Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Ranking All 30 NHL Logos

The NHL season is here and we have an opportunity to look at the NHL logos.  I've been wanting to do this for some time, so here it is.  Ranking the logos.

Now, this is all me and what I like.  So here we go.

30-FLORIDA PANTHERS

Where do I begin with this?  I don't like the leaping in 3-D panther ... or is it walking towards me on its hind legs?  Plus when up against the Carolina Panthers logo, this gets left way behind.  It just doesn't do it for me at all.




29-VANCOUVER CANUCKS

The Canucks seemingly can never get it right.  They are in logo hell.  Whether it is the boring stick logo of the 1970s or the colorful skate of the 1980s and 1990s or this ... whatever ... they just have yet to find the one.  Heck, I prefer this alternate logo of about 8 years ago.  Anything but this shark/whale thing cracking ice.


28-ARIZONA COYOTES

There's gotta be a way to make a coyote look cool.  I did kind of like that artsy logo when the 'Yotes first started up.  I get that the 90s-ish look wouldn't stay forever, but their current rendition is boring.  So much so that it even looks like the logo is yawning.  Again, to put it up against a similar logo, I like the Minnesota Timberwolves wolf much better.


27-TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

There it is.  A lightning bolt.  Neat.  Well, it is better than their arena football looking logo from before.









26-ANAHEIM DUCKS

Points may be deducted here for what it replaced more than what it is.  Actually, this one isn't too bad since it is a duck foot that is shaped like a D.  But it took away those Mighty Ducks logos from the 1990s.  That's harsh!  In the history of logos, that Mighty Ducks thing was special, even if it was cartoonish.  This is plain.



25-DALLAS STARS

The more that I look at it, the more I think I should have moved this further down the list.  I hate it.  For a team in Dallas named the Stars, you'd think they'd have more creativity than this or their old logo.  A shame, since the Minnesota North Stars (who then moved to Dallas) had a pretty cool logo in the 70s and 80s.



24-WINNIPEG JETS

Kind of like the Charlotte Hornets, I liked the old version better.  Unlike the Hornets, this one isn't cool as well.  It looks like a logo that someone made using stickers.  It is uninspiring and downright lame.




23-TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Here stars my speech on classics.  Look, I get that the classics should always be respected.  I get it.  But on its own, this Leafs' logo is as plain as you can get.  It looks good on the jersey and is iconic, but it isn't imaginative.




22-NEW YORK ISLANDERS

This is an interesting logo to say the least.  I love the Y turning into a stick and the four stripes to represent their four Cups.  Even the little color change on Long Island to mark where Uniondale is (even though they are in Brooklyn now).  It is just too 70s-ish now and that's bad when they are in the BK revitalization.  At least it isn't the Gorton's fisherman.


21-COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Again, not really good.  I mean, the star is neat (Columbus is Ohio's capital) and the Ohio flag is alright.  But ... where's the blue jacket?  No, not that bug thing they started with or that busy thing they had after that.  Give me something cool to work with.  This alternate logo they've adopted is a bit better, but they still got a ways to go.


20-OTTAWA SENATORS

I'm just that into that look.  Maybe it is the real human face that turns me off.






19-WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Here we are getting to logos I like, but I gotta rank them out.  Like the Washington Wizards, going back to their kinda original logo and color scheme works.  The eagle and blue and gold scheme was bad.  As was the Capitol building logo.  It is a bit modern as well as throwback and that's good in my book.



18-NASHVILLE PREDATORS

The Preds have a nice logo.  A lot going on.  It is fierce, the teeth are intimidating and the head in intricate.  My one complaint would probably be the color scheme.  Overall, it is pretty average.
17-BOSTON BRUINS

Again with a classic.  Unlike the Maple Leafs' logo, the Bruins have more going on.  The B is iconic and they even updated to borders less than a decade ago.  It pops off jerseys.  Sure, there is no bear on the logo, but they do well with the alt logos.




16-NEW YORK RANGERS

Back to back classics.  I like the shield, which is like the NHL's logo itself.  The liberty-esque topper is a nice touch. The red, white and blue are all in it as well.  I do with they could update it a tad like the Bruins did or even the NBA's Knicks.



15-CAROLINA HURRICANES

The hurricane symbol itself isn't scary, but it is a warning of the destruction coming.  The colors pop and mix together.  Also, they stayed far away from the Miami Hurricanes logo, which is great.
The one gripe is there is no personality for this logo.  Oh, and this franchise used to be the Hartford Whalers that had an epic logo.



14-LOS ANGELES KINGS

Sometimes simple is best.  The Kings logo has the simple shape and the classy LA font.  The crown, however, is detailed like the crown of before.  The logo this replaced had too much going on, like the Sacramento Kings.  Sure, I'm still partial to the Gretzky-era logo, but this is nice.



13-PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Usually, logos that look 70s-ish rub me the wrong way.  But not all the time.  The Flyers hit with this.  I mean, this is soooo 70s that it has come back.  Where some old logos look a bit plain, at least this Flyers logo has something to look at.
12-BUFFALO SABRES

The Sabres went away from this for a while in the late 90s to early 2000s.  I'm glad it's back!  The buffalo ... get it ... above the sabres ... get it ... works.  It looks good everywhere, even if it does look like Edward Scissorhands is going to chop up some buffalo.




11-CALGARY FLAMES

The Cal-GARY Flames inherited this name and the theme of the logo from its move from Atlanta.  It kinda looks like the Flyers logo in style, but the flames here really crackle.  It looks good on jerseys and really give a feisty feel.




10-PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Great logo.  The Pens went away from this in the Lemieux era with a stuffy version, but came back to it over a decade ago.  Kind of like what the Baltimore Orioles did coming back to the cartoon logo.  It has that cool feel, the penguin looks mean and it looks great on a jersey.
9-EDMONTON OILERS

Awesome logo.  Again, it is a 70s-ish logo that works and it really is eye pleasing.  The oil drop on top and the oil running down the letters.  Just great.  They've fooled around with alternate logos through the years, but this stays the same.




8-MONTREAL CANADIENS

Classic.  The "H" inside the "C" is a great touch and keeps the logo from being too plain (or too much like the Cincinnati Reds or Chicago Bears).




7-COLORADO AVALANCHE

The A looks like a mountain, and we actually have an avalanche pushing a puck down the mountain.  Awesome.  So awesome.  The snow monster alt logo is a great touch as well.





6-ST LOUIS BLUES

Great logo that incorporates all my favorite NHL logo styles.  The note is perfect and those wings are heavenly.  Unlike the Flames and Flyers, the action is traveling to the left here.  It looks great on the jerseys.  I also liked them dumping the orange/red look as well.



5-DETROIT RED WINGS

So detailed and classic after all these years.  The tire spokes and the wing.  Beautiful.







4-SAN JOSE SHARKS

While I've been waxing poetic over the classic logos, here is a newer one that takes the cake.  The shark is honestly frightening.  It is chomping on a stick and looks like it is on the attack.  The color and shading are perfect and the collapsing triangle works.  It is a newer classic.



3-NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Simple and amazing.  The J has devil horns and a tail.  So easy yet so cool.






2-CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Best of the classic logos.  There is so much going on with it that you can keep staring at it to see it all.  Now, the Native American part can be debated, at least it isn't a cartoonish logo like the Cleveland Indians.  It is superb.




1-MINNESOTA WILD

This might be my favorite logo in sports.  The Wild's logo is beautiful.  A piece of art.  It looks like a wild animal (Wolf?  Panther?  Wild cat?) but its ear is the moon, the mouth is a river and the eye is the north star.  The red and green work as the dusking sky and the forest below.  Magnificent.

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