Awesome Sports Logos Blog

For the Good of Hockey, Root for New York and Chicago

We feel we’ve neglected our hockey fans as of late at Awesome Sports Logos. Hockey is one of our favorite sports and some of our best selling t-shirts are hockey based like the Portland Tree Huggers and the Texas Roadkill.

Hockey fans are about to be spoiled. To me there is no better payoff as a sports fan than watching a Game Seven. This year we have two primetime Game 7's. New York hosts Tampa Bay and the Chicago Blackhawks travel to Anaheim.

I will be watching the Stanley Cup regardless of who is in it but for the health of the league, a New York/Chicago Original 6 brawl would garner a lot more attention nationally. Remember when Carolina won the Stanley Cup? You are in the majority, not many do.

Since we are a logo company, lets give you some history on the two Original Six teams. Both teams were founded in 1926, and have hardly changed their logos at all over a long history.

First, let’s look at the Rangers. Their original owner – George “Tex” Richard – wanted to name them the Giants. That would have proven highly unoriginal, as New York already had TWO teams with Giants as a nickname. The New York baseball Giants had held the nickname since 1883. And the New York football Giants had been founded just a year before (1925). Sensing how lame it would be to have 3 teams named the Giants (at least we hope), the New York press nicknamed the team “Tex’s Rangers”.

The Rangers logo hasn’t changed much over time:

The shape of the shield has slightly changed. And so has the font. But the colors? And color scheme? It’s been exactly the same for nearly 90 years. Hockey loves tradition.

But why not break tradition with another New York Hockey team? Ladies and gentlemen, Awesome Sports Logos proudly presents the Brooklyn Leg Breakers!

A New York team named after soldiers in Texas? There’s nothing wrong with that. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If you really want a nickname with local history, why not use New York’s mafia as inspiration? When the New York Islanders announced their move to Brooklyn, we patiently waited for the phone to ring to use the Leg Breakers logo. Okay, we didn't and technically Brooklyn is part of Long Island so they are still cool in our book.

Let’s shift over to the other “Original Six” team still standing: The Chicago Blackhawks. Their logo has seen more changes than the Rangers over its history:

A little more variety, but the main concept has always remained the same.

Their nickname has a much more interesting backstory than the Rangers. Frederic McLaughlin – the Blackhawks original owner – served in the 86th Infantry “Blackhawk” Division in World War I. That service inspired his hockey teams’ eventual nickname.

Want some more history? That army division was named after Chief Black Hawk, a Native American who refused to yield his land to American settlers pushing West (into what is now Illinois) in 1832.

Enjoy your Game 7's hockey fans and remember, you get great discounts on our awesome t-shirts by subscribing to our t-shirt of the month club. Thanks as always for reading.

Paul Gallant

Awesome Sports Logos Columnist

Posted in brooklyn leg breakers by Gavin on 5/28/2015 at 9:44:50 pm.

Awesome Sports Logos Blog

For the Good of Hockey, Root for New York and Chicago

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