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Retro Review: A Journey Through the Logo Evolution of the Original VHL Franchises

Doomsday

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Doomsday

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Retro Review
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A Journey Through the Logo Evolution of the Original VHL Franchises


Over the history of the Victory Hockey League, several teams have undergone re-branding, multiple times in some instances. While some teams have come and gone, the memories of their branding remains. Sometimes, change was ultimately necessary due to blatant copyright infringement, and other times simply to shake things up or change the image of the brand. In this article, I’ll be looking back at the evolution of branding that the eight original VHL franchises have undergone in the 88 seasons of the VHL, and how those designs have stood the test of time.

 

Calgary Wranglers

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The original logo of the Calgary Wranglers is one that stuck around quite a bit for one of the original VHL logos. Franchise legends such as Brett Slobodzian, Scott Boulet, and Sterling Labatte all played under this logo, and it represents the league’s earliest dynasty. However, seeing as this is a copyrighted logo for the Austin Wranglers, an arena football team in existence during the VHL’s creation, the time came for the implementation of a new one, one that the VHL had no such rights issues over.

 

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While rights to the logo were no longer an issue, there was always a bit of ridicule to the new-look Wranglers branding. It retained the same color scheme of the original, and clearly you can tell it’s a horse… but something still felt off about it. This sense of something being off about it led to it being dubbed the “derp horse,” a name that has stuck with it throughout the decades of VHL seasons it was used. However, recently the Wranglers unveiled their third logo in franchise history, moving past the era of the derp horse.

 

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Calgary again maintained their color scheme and overall feel, however now it was a much cleaner and overall polished logo. I personally feel that the horse depicted on the logo bears a striking resemblance to that of the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders, but there’s only so many ways to depict a horse. It’s nice, however, and the Season 87 Continental Cup win adds the first bit of legacy to this new era of Calgary Wranglers history.

 

HC Davos Dynamo

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Originally beginning their existence as the Amstel Tijgers for the inaugural season of the VHL, then became the Avangard Havoc (logo seen in the title) until Season 10, finally becoming the HC Davos Dynamo in Season 11. From there, the Dynamo enjoyed massive success, including three Cup wins before the redesign, but their central color scheme and overall theme started here with this logo, and it has endured throughout their history.

 

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This redesign, however, remains one of my favorite logos the league has ever used. The purple mountains, the bold “DYNAMO” lettering, everything about this logo just feels right, and maybe for good reason. Under this branding, the HC Davos Dynamo were a VHL powerhouse. Multiple dynasties and Hall of Famers wore this crest, and in Season 38, they had won the most Continental Cups over any other franchise. Unfortunately, their run of glory has faded since then, eventually giving way to their current iteration.

 

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While this logo is very clean and one of the better ones in the league currently, it unfortunately suffers from two big factors that hold it back. One, the history of Davos has not been kind to them under this logo, with just one Continental Cup win in Season 61, and that stigma has unfairly attached itself to this design. Secondly, it just isn’t as good as the one that came before it, and while I have no idea why it was ever changed, it just can’t compete with the one it replaced. As far as I know, there was no real reason to change it, and that’s quite unfortunate.

 

Helsinki Titans

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After spending the inaugural season of the VHL as the Frostbite, Helsinki re-branded into the Titans for Season 2, which they have remained ever since as one of the VHL’s traditionally strongest franchises. Their original logo, which saw the beginning of that success, was one that ultimately wouldn’t be able to stick around very long: it is a slightly modified version of the Gold Coast Titans, a rugby team in Queensland, Australia, 2007 - 2021 logo. It has a fantastically retro feel to it, which is ultimately perfect for it due to it being a copyright infringement, so the past is where it will remain.

 

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By the end of the 20’s, the Titans re-branded to this logo, one which has been the overall theme and standard for Helsinki ever since. While this seems like it would be more fitting to be the logo of the Toronto Legion, the centurion has nevertheless been the look of the Helsinki Titans instead. It’s simple, it’s clean, and simply put, it is the Helsinki Titans. It at least became iconic in that regard.

 

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However, that didn’t stop it from receiving a slight face-lift by the time the 50’s rolled around. The skin tone of the centurion was removed entirely, going from a Caucasian male to a man that is literally the color white for some reason. The border around the logo was changed from that skin tone color to white as well, which in my opinion was a big improvement. The new border is much sharper, far less awkward to look at. Overall it’s an improvement, and there is no need for it to change anytime soon.

 

New York Americans

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From the ashes of the Hamilton Canucks and Team Shortbus emerged a perennial power of the VHL, until, much like Davos, they suddenly disappeared into futility. Their original logo was fantastic… because it was a professionally-designed logo used by the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. Needless to say, as great as the logo is, it was unable to be used further, and the Americans received their own, original redesign…

 

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… that ultimately still looked like it came from somewhere else as well. Instead of lifting their logo from a junior hockey team, now they had a logo that highly resembled that of Texaco, a national gas station chain. It didn’t really matter, though, for this logo worked well for representing the New York Americans. It kept the traditional color scheme, but it had a retro, rustic feel to it… which makes it look better in retrospect as a historic logo. Eventually, by the 50s, for some reason, the Americans again received a new logo.

 

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Well, there’s no mistaking it for American. Although I feel like this logo would be more at home on the football pitch than the ice, it’s honestly a really solid logo. Like Davos’ current logo, I do feel that some negative stigma is attached to this one due to the futility of the franchise in comparison to their past, despite the back-to-back Continental Cups in Seasons 52 and 53, which remain the last championships in franchise history. Perhaps some more success would put more luster back into their brand.

