Coming Soon: The NHL's Worst Logo!
Friday · Dec 21 · 2007 | 3:28 PM PSTAll right, yes, it may say in the header of this blog that we're on a quest to find the "best" logo in the NHL, but by popular demand, we're going to digress from that a little in the new year.
Following the Secondary Logo Tournament, we'll ring in 2008 by deciding on the worst logo in NHL history. And you will determine which logos will be part of the new bracket!
Here's how it's going to work. We'll start with a pool of 16 logos and narrow that down to the very worst ever seen in the league. Those 16 logos will be determined by nominations made by you, the readers of NHLToL. Feel free to make nominations by leaving comments. (But only comment on THIS POST. Don't email me directly and don't make your nominations on other posts. This is where I'll be looking.) I'll start tallying things up over the next few weeks and then reveal the final bracket in January.
Now as with any good competition, we have to have some ground rules. The only eligible logos include those in use from 1967-68 onward (the year the league expanded from the Original Six). While some of you may not like this limitation, I think it's fair to say that many of the NHL logos that made appearances in the 1920s and '30s aren't really up to par in terms of design as those created in the last 50 years.
Feel free to argue that point with me, though. I'm willing to do whatever you guys want, within reason, but why needlessly poke fun at the Hamilton Tigers, Philadelphia Quakers and St. Louis Eagles (and others) just because they weren't into hiring graphic designers in those days? I'm all about a fair fight.
So having said that, everything else that's ever been worn on a jersey is fair game. Primary logos, secondary (shoulder) logos, third jersey logos — whatever! You guys make your nominations here and in a few weeks we'll have our pool. Also, if you opt to nominate a more obscure logo, be sure to include an image link so that we can see it. If it's really obscure, I can't guarantee I'll be able to include it, but don't let that stop you.
Now start the nominations!
Reader Comments (82)
Cleveland Barons
California Seals
-Unused Nordiques
-Calgary Robosaurus Horse
-Bruins Bear Head 1
-Creepy Predators skull
-Flyers "Web 2.0" edition
hey hey hey
lets leave pucky the whale out of this one...
Quebec Nordiques
Philidelphia Flyers Alternate
Phoenix Coyotes Picasso
California Seals
LA Kings Early Alternates
Boston Bruins Alternate 95-07
Florida Panthers Alternate, with the circle around the panther
And The Winner!!!!!
Anaheim Mighty Ducks Alternate 95-96, Coming from the bottom corner.
Wow, and I always kinda liked the Rockies logo. It symbolized Colorado (the state's flag) AND the rockies (a mountain). You can't get much better representation out of a logo than that.
As for worst (assuming that we're just talking primary logos here)?
- K.C. Scouts (a statue? really?)
- Quebec Nordiques (is it an elephant holding a stick? an excited igloo? a melting N?)
- Colorado Avalanche (it always looked like an A with a moustache to me)
- Carolina Hurricanes (a puck getting flushed down the toilet)
- Atlanta Tharashers (a bird getting flushed down the toilet)
- current Buffalo Sabres (talk about trying to fix something that ain't broke ... Buffalo has downgraded its logo twice)
- current Ottawa Senators (it's a freakin cartoon dude wearing a stupid hat)
- original Anaheim Mighty Ducks (although it was creative and original, it was too cartoonish)
- mid-90s Islanders (is that the Gorton's Fisherman? Or Stan Fischler?)
-
1.Islanders fisherman logo
2.Anaheim mighty-ducks logo 95-96 3rd jersey
3.Nashville predators puke yellow 3rd jersey logo
4.Flames horse logo
5.Dallas Stars Mooterus logo
6.Colorado Rockies logo
7.Boston bear 3rd jersey logo
8.Current dallas logo (very bland and boring)
9.columbus blue jackets bug logo
10.Old pengunins logo
11.Canucks V logo
12.K.C scouts logo
13.Florida panthers 3rd jersey (panther holding a broken hockey-stick)
14.old Phoenix robot-coyote logo
15.Old lightning logo
16.Quebec Nordiques logo
Sabres current primary. Hands down.
Anything with a buffalo on it.
I'm also nominating the current Sabres logo.
I nominate the Red Wings current logo
Just make sure that the Phoenix Picassos, the Anaheim Darkwings, and the Tampa Bay Microsoft Word Cliparts are there.
1)the vancouver V jersey, not sure if that's a logo, other wise the crazy skate one they had.
