40 Fun Facts About NHL Logos

Which French word do many fans wrongly think the 'H' in the Montreal Canadiens' 'CH' logo stands for?

Habitants, the old name for French settler farmers, gave the team its nickname 'Habs', but the letter really stands for hockey. The club's full name is Club de hockey Canadien.

Which Original Six team's logo was adapted from the emblem of a Montreal athletic club its owner once joined?

The Detroit Red Wings got their winged wheel from the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, the 'Winged Wheelers'. Owner James Norris, a former member, thought a red version suited the Motor City.

Which entertainment company founded an NHL team in 1993 and gave it a duck-shaped goalie mask for a logo?

Disney named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim after its own 1992 film about a struggling youth team. The company sold the club in 2005, and the mask logo was dropped a year later.

The Nashville Predators' logo honors which Ice Age animal, dug up beneath downtown Nashville in 1971?

A saber-toothed cat skeleton turned up when builders dug the foundations of a bank tower. The team's mascot, Gnash, is one too, and fans flash 'fang fingers' during every power play.

Which team's logo hides a forest, a river and a guiding star inside the silhouette of an animal's head?

The Minnesota Wild's beast has the North Star for an eye, a nod to the state motto, and the Mississippi River for a mouth. Logo fans have long debated which animal it is meant to be.

The Los Angeles Kings switched to silver and black in 1988, the year they traded for which superstar?

Wayne Gretzky arrived from the Edmonton Oilers on August 9, 1988, and pulled on the new colors. Owner Bruce McNall had just retired the purple the team had worn since 1967.

The St. Louis Blues, who wear a winged musical note, are named after a song by which composer?

W. C. Handy's 'Saint Louis Blues' gave the team its name, and the 'Blue Note' crest has been worn since the first season in 1967. The arena organist plays Handy's tune in full before games.

Which team's eagle logo forms a letter 'W' and hides a domed government building in the space below?

The Washington Capitals' 'Weagle' holds the outline of the Capitol dome in the blank space beneath the bird. It arrived in 2007, when the club returned to red, white and blue.

The eight spokes of the Boston Bruins' 'spoked B' logo nod to which old nickname for the city of Boston?

The Hub is the middle of a wheel, which is where the Boston 'B' sits. The first version, made for the club's 25th anniversary season, flanked the letter with the numbers 24 and 49.

Which team's logo, drawn by artist Sam Ciccone, is a winged letter 'P' with an orange dot for a puck?

The Philadelphia Flyers' crest was drawn to suggest speed, and so were the stripes down the shoulders and arms of the jersey, which stand for wings. Ciccone's rejected sketches included a winged skate.

Which team's 1997 logo shows a Haida-style killer whale bursting from ice in the shape of a letter 'C'?

The Vancouver Canucks' orca replaced a speeding skate logo, and it arrived while the team's parent company was called Orca Bay. The company has since been renamed, but the whale stayed.

Which team's short-lived 1995 logo showed a fisherman in a rain slicker holding a hockey stick?

The New York Islanders' fisherman looked so much like the mascot of a frozen seafood brand that rival crowds chanted for fish sticks. The old Long Island crest was fully back within two seasons.

Which team's navy alternate jersey, worn from 1996 to 2007, featured the head of the Statue of Liberty?

The New York Rangers' 'Lady Liberty' sweater set the letters NYR beneath the statue's crowned head. The club brought the design back as a 'Reverse Retro' uniform in the 2020–21 season.

Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe said the team's blue stood for Canadian skies and its white for what?

Snow was the poetic answer, but the colours had a plainer source too: the trucks of Smythe's sand and gravel business were painted the same blue and white.

Which color did the New Jersey Devils drop from their red uniforms in favor of black in 1992?

Green was picked in 1982 because New Jersey is the Garden State. It left the uniform a decade later, partly because the shade was hard to match between the logo and the jerseys.

The Ottawa Senators' logo shows the helmeted head of a general from which ancient power?

Rome and its Senate inspired the crest, which its designer described as a strong and prominent centurion figure. The team's mascot is named Spartacat all the same.

What color is the sea monster's eye on the Seattle Kraken's 'S' logo?

Red, a shade the team calls 'red alert', lights the eye above a tentacle that fills the hollow of the 'S'. The crest was unveiled in 2020, more than a year before the Kraken's first game.

For years, Calgary Flames alternate captains wore the old logo from the team's eight seasons in which American city?

Atlanta's flaming 'A' doubled neatly as the letter that marks an alternate captain. The name recalled the burning of the city in the Civil War, and the owner who moved the team in 1980 kept it.

The Winnipeg Jets' 2011 logo is patterned on the roundel of which national service with a base in the city?

The Royal Canadian Air Force roundel frames the silhouette of a CF-18 Hornet fighter. The design honors 17 Wing, the air base in Winnipeg, where the game uniforms were first shown.

Which Civil War weapon appears on a Columbus Blue Jackets crest and is fired inside the arena at home games?

A cannon, a hand-made replica of an 1857 Napoleon, has stood in Nationwide Arena since 2007. The team's name honors the part Ohio and its soldiers played in the war.

