By John Ekdahl
The Winnipeg Jets released three of their official logos yesterday (the uniform release will be at a later time). Phil will be covering this in more detail next week, but I was fairly underwhelmed. I think the leaf/plane primary logo was a solid idea for a logo (and was inspired by the Royal Canadian Air Force insignia), but the execution ended up being a little bland. The “wings” secondary logo is decent, nothing spectacular though. The wordmark, however, is a complete mess. I’m sure Paul will have more to say about this soon.
Update: Here’s a link to their “brand identity” gallery.
Update 2: Video from the press conference is available here (video on the right side of the page).
The Phillies and Padres wore throwbacks last night and Uni Watch reader Rob Holecko was kind enough to get some screen grabs for us.
Added: Here’s a link to ESPN’s game photo gallery.
The Memphis Redbirds will be wearing organ-themed jerseys for “Organ Donor Night” on August 13th, which is a pretty hysterical promotion.
The Redbirds will be encouraging fans to sign up to be an organ donor at the National Foundation for Transplants table located on the concourse. Those who sign up or show their driver’s license that they are already a donor will be entered to win a keyboard organ donated by AMRO Music, a team autographed jersey, or a heart healthy basket from US FoodService.
Benchies
by Rick Pearson
Oh, since when is a little innovation a bad thing?…
And of course, here’s the full size.
Ek, I’m with you on the Jets’ new designs. The primary and secondary marks are pretty good, but the wordmark, I thought, is just awful. Too late for a do-over?
At the risk of awakening the Justin Bieber Zombies… never say “never”. Just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I don’t really care for the actual jet. It’s completely modern and it will never be considered timeless. A name like the “Jets” is a tricky sort. I think it’s a mistake to replicate an actual modern war plane. I think something more nondescript or abstract would be wiser. The jet on the green NY Jets helmet fits that bill.
That was my thought too. I didn’t like the modern fighter, but I guess they’re going for some military theme (instead of commercial, like the original team) because Winnipeg and the province have a strong connection to the Royal Canadian Air Force? Seems a little forced to me, but I don’t know a hell of a lot about Winnipeg.
In the end, I think they decided to go the extreme marketing route instead of traditional… which of course means this will be totally redesigned by the end of the decade.
Good point. Has becoming obsolete sort of built in, doesn’t it.
Colors are much as expected, especially the shift from royal to a blue closer to navy…and the addition of gray. Somberness still rules for most teams and uni designers.
Computerized embroidery means we can add lots of colors. Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to, though.
Would be fun to challenge some of today’s designers to do a one-color-and-white uni. They’d probably run away from their computer screaming, “I can’t DO it! You’re asking me to do the imPOSSible!!!”
I’ll bet the farm that grey ends up being a metallic silver.
re: one color/white – Isn’t that what the Lightning did?
Yes, and I imagine the designers fought it like hell.
Steve Yzerman (Lightning GM) wanted to go with a classic look, doubtlessly inspired by the Red Wings. Had they not come up with that black third, you could say that Wayne Gretzky did the same with Phoenix.
“Would be fun to challenge some of today’s designers to do a one-color-and-white uni.”
You mean like Tampa Bay’s new unis? (The late addition of black trim on the numerals does not count.)
Not a huge fan of the logos for the Jets but it is way better than the cruddy Thrashers logo.
I know Winnipeg has a history with the RCAF, but weren’t they named after Bobby Hull, the “Golden Jet”?
I don’t know for sure, but I think the original owner liked the New York Jets name and copied it.
Paging Dr. Pearson….
Dr. Ricko Pearson…
Doctor?
It must be a Ph.D.
A Ph.D in uniformology.
Named after Hull. Pretty much. From the very first WHA meeting he attended, Benny Hatskin flat-out stated he was going to sign Bobby Hull, so the team would be called “Jets” (we thought he was a little nuts, but he did have a lot of dough). Winnipeg’s history may have been a factor, yes, but the the “Golden Jet” was forefront, certainly the tipping point.
As best I can recall, they were the first WHA team to have a nickname, whether announced or not.
