Arena Logos: The Retirees

Last weekend, my posts on Arena Logos were an unexpected hit. Turns out, like me, a lot of you are fans of the esoteric. So I thought I'd revisit the subject by displaying some arena logos that are no longer in use. Check out the retirees.

From 2005 to 2009, the home of the Boston Bruins was known as TD Banknorth Garden. Four years ago, Banknorth was removed from the name and the arena is now known simply as TD Garden.

In 1999, the Buffalo Sabres' building was renamed HSBC Arena. That lasted for 12 years before they started calling it the First Niagara Center. But what the heck is going on with that logo? Might be the most abstract arena logo I've ever laid eyes on.

One of the more recent arena name changes saw Raleigh's RBC Center become PNC Arena last year. The Carolina Hurricanes call that building home.

Thanks to its unique roof design, the home of the Calgary Flames will always be called the Saddledome. But that doesn't mean sponsors won't try to stick their names in front of it. Before Scotiabank shelled out in 2010, Pengrowth Energy paid for 10 years worth of naming rights.

When United Airlines merged with Continental Airlines, a corporate rebranding led to a new logo for the United Center as well. This logo was used from the day the doors opened in 1994 until 2011. The Chicago Blackhawks have played there since 1995.

Not unlike the situation with United Airlines, when Pepsi rebranded itself, Denver's Pepsi Center also got a new logo. It was a really more of an update with some mountains added and the sponsor's logo revised. Still, what you see here is how the arena was branded when it started hosting Colorado Avalanche games in 1999. The new logo came about in 2009.

The home of the Florida Panthers has endured more than its share of names during its relatively short life so far. This was the third logo used since the arena opened in 1998. It was known as the BankAtlantic Center from 2005 until 2012, when it became the BB&T Center.

The New Jersey Devils got a shiny new home in the Prudential Center in 2007. But before that, they played out of the Continental Airlines Arena. That building actually became the Izod Center shortly after the Devils moved out.

The Nashville Predators played at Sommet Center from 2007 to 2010. There was a lot of drama with the company that paid for the name so the building actually went back to its original name, Nashville Arena, for a short time before Bridgestone stepped in. Speaking of which...

Eagle-eyed readers might take note that there have actually been two logos during the Bridgestone Arena era. This one above was the original. But it only lasted one season because of Bridgestone's corporate rebranding in 2011. To see the differences in the company's logos side-by-side, look here.

I'm not exactly sure when the change happened on Long Island, but this was the longtime logo of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum before the current logo came along. The new mark features the New York Islanders colors of orange and royal blue.

Now my favorite part! Between 2002 and 2012, the Tampa Bay Lightning played at the St. Pete Times Forum. The building's name changed when the newspaper's did just over a year ago. But the old logo was quite bold and quite boring. And that's not easy to achieve. But that might just be lingering distaste for the name change in the first place.

That's because when the arena opened in 1996, it was called the Ice Palace. Admit it, that's just a badass name for a hockey arena. Why did they ever change it? Everything comes down to money.

As a bonus, I stumbled across this mark in one of my old Lightning game programs. A couple readers mentioned they like seeing how arenas are represented graphically in logos. I think this is one of the coolest ever designed. But again, I'm not hiding my bias here. The ThunderDome also had a pretty great logo before it became Tropicana Field. I'm trying to track down a clean version to display here.

And finally, General Motors Place was home to the Vancouver Canucks until it was renamed Rogers Arena following the 2010 Winter Olympics. Its logo really has nothing to do with the buildling, sticking to natural elements of the Pacific Northwest — green mountains and, well, the sun is just wishful thinking.

That's all for now. One reader also suggested I tackle AHL arena logos at some point. Think I may prepare that post for next weekend if you guys are interested.

Canucks Celebrate Millionaires

Photos by Severin Samulski via Fort Nucks

How long have we been waiting for this?!

The Vancouver Canucks revealed some great news today. As part of their season-long tribute to the 100th anniversary of pro hockey on the west coast, the Canucks have unveiled a Vancouver Millionaires jersey — modeled above by Ryan Kesler.

So when will this jersey see game action? That's not entirely clear, but I'll get to that in a minute. First, the reason this unveiling came today is that the Canucks will wear their third jersey tonight — a third jersey that will feature a special Millionaires patch on the front.

Here are some details from the press release:

The Vancouver Canucks are proud to announce they will celebrate 100 years of hockey on the West Coast by wearing the Vancouver Millionaires “V” patch on their sweaters for select home games in the 2013 season beginning tonight versus the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Vancouver Millionaires were the first professional hockey team on the West Coast, playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1912 through 1922. The Millionaires won the Stanley Cup in 1915 against the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association, which later became the NHL. The Millionaires played at the 10,500 seat Denman Arena built by Frank and Lester Patrick at the corner of Georgia and Denman and were the first Canadian team to play hockey on artificial ice.

