THN.com's Hockey East, CCHA and CHA Logo Rankings

The Central Collegiate Hockey Association presented an interesting conundrum in our logo rankings: How do you slot emblems better known for their connections to college football? Since our criterion were based on originality, aesthetic and impact, we simply had to slot teams such as Notre Dame and Michigan on the strength of the logo itself, while trying to picture them in hockey contexts.

From the Boston Beanpot teams on down, Hockey East is a competitive conference both on the ice and in the design department. Our panel loved both the old and new emblems, so quality was really the deciding factor on this one.

With only four teams, College Hockey America gets more of an exposition than a ranking. All four teams have decent logos, but this is how we humbly see them stacking up.

Over the month of August, THN will rank the logos of 16 North American leagues. Click HERE to go to THN's Logo Rankings Central page and click HERE to vote for your top Hockey East, CCHA and CHA logos as part of our tournament to discover the fans' choice for the top logo in hockey.

THN's HOCKEY EAST LOGO RANKINGS

RK.	LOGO	TEAM	THE SCOOP
1		Boston College Eagles	The letters are bold and the eagle is soaring. Don’t need much more than that.
2		Boston University Terriers	A little impish, a little menacing, the Boston Terrier is a classic college mascot.
3		UMass Minutemen	A classy modern take on the minuteman mascot, plus good colors.
4		Vermont Catamounts	This ‘cat-of-the-mountain’ certainly doesn’t need a stick to intimidate; the fangs are enough. Points for jumping through the ‘V.’
5		Providence Friars	The locals love this skating friar so much that a one-year switch to an updated version led to a quick return to the original.
6		New Hampshire Wildcats	A slight twist on the wildcat motif earns points.
7		Maine Black Bears	It sure is fierce, but it’s not the class of the bear logo crop.
8		Northeastern Huskies	The big two-tone ‘N’ gets points for originality, but this is a competitive conference.
9		Merrimack Warriors	Suffers a little from the high school logo syndrome.
10		UMass-Lowell Riverhawks	Uh…birds can’t have mouths and beaks at the same time.

THN's CCHA LOGO RANKINGS

RK.	LOGO	TEAM	THE SCOOP
1		Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks	If any team anywhere deserves a polar bear mascot, it’s Alaska-Fairbanks. Plus they do it with realism and simplicity.
2		Bowling Green Falcons	Brown and orange is a good combo if you can work it - and these Falcons can.
3		Miami RedHawks	Formerly the Redmen, Miami of Ohio rebounds with a strikingly intense hawk.
4		Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Interlocking letters are almost always cool and Notre Dame is the gold standard.
5		Michigan Wolverines	Michigan’s helmets are the real trendsetters, but the big ‘M’ is too famous to overlook entirely.
6		Michigan State Spartans	The green ‘S’ is known throughout varsity sports.
7		Ohio State Buckeyes	Another iconic college football logo, it still looks good on a hockey sweater.
8		Lake Superior State Lakers	Nautical themes always get love around here, we just need a bit more from the lettering.
9		Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks	Unfortunately, the WCHA’s MSU-Mankato has the same name and mascot. And it’s better.
10		Western Michigan Broncos	It’s slick, yes, but a bit too generic for the panel’s tastes.
11		Northern Michigan Wildcats	There’s a high school element to this drawing that can’t be shaken.
12		Ferris State Bulldogs	In a sea of hockey bulldogs, Ferris State drowns.

Click HERE to vote for your favorite CCHA logo.

THN's COLLEGE HOCKEY AMERICA LOGO RANKINGS

RK.	LOGO	TEAM	THE SCOOP
1		Robert Morris Colonials	This is as new-school as a crest can be, but Robert Morris somehow makes it look classic at the same time.
2		Niagara Purple Eagles	A dashing eagle with a great color scheme.
3		Bemidji State Beavers	Any half-way decent beaver is going to win points, because everyone loves the furry little critters. Bemidji’s even looks kind of tough.
4		Alabama-Huntsville Chargers	A pretty standard horse logo, but at least the color scheme is different.

Over the next two months, THN.com will leave the voting on the best logos up to you, the reader. To vote for your favorite, click HERE.