(Sidebar. At the WHA announcement meeting in NY in November of ’71, there was a San Francisco franchise, the “Seahawks”. Colors were listed as red and orange)
So, yeah, might be totally fair to put the WHA Jets in the same category as the Browns: Named after a person affiliated with the team. Didn’t happen often after about 1920 or so.
Before the Timberwolves got their name, thought “Minnesota 99ers” might be interesting…as a nod to George Mikan and the NBA’s early history in Minneapolis, if not their own history (of which they had none at that point). I mean, the league DID make the key wider just because of him.
Rick, the San Francisco team, according to reports that I’ve read, were the Sharks. When they left, the Los Angeles Aces team grabbed the name and colours.
Any truth to this?
Not to my recollection. Dennis Murphy had the LA franchise from the beginning. San Francisco was Mike O’Hara, a college buddy of Gary Davidson.
Damn, wish I had a copy of the brochure from that news conference/luncheon at the Americana.
Norm beaudin was the first signing, and there were legal hurdles for Hull to clear before he could play in the WHA. They were not named for Hull in any way, shape, or form. Hatskin knew this going in when he signed Hull, and the team had a name prior to Hull’s signing.
Following up, San Francisco Sharks were sold to a Quebec group where they became the Nordqiues. The Sharks name was abandoned, and the LA owners apparently jumped at it. That’s what I’ve heard – I’ll keep digging.
Just for fun and to tie in the current Jets team, the relocation fee paid by the Jets was $60 million. In 1972, the WHA charged the Nordiques owners $215,000 USD to move the team.
Inflation? LOL
That may have happened in some manner. I just know that when I was putting together that brochure I thought “San Francisco Seahawks” was a cool name, and that red and orange was an interesting color combo.
They were named after the old “Winnipeg Jets” team that played in the Western Canada Hockey League.
The team was named as such after Winnipeg had been a major hub for air transportation. Air Canada, initially called Trans-Canada Airlines, were headquartered in Winnipeg until 1949, and they still have a major maintenance facility in Winnipeg under the name Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. I drive by the maintenance hangar daily on my way to work.
James Richardson International Airport today is a major hub for many airlines that fly north – Calm Air, Kivalliq Air, Perimeter Airlines – and for shipping – Purolator and Cargojet.
Winnipeg also has a major military airbase within the city, and that’s just down the street from Air Canada’s maintenance hangar. 17 Wing is still the major training ground for pilots who fly the Hercules aircraft.
We have history with being a hub site for aeronautics. Boeing has a major office in Winnipeg, and Standard Aero has a major office and facility in the city as well.
Not denying any of that. Just know Hatskin had a bead on Hull from the moment he became involved. So, in actuality, I suppose we could say he decided to continue the Jets nickname because of the Hull Quest, rather than opt for a new one.
True dat, Rick. I know Hull was out there.
Not saying you’re wrong in any way with the Hull idea, but I think the Hull pursuit kind of cemented the name for good.
Yeah, that’s probably the real nuggest of it. Hatskin picked up the traditional name and decided to sign Hull to make it pay off big time…to give it extra clout.
So, while not specifically named after Hull, in some way or another he was involved in the decision to use it. Which makes it a semantic question. Was the team named FOR Hull, probably not. Were they called the Jets because of Hull, probably so. He’s in there somewhere, that’s for sure. :)
I tend to believe it was a combination of the WCHL team, the goal of getting Bobby Hull, and that other Jets team in New York winning some game back in January 1969 (thus cementing the legitimacy of another rival league) that cemented the identity of the original team.
Few snippets about the Jets name from 3 sources:
1- From the book “The Names Of The Games by Mike Lessiter (1988)- “Before a NHL franchise came to the city of Winnipeg, recreational hockey was played in the Junior & Senior hockey leagues. But in 1972, Ben Hatskin found these names too plain and renamned them as the “Jets” leagues.
The name (Jets) was very popular with the people in Winnipeg. The name tied in with Chicago’s Bobby Hull, known as the “Golden Jet” and with Elton John’s hit song, “Bennie and the Jets.”
