New Year, New Beginnings (or Revivals)- Part 5 Bring Back the Whalers

With the dawn of the New Year upon us I decided to explore the possibilities of relocation and expansion. In this excessively informal post, I’ve taken a look at what some of the best concept jerseys are for teams that no longer exist, but should (or possible expansion teams). In each case, I’ve looked at numerous designs, courtesy of Icethetics.co and the forums over at Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net, and highlighted the ones that I would pick if I were the owner of a new franchise looking to establish its identity.

By now if you haven’t read Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4- I’m just going to make you search the site for them.

HARTFORD WHALERS

There is no sense in even trying to modernize the genius H&W logo of the Hartford Whalers. However, there would be a great need for the right version of a modern uniform to be implemented. None of this blue home jersey stuff. Only a green jersey at home should do, with a white road jersey and perhaps a blue or grey third jersey (if done the right way). The uniforms that I have selected for the Hartford Whalers are the equivalent of the Minnesota Wild done right. Look, the Wild’s uniforms lack uniformity. These Whalers uniforms utilize a similar- trendy- shoulder yoke as the Minnesota Wild, yet keep it consistent on both the home and road sweaters. Everything about these brings the modern-retro look to the ice and gives the old school “W” and Pucky a facelift by enclosing them within circular shoulder patches. I’m just saying, these would look rather sexy on the ice, okay. The league could use a little more green.

For an alternate jersey, I would venture into something a little uncanny. It was probably inevitable before the Whalers moved to North Carolina that a grey third jersey would be implemented. I mean, hey, if the Los Angeles Kings can do it in the Stadium Series this year, then why not? So to bridge the gap between the days of yore and now, I think these would look cool on the ice for a few years.

Among the other designs considered… This set- while a bit bland- offers a great script logo for the Whalers.

This set looks like something the Vancouver Canucks considered.

And these speak too much Detroit (although classy looking).

But hey, sometimes a return to the franchises roots isn’t always a bad thing. The colors work well for these jerseys.

With that, Part 5 is complete. The final portion of the series is coming up this week. And you guessed it, it’ll be about reviving the Quebec Nordiques.