The Rest Of The Worst

Just wanted to point out that you can now see Part Two of the NHLToL Quest For The Worst video at the top of the page.

That's right, it's going to be the biggest tournament yet with 32 logos involved! I hope to have the bracket up along with the first poll by Friday or Saturday at the latest (sorry, it's a lot to organize).

A quick note about how I came to use these 32 logos in the tournament just so everyone's clear. Basically, I scoured through all of the comments left in the nomination post from back on December 21. I tallied up every nomination and developed a pool based on which logos got the most nominations.

I didn't choose the logos myself. I really wanted to make this a very democratic process. You guys are going to be voting, so it was up to you to decide which logos would be involved in the first place.

As far as how the bracket will be set up, just know that this one will not be random. I went through and meticulously matched up logos for this first round in a way that just felt natural. At its core is similarity. For instance, the two stink-in-rink Canucks logos are paired up in Round One. You'll see the rest of the match-ups when I post the bracket. Then you'll start voting on which logo is the worst!

Meantime, if you have any questions, I will absolutely answer them. Leave them in the comments area and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

By the way, you can still see the original video by clicking here.

UPDATE (1/10 2:26 AM): There was a very good question posed in the comments that I wanted to answer here.

I dont get it, the Canucks' stick in the rink is in the worst logo pool, yet it finished 2nd in the last tournament.

In fact, the stick-in-rink logo used now is very different from the one used in the 1970s. (Look at them side-by-side if you don't believe me.) Part of the criteria for logos in this tournament was that they could not have made it past the first round of any previous tournament they had already been a part of. Otherwise that would've meant there was at least one logo you guys thought it was better than — obviously meaning it wasn't the worst. (Did you follow that?)

The 1970s stick logo lost to the Whalers in the first round of the Vintage Tournament if you recall.

Initially, my plan was to make this tournament out of all the logos that were defeated in the first round of the previous tournaments. But ultimately I opted against that to let you guys make nominations.

By the way, I don't think this question was asked yet, but in case it comes up, I thought I'd address it. The Mighty Ducks third jersey and the Canucks' yellow V jersey both have pseudo-logos featured in this tournament. While these may not entirely be considered logos in the general sense, I made them part of the competition because of the large number of nominations they earned.

Hope that explains everything. Again, feel free to ask questions if you've got them.

Hi Ted, Caps Fans

I noticed yesterday the blog got a mention on Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis' blog at AOL.com. On Ted's Take, there was this post.



Then also, right there on the Caps' official web site is a link touting the secondary logo's recent victory in the logo tournament.



Unfortunately they got the name of the site wrong (also misspelled the word "competition"), but I guess I can forgive them. And then combining both Leonsis and the official team site was a mention in the Owner's Corner column posted today.

...

And finally, congratulations to our secondary logo mark, which won the NHL Tournament of Logos at nhllogos.blogspot.com. We edged Vancouver’s secondary mark in the finals. Previously we had tied for second in the Rbk Edge Uniform Ranking, joining Montreal behind Boston. The Hershey Bears were edged out in the semifinal round of the AHL tournament by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

That’s why I love the web; there are so many ways for fans to interact and connect. Well, I look forward to seeing many of you at our season-ticket holder Meet the Team Party Thursday night and others at the stretch of home games we have ahead. I hope you share in my excitement for what I believe will be a promising 2008.

Pretty cool stuff. I can't believe the kind of recognition this site is getting. My thanks go out to Ted and all the folks with the Capitals' organization for supporting the site — and coming up with such an outstanding logo!

NHLToL: Quest For The Worst

It's a big day here at NHLToL. First, I'm introducing the new logo tournament which will be starting soon.

Introducing...



There's currently a video at the top of the page so you can learn which logos made the cut for this competition which will crown the worst logo in the history of the NHL.

You might also notice that the graphics in the video don't quite match the graphics on the site here. I'm considering a design overhaul for the site. You can see the rough idea I've come up with in the preview below. It's very much a work in progress at this moment so don't expect to see it any time soon.



Just wanted to keep you guys posted on what's going on here. I welcome any comments or criticisms. Thanks for continuing to visit the blog!

UPDATE (1/9 5:21 PM): As you may have noticed the video I referred to in this post can no longer be found at the top of the page. Instead, I've moved it here to the bottom of this post for posterity. Enjoy!

Result: Canucks vs Capitals

CAPITALS NAMED CHAMPION!

Congratulations go out to the Washington Capitals' secondary logo tonight for being named by the voters here at NHLToL as the best in the league! The Capitals finished the final poll with a 52% of the more than 2,200 votes.

Thanks to everyone who voted!

As far as what's next, you guys have been putting in your nominations over the last few weeks for the NHL's worst logo. Stay tuned for news on which logos will make it into the bracket on the way to being crowned the worst in the league.

Concepts In Photos

It's my favorite thing. Concept renderings in pseudo-photographic form.

The most commonly used player for these jersey redesigns has overwhelmingly been Roberto Luongo. And it hasn't just been Canucks concepts for him, either. But tonight, yes, they are both Canucks concepts. Here's one.



Seriously, I would buy that. That green looks phenomenal. I don't know why his teammate isn't also wearing green over there on the left, but that team would still look a million times better if only Luongo wore a good sweater. While I'm thinking of it, are there still people left who liked the old '80s logo and colors?



Don't be fooled, though. It's not the jersey. Luongo can make anything look good.

Next we're moving on to the Philadelphia Flyers.



