Faceoff Factor

10 Worst AHL Logos

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

Sep 12, 08:01 AM | 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 10 worst AHL logos for this year:

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

10 Worst AHL Logos

10. Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators)
A Roman soldier holding a hockey stick? That’s just wrong on a lot of levels. It is a decent logo from the standpoint of the parent club. The head of the Senator matches the Ottawa Senator. However, the Ottawa Senator is a bad logo, so taking a bad logo and making it worse isn’t good for your image. It could be worse though. They did do very well with their version of the RBK Edge jersey, er, I mean, “uniform system”. The color scheme is outstanding.

9. Albany River Rats (Carolina Hurricanes)
What do a rat and a hurricane have in common? That’s right, nothing. The colors are similar and the hurricane flag border around the bottom of the jersey pays tribute to the parent club. But, a rat skating towards you holding a hockey stick is almost laughable. So, welcome to the club, Albany.

8. Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues)
There’s a lot going on here. In the logo, there is a riverboat captain steering a ship’s wheel, while inside the wheel there is a skyline of the city. You wouldn’t know by the name or the logo that it is a hockey team. However, they did get the colors and the jersey of the parent club right. That’s what keeps them ahead of the next team.

7. Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers)
The Wolves color choice on their jerseys is definitely old-school, but not in a good way. It looks like a maroon and gold jersey that had been through the washing machine too many times. The logo itself is a puck overlaid with a stick. The stick over the puck is then overlaid by the face of a wolf. That logo is not necessarily bad, but it doesn’t associate well with the parent club in the NHL. The color choice earned Chicago its place here.

6. Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks)
Where do you begin when rating this logo? First, does a Moose make you think of hockey? Alliteration aside, it’s just a bad name for a hockey team. Granted, that area of Canada is known for its moose population, but it has nothing to do with hockey. If that wasn’t bad enough, the second problem is that the color choice was obviously made by someone targeting the 15 year old and under crowd. Last, it has very little in common with its parent club, the Canucks.

5. Portland Pirates (Anaheim Ducks)
Portland has provided us with a bushy-bearded old pirate holding a hockey stick. Granted, if I was in charge of a farm club, I would avoid a ‘baby duck’ moniker, but still… this Pirate doesn’t convince you that you are looking at a hockey team’s jersey. Choice of colors is not bad though. It is a little too busy to be recognizable and doesn’t work with the NHL club, so the Pirates don’t score a lot of points with this judge.

4. Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings)
Give a 7 year old a picture of a lion’s head and a purple and yellow crayon. If they stay within the lines, you’ve got the Manchester Monarchs logo! It’s sissified, clownish, and not hockey related, so you have to put this logo in the top 5. However, they did match the Kings’ colors, so they can’t be ranked too much higher.

3. Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals)
The Bears logo isn’t necessarily bad by itself. The Hershey Bears are one of the oldest AHL franchises. However, when you consider that there are no brown bears in Pennsylvania and that the only similarity with the parent club is the Capitals patch on the shoulder, they get a spot here. The only hockey related part of this logo is the puck that the bear is swatting with his paw.

2. Springfield Falcons (Edmonton Oilers)
The Springfield Falcon epitomizes all that is bad about minor league logo design. It is a cartoonish Falcon drawn with a hockey stick in its beak. If not for how bad the next logo was, the Falcons would have been a no-brainer to get the top spot.

1. Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators)
Non-hockey related? Strike One. No ties to the parent club? Strike Two. Poorly designed? Strike Three. If you check the link above, you’ll find that the Admirals use a two dimensional profile of a skeleton with a sailor’s hat on it. It has very little detail and very little color. The jerseys themselves are just white and black with some blue accent.

Some of these teams have yet to release their new RBK Edge designs and logo updates, so if we were to do this list again next week it may be a different list.