Plus you wouldn't want anyone in Columbus to see the logo and mistake it for another sport.
All right, I'm not trying to take potshots at the logo. It's a good logo. It's just not mind-blowingly impressive or anything. To quote a fittingly tired phrase, it is what it is.
A big crowd takes in the logo unveiling ceremonyEarlier, I expressed surprise at the size of the crowd, not because of the rotten seasons the Blue Jackets have been having (ergo, jaded fans), but rather because this was nothing more than an unveiling for a logo with a shelf-life of 275 days.
Goes to show that hockey fans in Columbus don't need a winning team to be great hockey fans! My fellow Lightning fans from the '90s and I know a thing or two about that. Granted, there probably weren't as many of us back then.
I didn't hear any mention of the All-Star uniforms today. If I had to guess, I'd say we get the same ones for a third year in a row — which would be a first since the mid-90s. Those teal and purple jerseys were used from 1994 to 1997.
I'm not saying it's necessarily bad thing that we'll get them again. I actually like them a lot. But it would be one less new NHL design to anticipate in 2012. But I assume Reebok spent a lot of time on those 2010 jerseys, so they want to get their money's worth.
If you missed the live-streamed unveiling today, you can watch the cannon fire here.
I'd love to know what everyone else thinks. Share your critiques in the comments.
Reader Comments (14)
I saw this and I was really hoping that this wasn't their final product. In all honesty, I think the ones people submitted on here were far superior. So even though the NHL designers get final say, I still think the ones people submitted on here were better than the actual professionals who made it. Good work guys.
What no cannon. It's consistent with other CBJ designs and typical ASG logo.
I'm not a big fan. Once again it's over-starred (do we seriously need 14 stars on one logo?) and it seems weird to me how asymmetrical it is with the flag being so much larger on the right. Maybe I just like things more even especially when the words/crossed sticks/NHL crest are so squarely centered.
Also, let's be honest about how it's not even a cool-looking flag like Maryland or California! Maybe this is a part of the Blue Jackets extreme push to make their flag as recognizable as those states? It seems like overkill to me on all their gear.
Hi, I think it would be nice if all-star jerseys from past years were introduced to the Jersey Gallery! What do you think?
Nice looking logo on the 2012-2013 Columbus uniform.
Not great, not terrible. I don't love it but it looks good enough.
Being from C-Bus and a Jacket fan, the logo is OK and agree it isn't mindblowing. I think the NHL lgo could have been a little less prominent too. I'd actually like to see what it would look like with the flag on the left rather than the right (mirrored). I understand having it the way it is as it mimics the "C" from the CBJ logo, but the flag looks backwards to me. Anyone wish to offer up that tweak?
They could have make the flag more "alive" with some waves .... pretty basic !
Not impressed.
While I don't think it's a bad logo, I do think there could be some improvements made that could improve the logo.
- I like the flag, albeit I still look at the flag for the state of Ohio as being backwards in the primary logo and now this All Star Game logo. That's not really a huge concern of mine though. Overall the flag still looks pretty good.
- The placement of the NHL logo bothers me slightly. It looks a bit haphazardly placed, like it's just kind of slapped on there. I think it covers up the flag which is the main focus of this logo.
- The star and sticks at the bottom are my least favorite part. I can understand the desire to have them look as if they are Civil War insignia/symbols, but to me they just look squished and are not proportional. Really like the idea, just not the execution.
- The last thing I could pick about is the dimensional treatment on the font and the squished star. I don't really think it looks like it has a consistent light source. Again, the idea is good, but the execution is where it struggles a little bit. I've never seen a star like the one on the bottom to have shading like that to create a dimensional effect. It looks like they tried to make it look like the star on the Jackets secondary logo and that's a great idea of rounding out the primary and secondary into this logo, but it just looks off. The way it's stylized on the font is a bit off for me as well.
Just my opinion. I still really like the logo though, just expressing my thoughts on it. Wish I was talented enough to come up with something like this and like the thoughts that went into the logo. I think that although it's similar to what's been in recent years, it's still an improvement and can't wait to see if the jerseys come out any different than the last couple years, but wouldn't necessarily mind if they end up keeping them the same. Again, just my thoughts as a hockey fan. It's also great to see this kind of fan base in the city of Columbus.
You know who deserves a winning team more than Toronto? Columbus.
Chris you should attach the two concepts people did for this. I think the one is far superior than the one that the nhl designed.
The Ohio flag on everything Columbus does is getting ridiculous. They haven’t designed anything without the flag since ’07. I don’t necessarily dislike the design, I just hate the fact that they put the flag on everything. The one thing I really dislike about the flag on this design is that it looks too much like the New England Patriots word mark.
Hey Lindle, have you seen the CBJ third jersey? Show me the Ohio flag. And what's wrong with positioning themselves as Ohio's team. It's not only about Columbus, it's about the entire state.
It's alright. I loved last year's Ottawa All Stars logo, but I'm likely biased because I live in Ottawa so really appreciated the parliament building. In that same vein, I'm sure Columbus fans appreciate the flag in there, and I do think they did a good job with the motion "swoosh" effect of the flag (and the tip of the pole). I'm just not much of a fan of the colours. Nothing really pops. Red, white, blue, and grey.
Contrast that with the Ottawa logo of last year with black, white and red, but then a bit of yellow and a bit of green. That those colours were around the edges helped draw the eye. Still, if you look at the Montreal logo from 2009, it had the same colours (shades not withstanding) as the Columbus one, and it popped a bit more too...but was also very very basic (you could plop any logo in place of the Canadiens logo and it would work). Atlanta's in 2008 definitely stood out more....but then it had a heck of a lot of colours...
I've gone on way too long about colours and comparisons - the Columbus logo is nice.
Speaking as another CBJ fan, the logo is fine. I don't dislike it, but it's pretty much stamped directly out of the team's style book, so there's not much to say about it. I probably would have thrown in Nationwide or the cannon, if it were me.
I mostly wanted to address the "backwards" flag thing. To my eye, the flag should always be extending to the left in a wordmark like this, because we read left to right, which means that's the direction of motion for the logo. That means having the pole to the right and the flag trailing left is consistent with the motion of our eyes. It puts the flag into advance, not retreat.