The Canucks will wear the “V” on the front right chest of their sweaters in honour of Vancouver’s original hockey heroes such as Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, who was a member of the Stanley Cup winning Vancouver Millionaires squad.

To my knowledge, the Canucks have not yet released their third jersey schedule.

Now back to that Millionaires jersey at the top of the post. A line in that press release may indicate that the Canucks are planning to wear it in a game next month.

Check back often for more exciting Millionaires news as the Canucks continue to honour Vancouver’s hockey roots, particularly in-game March 16th as the Canucks host the Detroit Red Wings.

There's no reason Reebok would produce this jersey if there was no intention to wear it in a game. Looks like we may get it sooner rather than later. Mark your calendars for Sat., March 16. That could be one nice looking hockey game if true!

The Jersey Brief: ECHL Edition

Ever since the return of the NHL, I've been back to ignoring the minor leagues. Sorry about that. Hopefully I can make up for some of what I've missed with this post and others to come.

Solar Bears disappoint with third jersey

I've had this one in the chamber for a little while now. But I can't ignore it anymore. The Orlando Solar Bears — of the ECHL's current top-selling jerseys — debuted their third jersey on Dec. 28 against the Florida Everblades. And it was extremely disappointing.

Photos: ©2012 Gary Bassing/OSB via Solar Bears official Facebook page

The Joe Bosack Graphic Design Co. created a wide and varied set of phenomenal logos for this team last year. And despite that, the Bears managed to create a rather boring jersey. So they play in the Sunshine State, you say? I'm all for simplicity, but it just feels like there's a big hole in the middle of this sweater. If you're interested, you can find more photos on the Solar Bears' Facebook page.

Solar Bears go pink for one night in January

While we're talking Orlando, might as well mention the Solar Bears' Pink in the Rink jerseys. That fad isn't going anywhere. The team's cancer awareness night was Jan. 19 and they were fully clad in hot pink and their familiar purple in front a crowd of 9,000-plus.

Photos: ©2013 Fernando Medina/OSB via Solar Bears official Facebook page

Those are certainly bright. But as pink jerseys go, they aren't the worst we've ever seen. Of course that contrasting nameplate thing won't die. Don't think the Bears have worn a single jersey yet that didn't have it. (Way to go, Flyers.) Of course you can find more photos on the team's Facebook page.

Wranglers to go "topless" on Over 18 Night, Feb. 4

Fresh off their Indoor Winter Classic victory, the Las Vegas Wranglers are going "topless" next week. The club known for weird and wacky theme nights will be wearing these jerseys on Monday.

Photo by IIA Photography

Since there's nothing I can think to say, I'll give you an excerpt from the press release:

“Going bottomless was simply out of the question,” said Wranglers President and Chief Operating Officer Billy Johnson. “Yuck.”

The specialty Wranglers jersey, featuring a bare chest and sculpted abs, has a Wranglers crest tattooed over the right pectoral. Adorning the shoulders are a “topless hockey” and Wranglers word mark, with light arm hair filling out the details.

“The guys have never looked to be in better shape,” said Johnson. “Nor have they appeared to be as identical.”

The Wranglers host the Colorado Eagles for "Over 18 Night" on Feb. 4. "In addition to topless hockey," the team says, "fans can enjoy mild adult humor throughout the game, including uncensored clips from well-known movies applied to game situations."

Also the numbers look absolutely illegible. Can't wait to see pictures from the game.

Stingrays set to sport pink-infused jersey on Feb. 23

Rounding out our ECHL coverage tonight are the South Carolina Stingrays, who yesterday unveiled their Pink in the Rink Night jersey. As pink jerseys go, it's surprisingly decent. Icethetics reader Sean M., who let me know about the unveiling, even called it "tasteful."

Again, as pink jerseys go, I can't say I disagree. The pink-infused sweaters will be worn by the Stingrays on Sat., Feb. 23 when the host the Greenville Road Warriors.

I understand this doesn't completely make up for my lack of minor league posts recently, so there are more to come. For one thing, the AHL's Outdoor and All-Star Classics were this month, complete with lots of neat jerseys. Stay tuned for more.

Weekend Odds & Ends

Brighten your Monday with these uniform musings from the second weekend of the NHL season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have updated their third jersey and officially retired their old logo. The Bolts hit the ice on Friday night in the alternate sweaters which now feature their new primary logo on the shoulders. And because they're celebrating their 20th anniversary this season, that patch has been added as well.

