The Hockey News: Special Features: THN.com's WHL Logo Rankings

THN.com's WHL Logo Rankings

2008-08-20 11:48:30

The ‘Dub’ boasts a strong crop of logos, especially at the top. On the low end, some teams haven’t really done re-designs in the modern era and it may be time to step their games up. Teams who aped NHL logos also lost points, because it’s rarely an improvement when this happens.

As with other leagues, the winners were a mixture of old and new, proving styles can change, but having style never does.

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 WHL logo as part of our tournament to discover the fans' choice for the top logo in hockey.

THN's WESTERN LEAGUE LOGO RANKINGS
RK.	LOGO	TEAM	THE SCOOP
1		Seattle Thunderbirds	A logo that truly stands the test of time and looks fantastic on a hat or jersey.
2		Spokane Chiefs	Another true original, bonus points for the ‘C’ hiding within the ‘S.’
3		Red Deer Rebels	A tough-as-nails franchise deserves a cattle skull as its symbol.
4		Kamloops Blazers	It’s hard to find something classic that came from the 1980s, but the Blazers did it with their ‘B.’
5		Medicine Hat Tigers	Quite possibly the best tiger logo in the world.
6		Calgary Hitmen	Originality is always encouraged, plus the Hitmen have stuck with their look since the beginning.
7		Vancouver Giants	Good colors, solid-looking giant, plus the shield in the back forms a ‘G.’
8		Brandon Wheat Kings	True, it’s mostly lettering, but we love the wheat blade.
9		Regina Pats	Another font-only logo, Regina uses the baseball-style writing in the best way.
10		Saskatoon Blades	Such an upgrade from the old zamboni logo, the ‘SB’ skate blade is quite creative.
11		Swift Current Broncos	Another upgrade. It’s a solid bronco, though there are a lot of horse mascots out there.
12		Tri-City Americans	Can’t go wrong with stars when you’re called the Americans.
13		Everett Silvertips	A semi-tough, semi-cuddly bear fits right in the middle.
14		Lethbridge Hurricanes	If we’ve learned anything in this process, it’s that trying to base your logo on a weather phenomenon is very difficult.
15		Moose Jaw Warriors	Like the font, not crazy about the mascot. At least it’s original, though.
16		Edmonton Oil Kings	Based on the original Oil Kings logo, many will think of L.A.
17		Portland Winter Hawks	If you’re going to borrow an NHL logo, may as well be a classic.
18		Chilliwack Bruins	Using a ‘C’ in the spoked circle doesn’t work if you can’t complete the circle.
19		Prince Albert Raiders	A little too high school for our tastes.
20		Prince George Cougars	Not a great cougar. And where is the rest of his swiping arm? The good news is a new logo is on the way.
21		Kootenay Ice	Not a great drawing by any stretch of the imagination.
22		Kelowna Rockets	The weird grinning lake monster didn’t go over with our panelists.

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.

COMMENTS (35)

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Jeffery Schauff Posted
(2009-04-30 08:25:50)

The best logo in any hockey league in the world is the Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear toss jersey. Seeing the stick wielding maniac with a santa hat on is greatness right there but you also have the cute bear with a small Hitmen logo on the foot and snow coverings on the letters, a tremendous design.

Dave Maclean Posted
(2009-04-30 07:22:02)

My all time favourite team logo was the New Westminster Bruins "B". I think it's a travesty that Chilliwack calls themselves the Bruins but stuck a C in the middle of their logo. I guess I'll have to be a homer and say the Giants logo is my fave now. I've never been able to figure out what a sea monster? has to do with Rockets. I know that Kelowna is known for Ogopogo, if they wanted to have it on the crest they should call the teams the "Sea Monsters". Now THAT would be truly dumb. I don't particularily like the Kamloops Blazer logo, that's because my beloved Bruins had to die to become the Blazers. Who by the way when you include Estevan and New Westminster in their history have won 11 league championships and 7 memorial cups. It will take a long time to beat that.

Paul Delaney Posted
(2009-04-30 07:08:17)

As the person who designed the Chiefs logo (honest, I did and the story's in my book: Saturday Nights Were Special: The history of Hockey in Spokane) I am honored on one hand to have this logo singled out as one of the best. Personally I think it IS the best because I did not rely on any words to have to support the design. I am a bit miffed that the Chiefs changed the design recently and eliminated the white strip from the bottom of the logo that was included to emulate the tape on a stick blade. Perhaps that might have been what it needed to make the leap to the top. I'll take satisfaction, however, that there are few cities that have such a storied hockey history as does Spokane with it's 8 national championships in a variety of levels of play.

Dave B Posted
(2009-04-30 06:55:42)

THN hit it out of the rink on this one. The T -Birds logo is a great logo that ties into the history of Seattle Hockey(Seattle Totems as well as the native american roots that run deep. Alot people don't know that Seattle has rich hockey history roots dating back to the early 1900's, it sad that we have never had a NHL team(close in 1976), maybe someday, but we have to get a new arena first. As for the other logos, Kamloops, Vancouver,Spokane are all great. The others are either copied or are high school or disney like. As for the commnet below about changing the name to Kent, that is a good argument, but I love the Seattle tradition, it ties into the hockey history of Seattle.

Flyer guy 16 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:52:11)

I have my doubts about the WHL coming back to Victoria, The E is good hockey, it's just way too expensive. It's not even the ticket prices that hurt, it's those $8.00 beers and $10.00 hamburgers that kill me. I think the W treated us pretty poorly in the past, and one of our teams will have to leave to support a new team. Likely the Grizzlies which would be a shame. The last time the Cougars (Victoria) were any good, Grant Fuhr was still sporting a huge afro.

Cougar Crazy Posted
(2009-04-30 06:52:06)

Brodsky inherited a joke of a franchise, you can't blame what happened in Victoria on him...Pg on the other hand is open for debate. Vic will have a team back soon enough!

David Middleton Posted
(2009-04-30 06:51:43)

If it were jerseys Lethbridge's 2006-2007 third jersey would be best with there landmarks.I own one and it has the Post Office,High Level bridge and are arc.Oh yeah and Hurricanes logo way better then the Pats.

Flyer guy 16 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:51:25)

Cougar Crazy, how long is a town supposed to support a team that ranked among the worst hockey teams at any level for about a decade? Don't think for a second a lack of hockey fans in Victoria had anything to do with them leaving town. Nobody is going to continue to pay for a god awful product run by a moron owner.

Cougar Crazy Posted
(2009-04-30 06:51:20)

Hey Mike...maybe if you would have supported the Cougars they wouldn't have left!?!?

Seattle206 Posted
(2009-04-30 06:50:59)

Have to agree with Seattle being tops. It's become a classic. I'm glad the T-Birds have resisted the urge by other clubs to change the logo every few years. If you look at the best logos of other leagues (all sports), the best are usually the older, classic logos that stand the test of time. These newer, cartoon Disney-esque logos (Kelowna, Lethbridge, Everett) don't age very well. For heaven's sake, Kelowna... lose the teal already! It's so 80's. Kudos to high ranking Kamloops as well... A classic that has stood up well over time. Wouldn't change it.

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