Faceoff Factor

Top 10 AHL Logos

Kyle Dreibelbies | Minor Leagues (ECHL, AHL, etc)

Sep 10, 07:28 PM | Hype this story!

To keep up with its parent league, the AHL has decided to convert to the new RBK Edge “uniform system” this year. Because of the change, every team is releasing its new logos. Since Faceoff Factor did a review on the best and worst NHL logos, it’s time to rate the current AHL logos in the same way.

This is the judging criteria:
1. Does it associate well with the NHL affiliate?
2. Is it hockey related?
3. Can people recognize it from far away?

Of course, taste is subjective, so feel free to leave your comments below. With the criteria and disclaimer out of the way, here are the top 10 AHL logos for this year:

For a reminder of what the logos look like, we suggest checking out Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos.

Top 10 AHL Logos

10. San Antonio Rampage (Phoenix Coyotes)
The Rampage logo is a snarling bull with smoke coming from its nostrils. The best thing that the Rampage logo can say for itself is that it, thankfully, looks nothing like the NHL affiliate’s perennially hideous logo. This is one of only 2 on the list that don’t look similar to the affiliate’s logo. But, if you look for the Rampage logo, I’m sure you’ll agree that it is tough enough to be associated with hockey (and the area of San Antonio) as well as simple enough that it is easily recognizable.

9. Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning)
The Admirals take their colors from the Lightning, but their logo is a constant from their days when they were affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. It is a battleship firing cannonballs and 5 stars under the word ‘Admirals’. Perfect for the area as Norfolk is known for its Navy shipyards. The 5 stars are a subtle, but outstanding, detail. It loses points because it is not hockey related, but it is a well-designed and recognizable logo. This is the 2nd and last logo on this list that does not look like the NHL affiliate.

8. Lake Erie Monsters (Colorado Avalanche)
The Monsters’ official logo is a Loch-Ness-Monster look-alike peeking above the water. However, the primary logo on the jerseys is an ‘M’ with a puck swooshing around it, leaving a trail behind. This reminds us of the Avalanche ‘A’. It isn’t the most creative logo ever designed, so it stays low on the list.

7. Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal Canadiens)
Hamilton uses the same colors and stripe as the Habs and put a bulldog with a bone in its mouth and a mean looking underbite on that rounded triangle. The Bulldogs get major points with the traditionalist crowd as well as for making it an easy to recognize logo. Points are deducted for a non-hockey logo on the crest of a hockey jersey. That’s really the only flaw with this logo.

6. Lowell Devils (New Jersey Devils)
The AHL Devils took the ‘L’ from the city name and added the horns and tail, like the NJ Devils. A skating demon-type creature is holding a hockey stick with a pitchfork on the butt-end of the stick. It’s hockey related, recognizable, and similar to its affiliate. Still, it looks a little cheesy. It was tough to put it above the Bulldogs, but it met each of the criteria.

5. Iowa Stars (Dallas Stars)
The Stars had a perfect takeoff on the Dallas Stars logo. It’s exactly the same, except for having the ‘Iowa’ above the logo. The Stars’ logo is a winner and Iowa did well in adapting it to their team.

4. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins also did it right. Their Penguin is a muscular version of the Pittsburgh Penguin logo, with a circle around it that contains the 2 cities’ names. It’s recognizable; it is well-associated with the Pittsburgh logo; the Penguin looks more like a hockey player than the anorexic Pittsburgh Penguin. Simply perfect, but not as classic as the ones above.

3. Quad City Flames (Calgary Flames)
The expansion Quad City Flames use an overlapping ‘Q’ and ‘C’ in flames, just like the Calgary Flames’ logo. They kept the same colors as their parent club and really nailed it.

2. Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)
Any hockey fan recognizes the Boston Bruins’ ‘B’ inside the spoked wheel. Providence just changes the ‘B’ to a ‘P’. It was very smart of them to not mess with an iconic hockey logo. Well done, Providence!

1. Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Just like the Maple Leafs, the Marlies keep the same blue and the vintage version of the Maple Leaf. The team name is a mystery, but when you research it and find that it pays homage to one of the first professional hockey teams, you have to love this logo even more. This logo is so similar to a vintage Leafs jersey that it would be easily confused with that jersey from far away. But, like the Bruins logo, it is a piece of hockey history that is best left unchanged.

Tomorrow, we will review the 10 worst AHL logos, the terrible ones that earned minor league logo design its bad name.

Your comments are welcome below.