 

Riga Reign

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This longtime VHL franchise actually began life in Stockholm, as the Thunder in the inaugural season before spending six seasons as the Rams. In Season 8, the franchise became the Riga Reign, debuting with this logo. This is not the one I traditionally associate with the franchise, but it is certainly sharp. It adorns the Seasons 10 and 16 Continental Cup championship banners, and it is where Riga’s traditional blue and orange color scheme began as well, moving away from Stockholm’s tan/beige colors. While the dragon is no doubt awesome, and the colors it used were instrumental in creating Riga’s identity, I don’t feel like the dragon really suited the team name, kind of like the Helsinki Titans using a centurion. It reminds me a lot of the Flint Firebirds logo, but for whatever reason, Riga eventually moved on to the logo that became their brand for decades.

 

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THIS is the logo to me that screams “Riga Reign.” For what seems like forever, this logo was what identified the team. It kept the striking orange color, using a navy blue border, and switched to a lion, which for whatever reason feels much more appropriate for the Reign name. However, I don’t remember this logo being exactly beloved either, regardless of it being iconic in my mind. It doesn’t look particularly fierce or mean, in spite of its best attempt. It also bugged me that the ear was left white, and that two of the three tips in the corners of the logo were left gray instead of orange. Efforts to move on from this logo persisted, and Riga received their latest branding just a few seasons ago.

 

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Now this is what the previous logo was aspiring to be! This redesign is fierce, in your face, and loud. It also expanded upon the Reign name even further by adorning a crown, which is blue and keeping the team’s traditional colors intact. It does resemble the logo of the Reading Royals of the ECHL, but this was a brilliant upgrade in my opinion due to it improving upon every aspect of what the previous Riga logo was. All this logo needs now is some history behind it with some appearances on championship banners.

 

Seattle Bears

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Other than spending the inaugural season as the Seattle Everblades, the Bears have been a constant staple of the VHL, along with their red and tan color scheme. However, from their origins of ripping from an ECHL team, the Bears upped the ante by lifting their logo from perhaps one of the most well-known AHL teams there is: the Hershey Bears. With a few minor edits, this logo became their own, and it served for the team’s first championship teams. But with the VHL looking to move away from copyrighted logos in the 20’s, the Bears were a prime example of a team that needed their own brand.

 

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The current iteration of the Bears has served since that time, and it is certainly an effective one. It’s a mean-looking bear, the text has a lovely slash through it, and it maintains all the feel of the Hershey logo. It hasn’t needed to be redone because this logo simply got it all right the first time.

 

Toronto Legion

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One of only two original VHL franchises to never relocate or change their name, the Toronto Legion are an iconic franchise in spite of their brutal cup drought. The franchise also was guilty of lifting a copyrighted logo, this one being a recolored version of one of the Washington Capitals’ alternate logos. Doesn’t really make sense for the name of the team, but its influence has been felt for long after it had to be replaced.

 

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I don’t really get what this is supposed to be. On one hand, it kept the color scheme of the original, and the design of the eagle is reflected with the wings as well. However, the legion it is referring to seems more to be legion baseball, not the Toronto Legion. The skyline of Toronto is a cool touch, but it’s being obscured by something my brain refuses to believe is anything other than a baseball helmet. Not surprisingly, this one didn’t last overly long as far as VHL history goes.

 

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The current logo of the Toronto Legion returns to that of the eagle, one of their own design. Or at least it would be, if this wasn’t just Nightwing’s symbol with text slapped over it. Apparently DC is too busy to really care about it, but at least it’s a cool logo, even if it is notoriously difficult to put onto a jersey swap. 

 

Vasteras IK/Iron Eagles

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Of the original eight VHL franchises, Vasteras is the only franchise that no longer exists in the VHL, in spite of their glorious return to the VHLE in Season 80. Vasteras additionaly holds the incredible distinction of not only having lifted a logo from a team, but stealing the entire identity of said team. Yes, the Vasteras IK are a real-life team that was shamelessly stolen and put into the VHL. Once it was time for copyrights to be cracked down upon, this infamously cursed VHL franchise was sent to Madrid in Season 16 to become the Thunder, but it was not the end of the road for Vasteras.

 

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Returning to the VHL in Season 21, Vasteras returned as the Iron Eagles, keeping the color scheme of the IK, but becoming their own brand. Although it was yet another logo featuring an eagle, it was nicely done, and adorned the franchise until they left Vasteras again following Season 40. Hockey, however, returned to Vasteras with the VHLE in Season 80, and the logo returned with a slight face-lift. Same idea, different execution, and to this day, hockey rightfully remains in Vasteras.

 

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There you have it, folks. A journey down memory lane to review and evaluate the evolution of the VHL’s original franchises, all courtesy of Theme Week and some sweet, sweet uncapped TPE. Hope you enjoyed this feels trip, but I mean, I’m getting those teepz regardless.
 

Special thanks is due to @Gaming Ringleader for his masterful work in preserving the logos of the VHL in this thread that continues to be updated, along with @Triller and @Zetterberg.

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vincentlg2007

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41 minutes ago, Doomsday said:

by something my brain refuses to believe is anything other than a baseball helmet.

I think it's supposed to be a soldier helmet like an army legion. It would make a bit of sense 

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Beketov

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14 hours ago, vincentlg2007 said:

I think it's supposed to be a soldier helmet like an army legion. It would make a bit of sense 

That is correct.

 

9 hours ago, Zetterberg said:

Pretty sure half the original logos were made like that

That is also correct haha. To be fair though it’s not like we were the only ones. Stealing logos like this was the common method back in the day when the leagues were small, poor, and with basically no graphic skills.

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