It's a simple redesign that incorporates orange and a bit of silver. But if you want to see the goalie wearing it, well you'll have to look at the image on the right (not the left).

Back to the days of black-and-white Kings here.



And hurricane flags that are actually hurricane flags.



Now we see why the team didn't do that in the first place. The shoulder thing is cool because it incorporates both of the Carolina-named states. I don't think a dividing line at the border would be too much to ask for clarification's sake.

Lastly, if you hated those mustard-colored jerseys once worn on special nights by the Nashville Predators, then you're absolutely going to adore this.



And one final note (which may or may not explain the late hour of this particular post) if you are into things that are funny but not necessarily hockey-related. First, go see Juno. Great film. (In one scene there's a guy wearing a Minnesota Wild jersey. The green one you all like.) And buy a copy of Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You!)". (I'm pretty sure he's all about the OHL's Saginaw Spirit.) These two things will complete your life. If they don't, you have no soul.

Just To Freak You Out XXII

I can't believe how long this series has lasted. At 22 and still going strong, what follows is another edition of Freak Out Friday. Where do I begin?

I think I'll start with a play on the Winter Classic which took place this week. It's an "If They Mated" featuring the two teams involved in the big outdoor game.



Curiously though, while the designer went with the original Sabres logo, they opted against the original Penguins colors.

Now is where I really get into the scary stuff, so be warned.



Though well executed, that can't be a good idea. Speaking of which...



Let the eye-gouging begin. It makes great use of the Panthers' colors but what is with all the suns? We get it they're the Florida Panthers!

Here's what we need.



Because nothing says we're getting rolled over like a jersey with tire tracks. A sentiment less suited for the Red Wings (first place) and more so for the Lightning (last place) who can't seem to remember how to win games. But I'm not bitter.

Speaking of the lackluster Lightning, the one color I hope is never incorporated into the Bolts' identity is yellow.



Did I mention how I hate the yellow?

And finally, it appears that not a lot of effort was put into this, but I thought the logo was funny enough to revisit.



Keep the crazy artwork coming so I can continue to frighten and freak out the readers here at NHLToL. Enjoy your weekend!

All-Star Duds

With the Winter Classic and all its greatness now behind us, the next big NHL event is the All-Star Game set to take place in Atlanta in three-and-a-half weeks. Naturally, I have concept art, but before I get to that, I've got some real stuff to discuss.

I've gotten a few emails recently that called to my attention the fact that I have yet to really talk about the new all-star uniforms here on the blog. I first posted photos of the new sweaters back in November. Since then, there have been other developments.

For instance, the reason the "logo" is so high up on the jersey is that the player's number will go below it on the chest.



For a better look at the entire jersey, these images come from the NHL.com shop where you can customize and order an all-star jersey. Naturally, I used Vinny Lecavalier in my example.




You'll notice the captain's C takes its lead from the Detroit Red Wings in its right-shoulder placement. We can see that the all-star logo will go on top of the left shoulder while it would seem the player's team logo will go on the right.

As far as creative all-star jerseys go, my personal favorite was what they wore in the 2001 All-Star Game in Denver.



I may have strange taste in uniform design by most standards, but wait until you see some of the concept art that's been sent to me.

Modeled after the host team itself is a jersey set that is actually quite cool. What if the league made a habit out of this?



Here's a simple set that uses the conference logos as its primary features.



This set just has far too many stars on it.



And this final set is a callback to the 2001 uniforms I just mentioned above where the goalies where a different color from the rest of the team — in essence, matching their opposition.



These too are modeled after the Atlanta Thrashers own uniforms, but a little less on the nose — trading the ATLANTA sleeves for EASTERN and WESTERN. It's a set I'm a big fan of.



Overall, some nice designs and some strange designs. I'm curious to read your reaction to these. Comment away.

Poll: Canucks vs Capitals

	vs
Vancouver CANUCKS		Washington CAPITALS

Time now to decide on the best secondary logo in the NHL! It's come down to the 'Nucks and Caps. Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Tue Jan 1

Poll closing date Sat Jan 5

07SCTRN | #4A | VANvWSH

NBC, Update Your Graphics!

The second period of the Winter Classic has just begun and as a live television director, I have to take issue with some of what's been going on during the NBC telecast. For one thing, the graphics are out of date!

This site is dedicated to NHL logos so naturally my biggest nitpick has to do with said logos in broadcast graphics.



I photographed my TV screen earlier this afternoon to demonstrate my point. Of the 16 logos seen on this particular graphic, a quarter of them are WRONG! From left to right, the Sharks, Blue Jackets, Bruins and Lightning all got new logos this season. NBC apparently opted to ignore that fact and just use last year's graphics.

NBC, update your damn graphics!

The abominations only continue but for the sake of sparing you guys, I won't go on about it. But just know that I'm very disappointed in the disrespect of American network television toward an obviously huge moment in the sport of hockey.

End rant.

Winter Classic, Part II

The first period has just ended as I'm writing this with the Pens up 1-0. Pretty good game. I have some complaints about the NBC broadcast, but I'll get into that in the next post. Right now I've got a few Buffalo Sabres concepts to share to complement yesterday's Penguins art.



I'd be remiss if I didn't start with a blue/gold color scheme. This is a nice set because it actually features sabres on the front of the shirt. Weird. The yellow sweater below belongs to this set as an alternate.



This next set is from the red/black era but it features the same logo as above.



Same deal with the alternate. Though I don't think a grey jersey is a very good idea.



And finally, this one is just for fun. Rather reminiscent of a certain energy drink logo, is it not?



Enjoy the rest of the game everybody!