According to public relations director Ralph Carter, “the team name of Jets has no distinct reasoning that ties in with the city of Winnipeg. There is no true document on the subject. The name was just popular with the fans.”
2- Now a brief passage from “Can You Name That Team” by David B Beisel (1991)- “The Winnipeg team adopted the name that was used to identify the very popular recreational hockey leagues in Winnipeg- the Jets.”
3- Then, I google “Origin of Winnipeg Jets nickname”, and this nugget appears- “Then owner Ben Hatskin asked his pal Sonny Werblin, then owner of the National Football League’s New York Jets, for permission.”
*sigh* Nothin’s ever easy.
Nice work, TJB.
Thanks. This seems like one of those “white whale” kinda things.
Maybe more of a “brown horse”…
@TJB: The source that points to a tie-in with “Bennie and the Jets” is off base because Elton John didn’t even record that song till May 1973, and it came out on the _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_ LP in the autumn of ’73. The single was released in January 1974.
I can’t disprove that Ben Hatskin approached Werblin or was influenced by the Hull signing, but he did start the Junior A Winnipeg Jets in 1967. My sense is that this was a case of continuing to use an established name. The Jets did claim Hull’s rights from the get-go, but news coverage from the winter of ’71-72 indicates that the name was in place before the signing was a done deal.
Funny thing about the intent to tie the new Jets’ brand to the RCAF. Unless I’m mistaken, there aren’t any jet aircraft based out of 17 Wing at CFB Winnipeg — their pilots fly the propeller-driven deHavilland Dash-8. The CF-18s are based at Cold Lake, Alberta, and Bagotville, Quebec.
Agreed about the Elton John connection. The timeline doesn’t jive. That passage from “The Names Of The Games” is sloppily written and a little confusing. I think what the writer was trying to convey was the song was popular with the team after its release. But it’s stuck in the middle of two other paragraphs about how the name was chosen.
As a person who has received a kidney transplant, I am glad when anyone does a donation awareness program but those Memphis jerseys need to go.
What do the pants look like?
Don’t even want to know.
i think he meant your pants, tod ;)
Blue and white plaid shorts.
Thats pretty funny, saw this jersey elsewhere on the interwebs, jumped over here to post in the comments and look at that, beaten to the punch
After looking at those pictures of the Turn back the clock game, I miss the 80’s and 70’s uniforms (read I miss my youth).
Hey, aflfan, way back when I said, “might as well add black to the Red Wings unis.” I meant it would be stoooopid, messing around with something so well done and with so much history, not that it should be done. Was saying that adding a color isn’t the solution to everything(see my above comment about today’s designers likely being flummoxed at the idea of one-color-and-white)
Typical Yanks! Stars and Stripes logos are excellent, but if Canadians show one ounce of pride it sucks for you. Also, Winnipeg has a strong link with the airline industry, that’s why they have the name. I hope the Jets win 50 games and the Cup, and you Americans have to stare at their awesome logo as they parade the cup around The Forks in Winnipeg.
“Stars and Stripes logos are excellent…”
~~~
um…not sure where you pick that up, but pretty sure it’s not from Paul or me (or John)
Thanks for proving correct Americans who look at Canada as having Little Brother Syndrome! Not only is there is not one word said about the maple leaf in the logo, but this site has been extremely vocal about frowning upon teams slapping the stars and stripes on anything and everything.
Anyway, are there any other examples of a team incorporating the mascot of another team (i.e., a Maple Leaf, albeit red, not blue) in its logo?
Uh… actually I don’t think anyone here likes the stars-n-stripes logos…do they?
Besides… a holiday/special occasion logo isn’t the same as a full time logo.
…and another thing…why is the league the National Hockey League when teams from 2 countries play in it? Shouldn’t it be the North American Hockey League?
Because canada isn’t a nation, it’s a place.
I like the Blue Jacket’s logo, but as that’s the Ohio flag it only sort of counts. The team is still patriotically themed.
@The Jeff: Before the National Hockey League came along in 1917, there was the National Hockey Association, which went back to 1909-10.
Back in the 1880s, the first “major” league started: the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. Follow that up with leagues that used Federal, Eastern Canada, and International in their names. So National might’ve been the only one no one had tried on yet!
