PEI Rocket Becoming Islanders in 2013
Friday · Sep 28 · 2012 | 1:58 AM PDTThe QMJHL's P.E.I. Rocket will play its final season in 2012-13. But not to worry Rocket fans, your team isn't going anywhere. It's just getting a new name beginning in the 2013-14 season. And because I waited so long to report this, I can now tell you what that name will be.
A year from now, the 13-year-old club will become the P.E.I. Islanders. And if that seems like it would be awkward to say out loud, you're absolutely right. But that's the way it is.
On August 22, the team announced it would be rebranded in 2013 and that the new name would come from the fans. For two weeks, the team accepted submissions. The top three entries were put up to an online vote from Sept. 6–19. They were P.E.I. Confederation, Islanders and Riptide.
At their home opener last Friday, the team announced that the new name will be Islanders. Apparently, Reebok will be developing the new look — colors, logos, uniforms and so on.
The franchise has undergone some front office changes recently and weren't satisfied that the name was connecting with fans. The team was founded in 1999 as the Montreal Rocket — named after the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard and their logo was even shaped like the No. 9 on his sweater. And in 2003, when the club packed up and moved to Prince Edward Island, they took the name with them. Guess 10 years was enough.
The Guardian recently ran polls regarding the new name. And the results were unusual. First of all, when asked to choose between the three finalists (Confederation, Islanders and Riptide), 59% of voters chose Riptide. However, in a later poll, only 54% give the new name a thumbs up.
What do you guys think of the new name? And what do you think Reebok will/should come up with in terms of a new logo?
Reader Comments (11)
It's pretty lame to steal the name of an NHL team, especially a team that has been so bad during the entire life time of the players.
Another reason it's a bad name is that they are the Prince Edward Island Islanders.
Epic Fail on other words.
I think they should go with "Prince Edward Islanders" personally. It's an unusual way to spell it but I think it's kinda cool. As for the logo and colours, Red has got to be the main colour, PEI is famous for it's red soil, and the logo should incorporate a lobster in some way. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
shouldn't they just be the prince edward islanders not the prince edward island islanders
Charlottetown Islanders would be better.
That Fish Sticks logo is still around. Standing on its own, I actually thought it was a pretty cool logo, but was definitely not an improvement on the NY Islanders' classic logo (which I think could use some updating).
PEI hockey teams have used the Islanders nickname for long before Long Island got an NHL team. But for that reason, a big fail. No originality at all.
I'm from PEI, and I can tell you that folks rarely ever refer to our QMJHL team by its full name of the "PEI Rocket". Most commonly, people will simply refer to them as "The Rocket". Although the PEI Islanders name is redundant, I do feel it will be effective in engaging the local hockey fans by appealing to their pride as Islanders. The colour scheme should incorporate a combination of any of the following themes which are representative of the province: Red Soil/Green Grass/The Ocean. I also agree that a Lobster-themed logo would be interesting as well, with plenty of potential. Sadly, I feel that with Reebok at the helm of the rebrand, we're more likely to see a cookie-cutter design with a lack-luster colour scheme, and I wouldn't be surprised if the logo was either a word-script or the Wild/Penguins/Blackhawks/etc. "circle logo". They should have a jersey design contest in my opinion.
I don't necessarily think of NY Islanders when I hear the name. Plus it was chosen by the fans, so good for them.
I agree with the above comment regarding Reebok. I think their designs are truly awful, I hope for the teams sake they pull a rabbit out of their hats on this on.
my submission of the "Fightin' Ice Taters" was way better.
-Helmet the Kitchener Rangers & Lethbridge Hurricanes also share their names the NHL teams
Still think they should be called the Prince Edward Islanders not the PEI Islanders.
@Helmet - get a clue before you comment. The name Islanders has a ton of hockey history in PEI at different levels of the game. They didn't "steal" anything. Charlottetown Islanders would have been better, but the team insisted on continuing to be branded as PEI. Also, no one calls them the Prince Edward Island Rocket and no one will call them the Prince Edward Island Islanders. It's just PEI Islanders.