The 10 Worst NHL Logos of All Time

SI Staff | Jul 10, 2015

The 10 Worst NHL Logos of All Time

#10 Montreal Canadiens 1909-10

This was from a simpler time before branding became important, sure, but even for that era the large blue C was a bit of a give-up, non?

#9 Edmonton Oilers 2001-07

This alternate logo appears to feature two synched gears and a large teardrop of oil. Because nothing fires up a team like the machinery that powers the province's fossil fuel industry.

#8 Dallas Stars 2007-13

Consider this a stand-in for every word mark logo ever used in NHL history. There's nothing “vintage” about these designs. They're lazy and unimaginative. And sometimes just stupid. You can at least make a case for using a Dallas word mark on jerseys worn on the road. But for homes, like these? Did anyone bother to show up at the meeting or were these adopted in absentia?

#7 Carolina Hurricanes 1997-present

To be fair, it's probably tough to visually represent a natural disaster. Still, it's supposed to look like the eye of the storm, not the swirling pattern created by a toilet being flushed.

#6 Carolina Hurricanes 2008-present

If owning the worst of the league's current primary logos wasn't achievement enough for the 'Canes then here's a nod for the worst alternate as well. It's supposed to represent a hurricane warning. Problem is, a hurricane warning features two flags. It's not just ugly. It's factually inaccurate.

#5 Anaheim Ducks 1995-96

It's not cool when bands wear their own t-shirts. It's even less cool when a cartoon superhero duck wears a jersey of himself while using his powers to, apparently, burst out from under six-inch thick slab of ice. This one also suffers both from being overly large and being sublimated onto the jersey front.

#4 Boston Bruins alternate 1995-06

Not that anyone really expects a logo to strike fear into the hearts of opponents, but if you're going to use a ferocious beast like a bear shouldn't it at least appear somewhat menacing? Apparently the B's were going for a different vibe with the cuddly Pooh bear. He appears relaxed. Insouciant. Almost as if he had a belly full of hunny. . . .

#3 Buffalo Sabres 2006-10

The Buffaslug logo fails on so many levels, but mostly because of the invariable first impression: it looks less like a mighty buffalo than a slime-trailing mollusc. Someone please pass the salt!

#2 Dallas Stars 2003-06

As the great David St. Hubbins said, there's a fine line between stupid and clever. You could tell they were going for something special here with the constellation Taurus extrapolated into the head of a Texas Longhorn. Problem is that no one ever stepped away from it far enough to realize that it also looked a lot like an illustration of the female reproductive organs. Hence the unfortunate nickname “Mooterus.”

#1 Vancouver Canucks 1978-86

It's not a logo so much as it is...a design element, maybe? A pair of chevrons formed a black-and-red or red-and-yellow V neck. Hard to believe it lasted almost a decade before someone was able to pull the plug.