The NHA was originally an upstart league. The established league, the Eastern Canada Hockey Association, kicked out one of its teams (Montreal Wanderers), and denied an application from the Ontario mining towns of Cobalt and Renfrew. (With the fortunes being made up there in silver, that’s where the big money was, just as the first pro league got its start in Michigan’s copper country in 1904).
These two rejected owners started their own league and drove the other, now called the Canadian Hockey Association (see what I mean about National being pretty much the only name left?), out of business. It was a pretty vicious battle — at one point there were something like five pro teams competing in Montreal for players AND ice time.
The change to the NHL came about as a way of squeezing out the Toronto owner. By now, it was standard operating procedure: start a new league and don’t invite the guy you don’t like. At this point, “National” must have also taken on a bit of snob appeal, the idea being to presume to be superior to the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.
When the NHL added the Rangers, Chicago and Detroit in 1926, they split the league into two divisions. Most sources say the divisions were called “Canadian” and “American,” but a few papers called the former the “International Division,” I guess because it was deemed way too dumb to call it the Canadian Division when the New York AMERICANS were part of it.
All of which is a roundabout way towards saying, if you’re looking for consistency or logic from hockey, you’re looking in the wrong place!
I know we are all guilty of not thinking before speaking at times, but diggerjohn… you’re taking the cake. It is not nice to make Canada look bad.
Nationalism… keeping the world apart for thousands of years.
I dunno. I don’t see anyting wrong with Canada being proud to “get back” an NHL franchise. I mean, geez, it IS their game, after all.
In order to show pride in your country, don’t you have to live in an actual country?
(and while we’re at it, Canadian bacon isn’t even real bacon.)
How is it that you hate Canada so much?
Have you heard their anthem?
Have you not watched the Trailer Park Boys?
Have you ever listened to No Means No?
A little something for Victoria, B.C.
link
Ignore spaces.
gufaw
Their anthem is way better, but that doesn’t make canada a country.
Put this on a T-shirt: I’m still calling it back bacon.
Silly little link
I can’t help but feel that True North had a different direction in mind when they purchased the Thrashers, and they ended up getting swayed by public opinion, and as a result we’re getting hastily thought through, not overly inspiring decisions – which I think in the long term they’ll regret.
If I was to guess – I’m thinking the uni will mostly be darkish blue and grey, with red as a accent colour.
In terms of the three logos – the primary is OK – if not unimaginative – i.e too close to basically stealing a logo from the Canadian Airforce, the second one – looks very AHL’ish – the third looks like 1970’s East Coast Hockey League vintage.
Just to add to this, Oak, Mark Chipman said they would not have an alternate jersey this year as there was no time to sumbit a design. He did say that “the team would consider issuing a vintage jersey in its second season, but did not have time to do one immediately”.
Dust off your old Jets gear, people. Nothing like a little peer pressure to sway the operations of a million-dollar entity.
It appears that the colors in the logo are also the colors of the city of Winnipeg (much like Pittsburgh uses Black and gold). Or at least the Navy Blue and the Red.
link.svg
Mmm, not so much. The Winnipeg flag is (pale) blue and gold.
link
There is no “Royal Canadian Air Forces”, not since 1968. It’s the “Canadian Forces Air Command”. And the device that inspired the Jets “circle/maple leaf/jet” design, is referred to as a “roundel”, it is a national insignia, not a “logo”.
I changed logo to insignia (thank you), but I’m seeing conflicting stories on the design inspiration of the primary logo.
From this article: link
“The logo is similar to that of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
We felt it was important to authenticate the name Jets and we believe the new logo does that through its connection to our country’s remarkable Air Force heritage,” Jets co-owner Mark Chipman said in a written statement.”
Heritage seems to be the key word there. I dunno.
Air Force planes still carry the logo used by the RCAF. Since they do, they can still be regarded as part of the RCAF despite the name change.
A rose by any other name blah, blah, blah…
I think they just should have used the RCAF roundel as it was. The border on the logo they used is too thin.
