THN.com Top 10: Junior A logos

Coyotes prospect Kyle Turris wore the Burnaby Express logo for two seasons before being drafted. (Photo courtesy of Burnaby Express)

BY JUSTIN DICKIE

When I started as an intern at The Hockey News at the beginning of June, I was surprised at how much of my input was taken into consideration by THN staffers.  

When trying to hammer out or finalize story ideas in our daily meetings, I offered my opinion from the beginning and was treated like one of the guys.

The same was the case recently when a group of us at THN gathered to put together our logo rankings. However, when debating where the cut-off line was in terms of what leagues to include, I was tuned out.

I’m a rural Nova Scotia boy and grew up watching Jr. A hockey. A good number of those players move on to play in the NCAA, which I thought made the Jr. A ranks worthy of inclusion in our voting.

But I was the only one on the panel to express that opinion.

So here’s my sweet revenge. I’m going to rank the best logos in Canadian Jr. A hockey, even if they’re not included in our tournament.

JUSTIN DICKIE'S TOP 10 Jr. A LOGOS

RK.	LOGO	TEAM	LEAGUE	THE SCOOP
10		Amherst Ramblers	Maritime Junior League (MJAHL)	Maybe I’m biased, but ever since this current Rambler logo was introduced I’ve felt it’s the best in the Maritime League. The geometry behind the ram’s head really makes the logo stand out.
9		Georgetown Raiders	Ontario Provincial Junior League (OPJHL)	Eye-catching design gets props for half Viking helmet, half hockey helmet. It also looks mean without looking cheesy.
8		Cornwall Colts	Central Junior League (CJHL)	The Colt looks detailed, but is also quite simple at the same time. The dominant blue and white with a touch of red makes the emblem pop.
7		Milton Icehawks	OPJHL	Foregoing any fonts, the Icehawks prove this bird logo can really stand on its own. The franchise has been known by several different names, but right now ‘Icehawks’ works nicely.
6		Orangeville Crushers	OPJHL	The third and final OPJHL entry, the Crushers modified the Philadelphia Flyers logo and made it their own. This black and orange ‘C’ really works well on their Flyer-style jerseys, maybe more so than the Flyers themselves.
5		Humboldt Broncos	Saskatchewan Junior League (SJHL)	The Broncos keep it simple, but the steam coming out the nose is a nice touch. The green block lettering helps this logo stand out, too.
4		Saint-Jerome Panthers	Quebec Junior AAA League (QJAAAHL)	Cats are overdone throughout sports, but this nasty beast stands out from the rest. Saint-Jerome incorporates a unique color scheme to help burn this logo in your memory.
3		Notre Dame Hounds	SJHL	The Hounds set the standard for simple in Jr. A hockey. The white hound inside the big, bold, red ‘ND’ looks really good alone and on their jersey.
2		Dryden Ice Dogs	Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL)	Not too cartoony, not too detailed, not wimpy, but not excessively mean. The Ice Dogs logo seems to do a lot of things right for my tastes and is a unique take on a dog emblem.
1		Burnaby Express	British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL)	It’s a train and it’s a skate. Usually when teams try to force a skate into their logos it winds up in colossal failure. Burnaby does it right, plus does an awesome job on the train rendering. The grey and red color scheme is underrated and underused.

The THN.com Top 10 appears Wednesdays only on thehockeyenews.com.

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