So, the Jets have finally returned… they played their first regular season game yesterday vs the oldest and most successful NHL franchise, the Montreal Canadiens. It was fifteen years of planning and waiting. While the Jets lost, it was still excellent hockey and an enjoyable game.
Well, I have come around to accepting the Jets name since True North did not pick the Mosquitoes name like I wanted them to. But the biggest reason why I like Jets 2.0 is because of the new logo and what is symbolizes.
A Classic NHL Era logo. Could be the start of a NHL renewal?
I really like it because it is very classic era. It borrows from the same kind of assumed imagery as the Red Wings, Canadiens, Bruins, and Blackhawks. All of these logos do not have their city name pasted on them. The symbol is expected to say it all just as you know that the Red Wings symbol stood for Detroit. It implies knowledge. The Jets 2.0 logo follows that tradition and I commend it.
This means it stays away from the recent NHL cartoon logos that have been fun, but have lowered the cache and majesty of the NHL in the past two decades such as the Panthers, Lightning, Blue Jackets, Sharks, Predators, and the Ducks (the worst since it was tie-in to a mediocre family movie series). All of them cartoonish and hard to take very seriously.
Mark Chipman maybe did not get his way to rename the team but did the next best thing. He remolded the team image, created a new heritage (by relating it to the military), and distanced himself as far as possible from Jets 1.0. It was a brilliant move on his part. We keep the name that so many people wanted, but create enough of a new image and franchise heritage that we have the chance to build a new franchise that divorces us from the later mediocre history of Jets 1.0.
The Jets 1.0 had three logos that fit with the times.
You would think that Winnipeg was the center of Canada’s military between our largest franchises, the Jets and the Blue Bombers, being named after military themes. It is rather fitting since Sport is a form of contained warfare.
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