One thing about all this; I’m more than a bit amused at the number of people who have suddenly added “roundel” to their vocabulary. I’m a word guy, and it sure wasn’t part of my everyday repertoire! Reader’s Digest was right: it pays to increase your word power!
What I find interesting about the primary logo is how True North honored themselves with the point/arrow breaking the outer circle of the roundel. It points north, unrelated to the idea of jets.
Originally there had been consideration to name the team the Winnipeg True North (which I was disgusted by). Since they most likely got pressured in choosing the name the Jets, this was a way to give themselves a subtle nod.
Orca Bay owns the Canucks and debuted the breaching orca/C logo when they first bough into the franchise back in the late 90’s.
Can’t agree more that it can be perceived as obnoxious, but it’s not completely unrelated to the team. Canada, the True North, gets an NHL team back and this could be viewed as a nod to the country (similar to Calgary adding the Alberta flag to be “Alberta’s Team”). Similarly, the orca is fundamental to the indigenous mythologies of the Pacific Northwest (Haida see the orca as the most powerful creature of the ocean, and the Tlingit see the animal as custodian of the sea and benefactor of humans.
/thanks, Wikipedia
Post updated to include a link to the “brand identity” gallery.
I love the RCAF looking logo! However, the primary fighter has been the F-18 for a long time and that looks like an F-16.
I thought it was supposed to be a CF-18, but you’re right, it does look more like an F-16. So, if Canada ever actually takes delivery of F-35s, will a redesign follow? (Then again, would a hockey team want to be associated with a jet the Rand Corporation said couldn’t turn?)
That Memphis Redbirds jersey has its heart in the right place. But it took a lot of guts to produce…
HAH!
That uni makes me think of Slim Goodbody. Remember him?
link
I like the logos. The wordmark, not so much.
The circular crest will look great on a sweater. Hate the wordmark.
Phillies helmets last night were way too dark. I get that they wore a darker crimson in the 70s and 80s, but the helmets never looked nearly black.
I was at the game last night and agree, they (Majestic) did a poor job of recreating the Padres and Phillies throwback uniforms. Too many errors to list from the too dark Phillies helmets you mentioned with the too thick “P” logo, to the Padres lettering being all out of whack. During the game they showed highlights of a Padres/Phillies game from the ’80’s at The Vet and you could clearly see the differences in the uniforms.
“(Majestic) did a poor job of recreating the Padres and Phillies throwback uniforms.”
~~~
sadly, this is a recurring theme
say all the bad things you will about nike (and believe me, i have plenty of a rub with them)…they wouldn’t be screwing the throwbacks up like majestic is
EFF & Bobcat Athletic (see paul’s interview with Bob Halfacre) (and im sure plenty of others) can get it right…but majestic seems to fail ALMOST…EVERY…SINGLE…TIME
time for MLB to find a new supplier…and as much as it pains me to say it, i bet UA or swooshie would do a much better job
A new supplier because the throwbacks aren’t done right? Do you mean for throwbacks or for the entire uniform supply?
Agreed, but at least they tried for period-appropriate helmets. (As did the Pads, and good for them.) By my rather unscientific survey, the majority of teams in throwback games don’t bother — and the mix usually looks link or mismatched.
Wearing their usual helmet is probably a comfort/familiarity issue for players (same with ‘rups — or lack thereof, apparently), but strangely link often seem to manage.
I was at the game. It was cool to see the unis, even if there were a few inaccuracies. I know I’m on the tolerant end of the scale when it comes to that side of our shared interests here. As someone else said, at least they had matching helmets. Also, the uniforms were cut way more to ’80s tailoring specs than the baggy throwbacks the Phils wore in Milwaukee last year. Too bad only Ryan Madson showed stirrups among the usual pajama wearers, and too bad they didn’t have maroon undershirts and cleats, but hey, what do you think this is, a multi-million dollar industry? :)
By the way, I can’t recall the exact shade of maroon from my youth (and faded videos from the mid-’80s probably aren’t that accurate a reference point), but if anyone can, more power to you!
Also, were the Padres’ RAK tributes the first-ever throwback tribute patches?