The Colorado Avalanche's original shoulder logo, worn from 1995, was the foot of which legendary creature?

A yeti's foot sat on the shoulders for twenty years. In 2015 the team swapped it for a mark based on the 'C' of the Colorado state flag, recolored to match the uniform.

Which team would have swapped its igloo logo for a Siberian husky in 1995 had it not moved to Denver?

The Quebec Nordiques also planned to drop blue, white and red for teal, black and navy. The owner could not find the money to stay, so the igloo never gave way to the dog.

The Buffalo Sabres' 2006 bison logo earned a mocking nickname that blends 'Buffalo' with which creature?

A slug, specifically the banana slug, gave the 'Buffaslug' its name. The sweaters sold all the same: five of the league's ten best-selling player jerseys early that season were Sabres ones.

The NHL's own shield logo, redrawn in 2005, made silver its main color as a tribute to which trophy?

The Stanley Cup's silver took over the shield when play resumed after a season lost to a lockout. The letters were also redrawn to read upward, meant to project a vibrant, optimistic image.

The Anaheim Ducks' 2006 wordmark logo replaced the letter 'D' with which part of a bird?

A webbed foot shaped like a 'D' arrived with the shorter team name and new colors of black, gold and orange. The 'webbed D' on its own became the main jersey crest in 2014.

The Vegas Golden Knights' primary logo is which piece of armor, drawn with a V-shaped opening?

A helmet of the open-faced barbute type sits on a black and gold shield, and the gap in its face makes the 'V'. The secondary logo crosses two swords behind a red star.

The Carolina Hurricanes' secondary logo hangs which weather signal from a hockey stick?

A warning flag in red and black, the coastal signal for a dangerous storm, tops the stick. The same red and black flags have also dotted the hem of the team's jerseys.

The Chicago Blackhawks are named, by way of an army division, after Black Hawk, a leader of which nation?

Sauk leader Black Hawk gave his name to the 86th Infantry Division, in which team founder Frederic McLaughlin led a machine gun battalion. The club wrote its name as two words until 1986.

Todd McFarlane, designer of the Edmonton Oilers' 2001 third-jersey logo, created which comic book antihero?

Spawn's creator was a minority owner of the Oilers at the time. His crest, a flying set of gears topped by an oil drop, left the classic Oilers logo off the jersey altogether.

The Phoenix Coyotes' 1996 logo drew a hockey-playing coyote in the style of which Native American art form?

Kachina figures inspired the angular coyote that arrived with the team in Phoenix. Retired from the main uniform in 2003, the crest returned as the primary logo before the 2021–22 season.

The Boston Bruins' original brown and yellow came from which kind of business run by founder Charles Adams?

A grocery chain, First National Stores, used brown and yellow, and Adams dressed his new team to match. The nickname Bruins was picked partly because it went with those colors.

Conn Smythe named Toronto's NHL team after the maple leaf badge worn by Canadian soldiers in which war?

World War I marked Smythe, an army officer who spent part of it as a prisoner of war. He saw the maple leaf as a badge of courage and a reminder of home.

Irene Castle, credited with the Chicago Blackhawks' original logo and sweater, was famous in which profession?

Ballroom dancing made Castle a Broadway and silent film star alongside her first husband, Vernon. She married the hockey club's founder, Frederic McLaughlin, in 1923.

The Kansas City Scouts' 1973 logo was drawn by a lettering artist from which hometown greeting-card company?

Hallmark Cards artist Gary Sartain drew it as a freelance job, working from The Scout, a statue that overlooks downtown Kansas City. The franchise later became the New Jersey Devils.

The Los Angeles Kings' original purple and gold were soon adopted by which NBA team under the same owner?

The Lakers took the colors after Jack Kent Cooke, who owned both teams, picked them for his new NHL club because he linked them with royalty. The purple was officially called 'Forum blue'.

Which flaming animal appears on the Calgary Flames' 1998 third-jersey logo, made for the 'Year of the Cowboy'?

A horse, nicknamed 'Blasty', fronted the black jersey until 2007. The team brought the logo back on a new third jersey in 2022.

Which baseball owner bought the NHL's Seals in 1970 and recolored them to match his Oakland Athletics?

Charlie Finley also renamed the club the California Golden Seals two games into the 1970–71 season. The team is best remembered for the white skates it wore under him.

Which item of winter clothing did the bird on the Pittsburgh Penguins' first logo wear for only one season?

A scarf trailed from the penguin's neck in the 1967–68 season. The redraw for the second season removed it and gave the bird a sleeker look.

Which crossed weapons sit behind the letter 'C' on the shoulder patches of the Chicago Blackhawks' jersey?

Tomahawks cross behind a 'C' that stands for Chicago, with one patch on each shoulder. For a 2014 outdoor game the team kept the patch on one shoulder and put an event logo on the other.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's first road jersey paired jade with a purple shade named after which vegetable?

Eggplant and jade were divided by diagonal stripes in silver, purple and white. The team dropped the whole palette in 2006 for black, gold and orange.