Speaking of new jersey patches, the San Jose Sharks debuted the memorial logo that honors the team's original owner, George Gund III. The only problem is that the Sharks' uniforms are already pretty cluttered, so there's not a whole lot of room for an extra patch. It's worse for the captains and alternate captains, as you can see with Joe Thornton's jersey.

Nominations for the best-looking hockey games of EVER. I know which one Don Cherry is voting for.

No, the St. Louis Blues weren't that excited about the arrival of new teammate Wade Redden on Sunday night. The players all wore No. 6 jerseys during warm-ups to honor St. Louis sports legend Stan Musial. Unfortunately, numbers had to be added to the front of the jerseys to identify the players. Something we never want to see again.

While we're on the subject of unique warm-up jerseys, Icethetics reader Alec Dominguez wrote in to let us know that the Florida Panthers have been wearing "7th man" nameplates recently.

This photo of Alex Kovalev was taken prior to Thursday night's game against the Senators.

Each player wears his own number. It's just the nameplate that's there to honor the patient fans who endured three months of idiocy in the form of the NHL's fourth lockout in two decades.

Hey, bright side. At least they acknowledge they're trying our patience. I figured they would just ignore it.

By the way, if you've noticed any uniform changes or unique warm-up sweaters I've managed to overlook, please drop me a line. I'll either update this blog post or start a new one.

And finally...

This is one of the weirdest things I've seen so far this season. On their website splash page, the New York Islanders are promoting their game on Super Bowl Sunday with a football helmet featuring their logo. It's just wrong. Flat out wrong.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 29 · 2013 | 9:51 AM PST by Chris

This isn't from the weekend, but it's in the same vein as the Panthers' story above. On opening night, Jan. 21, the Columbus Blue Jackets came out for warm-ups all wearing the same jersey. It was No. 1 with "THANK YOU FANS" across the back. See? They still like our money us.

But I kid. These jerseys were actually pretty cool, a nice gesture from the team. And during the game, the jerseys were raffled off to fans.

Thanks to Dan Caron for the tweet tip. Find more photos on the team's website.

Arena Logos: The East

Thought it might be fun to take a look at the various arena logos from around the NHL. Yesterday you got a look at the rinks in the Western Conference. Today it's back east. Have a look.

The current home of the Boston Bruins has been colored by a series of bank mergers over the past two decades. When the Bs left their longtime home of Boston Garden in 1995, their new building was already having naming issues. The arena was supposed to be called Shawmut Center — named after Shawmut Bank. But the bank merged with FleetBoston Financial before it ever opened. So it was renamed the FleetCenter before it hosted its first game.

FleetBoston merged with Bank of America in 2004, but the FleetCenter name stuck around another year before a new deal allowed the rights holder to sell. For a month in early 2005, the name changed daily as the naming rights were auctioned off on ebay. The proceeds of that went to local charities. The building was simply known as YourGarden until TD Banknorth took over the rights in July. They kept the "Garden" part.

Then yet another merger required yet another new name for the building. In 2009, it became TD Garden — a name will still know it by today. Now, if only we can get someone to write a good pun incorporating Toronto-Dominion and the home of the Bruins.

Oh good, another arena named for a bank. That won't get us into trouble. When The Aud closed in 1996, the Buffalo Sabres got a new home. It was called Marine Midland Arena. Yes, Marine Midland was a bank, but it was actually owned by HSBC. And in 1999, they decided to rename the building the HSBC Arena. Then in 2011, First Niagara Financial Group bought up some HSBC branches and wanted their name on the building. Hence, the First Niagara Center was born.

Hey, another bank. Awesome. The Carolina Hurricanes call PNC Arena home. But that's hardly the building's original name. First of all, when the Whalers arrived in North Carolina in 1997, they were forced to play at the Greensboro Coliseum while the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena was being built. When it was finished in 1999, the Canes finally moved to the town they intended.

Then in 2002, naming rights to the new building were sold to RBC Bank — turning it into the RBC Center. Bank merger alert! RBC was purchased by PNC Financial Services in 2011. They changed the name on March 15, 2012.

You've got to be kidding. I get that banks have the necessary cash for things like arena naming rights, but when you agree to that, you have to expect the name is just going to change every few years, right? Guess what. Wait for it. The Florida Panthers entered the NHL in 1993 playing out of Miami Arena — a building they shared with the NBA's Miami Heat — but moved out just five years later.

In 1998, they left for the shiny, new National Car Rental Center in Sunrise. Office Depot picked up the naming rights in 2002 for a few years. Then in 2005, it became the BankAtlantic Center. There it is. BankAtlantic was sold to BB&T in 2012 and the arena was renamed the BB&T Center.