Actually, I didn’t mind the Phillies’ helmets that much. At least they wore throwback lids, which they don’t when they break out the powder blues on the road. I had much more of a gripe with the Pads’ helmets. The mustard area on the helmets is much too large — go back and look at the helmets from the 1984 team, the mustard area was a much smaller triangle.
As I’m sure most of you would agree, I enjoy throwbacks — especially from my youth of the ’70s and ’80s — but to see them half-assed is just depressing. Do it right or don’t do it at all.
“to see them half-assed is just depressing. Do it right or don’t do it at all.”
~~~
and yet, when i express that sentiment, i get ripped a new one
i totally agree with you, but for the past couple, and from now on, i’m only highlighting the positives of throwbacks…and with majestic, that’s usually not all that much
Nah, keep it up! I was having fun with my opinions on this matter; I would hope others are having fun on either side of the issue. It’s fun hearing what people can pick apart.
On;y Ryan Madson was – how we say – properly dressed for the occasion with the pants and AUTHENTIC stirrups.
I am extremely disappointed by this logo set. The Primary logo would be a good secondary logo, but as a primary is bland and unappealing. Imagine having that on the front of a uniform. The Secondary is OK, but seems better suited for an AHL team. The word mark is laughably bad. Also I really don’t like the maple leaf they chose. It would’ve looked better if a one color leaf like the one from the Canadian flag was used. Overall this set looks more like a concept made by a fan than a NHL team’s logo set.
Sadly, there were fan concepts BETTER than this set.
Basically the new logo is bland and easily forgotten. Sure Winnipeg has an aviation history — not just military aviation — so why not create a logo which is more reflective of that instead of going all in with the military theme. The drawback to this logo is that it is too austere and too corporate rather than than the playfulness of the original Jets logos,
Not a big fan of the Jets logos either. The primary looks like a curling ring and the secondary looks like a pin a pilot gave me when I was 5.
Ok, couple of things –
Man I miss the MLB uni’s of my youth.
On the Jets, I don’t hate the logos overall but I feel we had better submissions with Pauls uni contest. I wish they would have just refreshed the old logos and kept the original colors.
Like the logo. Now if only the Toronto Blue Jays could ditch the black colour and bring a maple leaf back in their logo.
So I don’t check out Uni Watch ONE DAY and the Jets go and shit the bed.
Disappointing. More on that later.
Second update added. Linked to video from the press conference.
The new Jets logos are not bad. Wordmark could be better but I like the look overall.
Interesting uniform-related note from last night’s A’s-Yankees game…Yankees 3B coach Rob Thomson was still wearing long sleeves last night, despite the high temperaturs. Yankees announcer Michael Kay said that he wears sleeves so that batters could see his signs. When Thomson was a coach in the minors, players had complained that they couldn’t see his fingers on his bare arms so he began to wear sleeves.
I hate how all these new teams FORCE a secondary logo. What’s wrong with just a primary logo? It used to be just the Blackhawks who had one about 25 years ago. Now it’s exact opposite.
Another uninspiring, spiritless graphic design clearly done on a computer. Their old logo was perfect. Tweak it to make it more modern if you want, but this is garbage.
Of course it was done on a computer, they’re not gunna draw it with crayons…
Why not markers?
People don’t seem to like the logo with the leaf, so… – link
But I feel like it NEEDS red – link
Thoughts?
Also, from this image – link – I feel like this is going to be a OKC Thunder type situation, aka a team with too many colors.
Colors in that bar:
light blue
Dark blue
white
light gray
gray
red
crimson
Pick three.
And a secondary – link
This is where Ricko says, “There is a difference between team colors and colors that happen to be in the logo.” That sunburst of yellow is not a TB Rays color, and don’t look to the Alberta flag for the Calgary Flames’ palette either.
“I FEEL like this is going to be a OKC Thunder type situation”
I just have a guess this wont be a red white and blue team. Expect two blues, one red and a gray on the uni.
That’s a lot of color, is all I’m saying
Maybe some unis?
Home – link
Road – link
Third – link
I like the NFL stripe/afterburner thing you have going on the breezers.
yes to leaf
no to jet
they’re the jets not the leaves.