2)The Quebec Wolf logo that was never used.
3)Isles fish stick logo
4)new sabers logo
5)boston bear head logo
6)columbus bee logo
7)nashville skull logo
8)mighty ducks third logo with pumped up duck
9)old pens jersey
the senators front facing logo from 97-07
I was never a big fan of the Blue Jackets bee logo. And of course ...the buffaslug!
oh yes i also nominat every canucks logo they have used they all just suck
I agree with previous posts that nominate the abomination known as the Buffaslug.
Rangers current.
Detroit current.
As you can see, I am not one who is shut out by the fact that the team has history. I'm looking at their logos, not how they are original six.
If Carolina or some other expansion team had one of those logos, it wouldn't be as popular.
-2007 San Jose Sharks (The Full Shark in the Triangle looks horrible)
-The Buffaslug (Of Course)
-2001-2007 Columbus Blue Jackets Primary (Simply Doesn't work)
-2001-2004 Secondary (The Bug Logo)
-Atlanta Thrashers Primary
-Colorado Avalanche Secondary (big foot)
-Edmonton Oilers third logo (I know it won the Third jersey logo tournament but c'mon that looks terrible!)
-1998-2004 Nashville Predators Secondary (Gaylord Arena Tower)
-Nashville Predators third (too many colours!)
-2001-2007 Ottawa Senators Peace Tower
-Anaheim Ducks Primary
-Whalers Secondary (Pucky)
-Tampa Bay Lightning Primary (Both the new old ones look awful)
-St Louis Blues Secondary (trumpet logo)
-1975-1995 Washington Caps (boring)
-1970-1996 Buffalo Sabres Primary (One of the most overrated logos in the history of the NHL)
-1996 L.A Kings Third
I'll second Tampa Bay - any Tampa Bay logo, but their original primary might be the worst. Very clip-arty. It's not as glaringly ugly as some of those third jersey logos, but of all recent NHL primary logos, Tampa's is definitely the most amateur looking.
Sorry Chris.
My first choice:
Thrashers.
Second, Hurricanes and third, Flyers.
I loved the cartoony Ducks logo :-\
-All Calgary Flames logos (The C looks even more clip-arty than Jacob's argument for the Lightning, and the flaming horse speaks for itself. I also throw in the current flag shoulder patches. They're not necessarily ugly or anything, it's just an exceptionally lazy way of incorporating the team's location into the jersey. Is it really so hard to have an artist make something partially original? It did the trick for Phoenix.)
-Bruins bear head 3rd jersey
-Dallas Mooterus
-Current Buffalo AND original Buffalo (Yes, sacrelige, I hate both with a passion. People complain about shoddy logo design with what the Sabres wear now, then practically orgasm at the thought of two completely separate logos clumsily joined together with a circle. I call hypocrisy. The only jersey Buffalo's had that's even begun to get it right was their 3rd jersey from the black-red colour days.)
-California Seals
-Mighty Ducks duck-mask primary
-Vancouver's 'Flying V'
-KC Scouts
-all incarnations of the skating-duck Penguins logo (I'm sorry, even for a team called the Penguins it looks laughably ridiculous, especially the original one with the toque and scarf. This is the NHL, not peewee hockey.)
-original Coyotes primary
-3/4 3rd jersey Predators
-3/4 3rd jersey Senators/current Senators logo. (They had such a classic, awesome look with the profile-face logo, why get rid of it?)
-TML mash-up Leafs secondary logo
-standard Thrashers primary
-current Dallas home primary (Took a page out of Calgary's incorporation of laziness)
Islanders Fisherman logo.
Minnesota Wild, Bear/Nightsky.
Carolina Hurricanes.
Black and Red Sabres.
Atlanta Thrashers.
The Christams themed New Jersey Devils(once they went to red and black it became fine.)
The Canucks Stick.
The Rangers current logo. Always been the worst, always will be.
What about the blues' first third jersey that never made the ice? And the kings AND the ducks first third jersey!
Mooterus
LA Kings (Gretzky era black and silver logo)
All the Vancouver logos (but stink n' rink first and foremost)
All the Buffalo logos (mainly the one that "won" the classic tournament)
KC Scouts
Nordiques
California Seals
Minnesota North Stars
Blue Jackets "Hornet"
Ottawa's Peace Tower logo
Tampa Bay Cliparts
Colorado Rockies