After 72 seasons of hockey and 24 Stanley Cups in the Montreal Forum, the Montreal Canadiens departed in 1996 for the new Molson Centre. When Molson sold the team, they also gave up the naming rights. The building became the Bell Centre in 2002.

The Prudential Center, nicknamed "The Rock," is one of the newest buildings in the NHL, having been home to the New Jersey Devils since 2007. Prior to that, they played in the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. It was actually called the Brendan Byrne Arena when they arrived in 1982 — but most people referred to it as the Meadowlands Arena.

The New York Islanders are one of just a handful of NHL teams still playing in their original building after 40 years. They entered the NHL in 1972 and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has been the only home the Isles have ever known. But that will soon change.

The Islanders announced in October that they will move to Brooklyn in 2015 — when their lease at The Coliseum ends. Their new arena will be the Barclays Center, which opened in September 2012. (Uh oh, not another bank!)

Billed as "The World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden has been home to the New York Rangers since 1968. The original MSG was first built in 1879 in another location. The Rangers actually debuted at the third incarnation of The Garden when they joined the NHL in 1926.

The NHL expanded back into Canada's capital in 1992 with the Ottawa Senators. They played at the Ottawa Civic Centre until The Palladium opened in the middle of the 1995-96 season. Prior to the next season, the building was renamed the Corel Centre, under a 10-year naming rights deal. When it expired in 2006, it became Scotiabank Place. (Anyone counting how many banks we're up to in the east?)

By the way, since Calgary's Saddledome was renamed in 2010, Scotiabank now has its name and logo on two NHL arenas.

The Spectrum was built to house the Philadelphia Flyers in 1967. But after almost 30 years, the club upgraded to the new CoreStates Center in 1996. Wait, that's a bank. Here we go again. First Union acquired CoreStates Bank in 1998 — giving us the First Union Center. In 2003, First Union merged with Wachovia — so we had the Wachovia Center for a while. Then Wachovia was bought by Wells Fargo in 2008, but the building wasn't renamed Wells Fargo Center until 2010. How many more name changes can the "Spectrum II" endure before the existing 21-year deal is up? Only time will tell.

The NHL's newest building is the Consol Energy Center — home of the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2010. Previously, the Pens played at "The Igloo" — also known as Mellon Arena — from the time they entered the NHL during the 1967 expansion. When that arena was torn down in 2011, it was 50 years old.

After playing their first season in a glorified barn on the Florida State Fairgrounds, the Tampa Bay Lightning left Expo Hall for the aptly re-christened ThunderDome. The Dome is now known as Tropicana Field, home of the MLB's Tampa Bay Rays. In 1996, the Bolts moved into their new home — the Ice Palace. If you ask me — and I know I'm biased — that is hands-down the best name EVER for an NHL rink.

But it didn't last. The naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times in 2002 and the building was called the St. Pete Times Forum. In 2012, the newspaper changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times — so the arena's name was changed as well in the middle of last season. (It also got a much cooler logo.)

The Lightning actually have kind of a funny arena story when you look back. From 1993 to 1996, the "Tampa team" played in St. Petersburg, Fla. Then a few years after they finally arrived in downtown Tampa, their arena suddenly had "St. Pete" in its name. Quite confusing for most people outside the Bay Area.

The Toronto Maple Leafs played at Maple Leaf Gardens for almost 70 years before moving to Air Canada Centre in 1999. The Gardens, by the way, now house a grocery store. So at least they didn't tear it down the way every other storied NHL building has been.

The MTS Centre has housed the new Winnipeg Jets since their arrival in 2011. Named for Manitoba Telecom Services, the arena was built by True North Sports & Entertainment and opened in 2004. It was home to the AHL's Manitoba Moose until the Jets moved in. The original Winnipeg Jets played at the Winnipeg Arena even during their WHA days in the 1970s. That building was demolished in 2006.

We finish with another building named for a telecom company — the Verizon Center, home of the Washington Capitals. It opened in 1997 as the MCI Center, but the name was changed in 2006 when Verizon acquired MCI. Prior to 1997, the Caps played at the Capital Centre, built in 1973 ahead of the team's arrival a year later. That building was renamed the USAir Arena in 1993 and again changed to US Airways Arena in 1997 when the airline rebranded itself.

Hope you found all of this as enlightening as I did. And I think if we learned one thing, it's that you should not sell naming rights to a bank. It's just going to cost you in the long run when you have to keep changing your signage every five minutes. Back to normal blog posts tomorrow.

Update on Saturday · Jul 13 · 2013 | 8:57 PM PDT by Chris

Got an arena logo update. As of about two weeks ago, the home of the Ottawa Senators has been renamed Canadian Tire Centre. The arena naming rights are part of a larger partnership between the two organizations, announced back on June 18. The new name took effect on July 1.

So that's one less bank now!