That jet should make like a tree… and leaf.
I mean leave. hahahahahahahahahahahahahah
you are D-runk. haha
I checked the Browns schedule and they have no games against teams who wear white at home whether it’s normal like Dallas or Miami or the teams that wear it early in the season due to heat. On a sidenote Miami is visiting them so they’ll be wearing their Aqua unis at least once.
The USA Women’s fastpitch softball team is wearing pink while playing against Canada. Caught it surfing the channels…seems worse than the black/deep Navy Women’s soccer kits…
What happened to Uni Tweaks?
they’re on weekend hiatus, since john is doing the weekends and i’m doing the weekdays
i may throw in a few tweaks into the weekday posts, but so far, they’ve been plenty full with other stuff…maybe on a slow weekday or a day paul has a new ESPN column, otherwise they’ll return when i take back the weekends, sometime in august
Good to know, thanks.
I do kind of like the Jets’ new roundel logo. Folks I’ve shown it to outside of the usual uni-geek circles have responded positively to it as well.
Two things: It’s obviously a nod to AIRCOM and its history as the RCAF (the leaf is closer to the modern 11-point AIRCOM roundel than the RCAF’s old-style leaf that’s similar to the 1927 Toronto Maple Leafs’ logo), but as my dad pointed out, it also has a resemblance to a compass rose; thus, it could be a subtle way to indicate the ownership group, True North.
I know some folks are going to absolutely hate that last idea, but if it was intentional, at least it’s more subtle than Orca Bay’s Canucks redesign.
That wordmark is definitely disappointing, though. That’s likely going to change, but then, teams can change wordmarks without changing anything else (the Pittsburgh Penguins, for example, changed their wordmark a few years ago, although that was definitely for the worse – link vs. link).
The only way that wordmark might work is if it is a throwback to a previous Winnipeg or Manitoba team. Otherwise, why not come up with a wordmark based on the font used by AIRCOM?
@ admin – good post :)
Memphis jerseys are very funny. Innovative idea.
More uni news courtesy of twitter (Havent heard it sorry if you guys knew already):
Cardinals-Pirates will feature negro league unis tonight
Just saw pictures of the Cardinals-Pirates game. St. Louis is wearing the St. Louis Stars and Pittsburgh is wearing the Homestead Grays uniforms.
Very nice.
link
Shouldn’t a throwback game have throwback towels, too?
link
enjoyed the unis tonight, but it was odd seeing my cards without the birds on bat on their jerseys
Okay, asking the Uni community for some help here.
Yesterday, I bought a mighty ducks jersey at a thrift store. Trouble is, it’s black. Basically the same as the purple ones, but the main body is black rather than purple. There is a purple stripe on the diagonal bit still.
It’s a replica, made by starter, with the starter logo and the western conference logo on the hem, and the starter logo on the cuff.
Of course, I can’t find any evidence of them ever having worn something like that. So what do I have? Fan replica? I don’t remember NHL teams doing subtle alterations to standard jersey designs like that. Part of a run of a scrapped third jersey design?
It’s reserved for pickup or possibly for part of a rotating wall jersey display, so it’s not like this is an important question. But I am curious.
It’s good to be curious, so let me offer my take on the situation. That Ducks jersey sounds like a replica alternate, much like a dark blue Pens jersey with the circa 1993 logo I saw back in the day, it may have been Starter as well.
If you’re still not sure, hop on the Mighty Ducks message board, and ask the question to other fans. You’ll probably find the answers you’re looking for.
Come to think of it, I’ll just drop by the Ducks section of HF boards.
Starter had a “black series” of NHL replica jerseys in the 1990s. I don’t know if that was the official name, but they were notable for putting black on teams that didn’t normally wear black jerseys. Their link might be one of the most famous (they were certainly popular, and I own one). When Pro Player had its brief NHL license in 1999-2000, they reissued the Wings’ black jersey, and may have reissued some of the other teams’ Starter blacks (although some of the teams had changed their looks by then).
Starter also issued black versions of the Flyers and Blackhawks jerseys that varied from what the teams eventually adopted (they were with Nike at the time); the Flyers’ Starter black had an orange collar, and stripes on the bottom, while the Hawks’ black was (if I recall correctly) closer to the then-road red uniforms. They also did a link.
Starter made some other variants with different effects, such as a black Wings uni with red sleeves, and they (and Pro Player after them) experimented (sadly) with some other “fashion” colors that looked link link.
I always thought those Starter Hawks fashion jerseys looked a lot better than the design Nike came up with.
As you said, they were basically a shifted-color version of (what was at the time and should again be) the road jersey. Red became black, white became red and black became white so there was a lot of red in the hem area, not just a couple stripes. It would have provided a much better contrast against the black pants.
link it is. Thanks for the help. If anyone wants it, let me know through whoever’s running the site right now. I’m not too attached to it, though it should be a fun pickup jersey.
No, it wasn’t perfect, but link > link
I’m craving a taco right now…
Where’s the freakin’ vertically-arched NOBs??
Can’t do that anymore.
Freakin’ lazy, is what they are.
Sincerely, the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers
The wordmark…oy, the wordmark.
It’s as if the Winnipeg Jets put the link and link fonts in a blender, then garnished it with a maple leaf.
Delicious! ^_^
yeah, good call vilker
“link” or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Jet
I think I’d like it a little better if the red and blue stripes were switched on the white jersey, just to be a little different. And maybe the red and white switching on the blue jersey? Just spitballing…
Like so? link link
All good, Timmo, but that baby blue alt rocks!
I just saw Captain America, and the hero’s shield reminded me of the Jets’ new primary logo. So bravo to the Jets for the patriotic tie-in; at least they got the continent right!
Perhaps link?
Good – just needs a little blue.
perhaps an even bester choice link
I’ve always preferred link in that battlesuit over James… (yeah, I’m an old-school Alpha Flight fan.)
Although, it’s funny that you mention that, JTH… way back in the day (the mid-90s), I actually came up with a concept for the Maple Leafs that was inspired by the Vindicator/Guardian battlesuit, although it was all-white on the player’s right, and blue on the left, with the leaf outline as a separation; it had the two sleeve stripes, a Heritage leaf on the right shoulder and the modern leaf on the left.
In one version of the concept, I even tried out a maple leaf pattern on the socks… yeah, it wasn’t pretty. But it was the 90s…
I like the Winnipeg wordmark, (I’m a fan of the style) and I wonder if it’d look good on a baseball uniform. I used Tim E’s template and did what I could with GiMP. I used on the grey uni a font I bought from railfonts.com called “CityOf” that is a replica of the Union Pacific font
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I like it, especially the blue softball top
On Phils’ throwbacks: a little wider number, a bit darker helmet, etc. not a big deal. Even the Phillies varied the shades of red from 1970 to 198- whatever. But leaving out the curved line inside the P that made the baseball was just plain lazy by Majestic.
The Jets missed the runway. OMG, when you have a great visual history like the Winnipeg Jets franchise had, you can’t screw the identity up and they went and DID. How bland and boring…
It’s like Nike did it. Less is less.
And Canadian neighbours (look I even spelled neighbors wrong just for you)… but enough with that maple leaf. Boring!!!!
Feel free to just use it on Canada Day or Boxing Day but enough already. We get it you’re from Canada.
Pierre Trudeau, just watch me … agree 100%
Like others I like the ideas behind the primary and secondary logos but the work itself fell short. I’m hoping the home sweater will have the primary on the chest and the secondary on the shoulders & swap the 2 on the road sweater. I also hope that wordmark gets a ticket back to the 70’s where it looks like it would be very happy living and will never see it’s way onto anything the team puts out.
I actually like the maple leaf in the designs but the primary one is executed horribly. The plane makes the leaf look like just some extra thrown in redish streaks. It’s WAY too covered up. The secondary makes it look so much better. I just can’t decide if it’s a situation of “Hey, look we have a team now but only have a few months to throw something together so let’s do something quick and easy!” or if it’s a “If we give them the Jets back but make the look underwhelming in a couple years when we jump on the retro fad and give them the old look back they’ll really love it!” kind of a deal.