4 Concept Jerseys for NHL Expansion Teams

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The All-Star Game is upon us and hockey fans everywhere are going to watch the NHL’s best players put on atrocious uniforms to play a glorified game of shinny. Meanwhile, I’m here to cleanse the palette a bit.

Deep in the online jersey concept forum of www.sportslogos.net lies a member by the name of sparky chewbarky. No one knows much about him/her other than he/she creates some incredible concept jerseys.

With the constant talk of NHL expansion, sparkychewbarky got to work creating four potential jerseys for expansion teams. Needless to say, they didn’t disappoint. You might be shocked to see Las Vegas excluded in the four teams, but simply appreciate the ideas and development behind these jerseys.

With sparky chewbarky’s permission, I share these 4 concepts with you.

[Related: When Didn’t Forget Las Vegas, Vegas NHL Concept Art..]

Seattle Kraken

Sparky chewbarky: “Seattle has been home to many hockey teams over the years, including such franchises such as the Totems, Breakers, and Thunderbirds.

It seems though that Seattleites are most fond of their 1917 Stanley Cup Champs, The Metropolitans.

Seattle Metropolitans jersey [photo: Seattle Times]
So it was a bit of a no-brainer to design a throwback alt based on the candy-striped Mets’ unis. I toned down the Christmassy look by darkening and greying the green, brickin’ up the red, and using a vintage white.

I had some good suggestions to change up the colouring a bit; add some lime green. I thought that I’d give it a go, as Lime green is just such a ‘kraken-y’ colour. While I was at it, I changed up the striping as well. The “trident-down-the-arm” was kinda cool, but awkward.

I actually went to a basic Edge cut. It seemed to suit the kraken tentacle thing.”

Seattle Kraken jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Seattle Kraken jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
It was great for sparky chewbarky to incorporate the history of the team with the horizontal stripes from the Metropolitan days in the alternate jersey. It’s tough to make an NHL jersey with colors that haven’t been used together before, but with these jerseys, the little bit of neon makes it stand out. If the ‘Away’ jerseys are a bit too bland, sparky came up with this version seen on the right – which I prefer.

Seattle Kraken Away Alternates [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Seattle Kraken Away Alternates [photo: sparky chewbarky]
The Kraken isn’t a name I’ve heard thrown around for a potential team names for Seattle, but the logo is well done. The Kraken’s tentacles are in the shape of an ‘S’ (a throwback to the ‘S’ in the old Metropolitans jerseys) wrapped around a trident . I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad start to a Seattle franchise, eh?

Quebec Nordiques

Sparky chewbarky: “This concept has a lot of history behind it and a lot of people are very passionate about this team…so I want to get it right.

GotPixels did a real nice job in his exceptional NFL thread, on blending Houston Oilers and Texans looks. The Nordiques have a similar visual history, in that they started off with a light blue/red/ white palette, and ended with a darker blue shade.

In fact had they stayed, the team was proceeding with an even darker blue concept.

So, I thought that I would follow GP’s lead and go forward with double blue/red/white.

It seemed only fitting to use Joe for this presentation…”

Quebec Nordiques jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Quebec Nordiques jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Quebec wants their Nordiques back and sparkychewbarky delivered with these jerseys. Reminiscent of days of yore when Sakic, Forsberg, and the like were lacing their skates, Quebec suits up nice in these vintage baby blue uniforms for their home crowd.  Or if you prefer a different alternative with a white fleur-de-lis:

Quebec Nordiques alternate jersey [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Quebec Nordiques alternate jersey [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Their alternate jersey is on point by going a bit heavier on the dark blue and using the fleur-de-lis concept logo with the outlined “Q” on the compass gives it a true Quebec touch. Nordiques jerseys are a big seller as it is right now, but throw these on the market and they’ll sell like hot cakes.

Halifax Highlanders

Sparky chewbarky: “The Highlanders look is forged from the flags of its founding members…

The Province of Nova Scotia, The City of Halifax, and the Scottish-Canadian Community (S-CC).

Halifax Highlanders flags [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Halifax Highlanders flags [photo: sparky chewbarky]
For the small market of Halifax to be a realistic contender for an NHL franchise, it will have to reach outside of its geographical boundaries for support. The Highlanders would, without a doubt, sell-out every home game, at the right price point. To be able to offer the right ticket price to ensure 100% capacity, ownership would need to be able to find creative ways to fund the difference. Along with strategies like Regional Marketing, Varied Ticket Pricing (charging more for weekend and desirable games), the Highlanders would need “ownership with deep pockets”, and a sizeable amount of revenue gleaned from outside of the Halifax City Limits ( part-ownership by the S-CC (estimated at 7-10 million people)).

So the team is not only, a team for the City of Halifax, a team for the Province of Nova Scotia, a team for the Region of Atlantic Canada; but it is also a Legacy Project for the Scottish-Canadian Community.

Hence the reason for its identity.”

Halifax Highlanders jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Halifax Highlanders jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Halifax is a long shot to get a NHL team, but these jerseys might give you something to think about. The color scheme just works on every stitch of cloth from the navy/yellow/red/white combination of the home/away jerseys and the red/yellow alternates.

For those that may have missed it, there is a plaid on the pants that gives a little nod to the Scottish heritage in Halifax. While Las Vegas is the likely spot for expansion, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t want to see this jersey skating around the rink.

Ontario Beavers

Sparky chewbarky: “The Beavs don’t have a location as yet, but IMO the ‘Ontario’ designation would carry a little more clout than would ‘Markham’, ‘Vaughn’, ‘Kitchener-Waterloo’. (Hamilton could go with the ‘Hamilton…’ what-evers).

Even if MLS&E somehow got its smarmy mitts on the 2nd T.O.-area team and they played out of the ACC (God I hope that doesn’t happen), a designation other than “Toronto” (like Ontario) would be desirable, I would think. However, declaring yourself a Regional team should require a little more work than just naming your team accordingly, so it would be imperative that the Beavers initiate such programs as ‘The Big Dam Roadshow’. (thanks darkp).

Anyway, back to the unis, and the Beavers’ look is pretty much as it was at the end of the

‘Battle of Markham’.”

Ontario Beavers jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Ontario Beavers jerseys [photo: sparky chewbarky]
Sparky could make a killing selling these ideas to the NHL. Personally, I think the Ontario Beavers jersey is the best of the lot. It’s so simple that it’s brilliant.

The home/away/alternate jerseys are as close to perfect as you can get. With beavers as the national animal of Canada, the original logo of the Beaver with the beaver tail with a hockey stick is spot on and arguably the best concept hockey logo created.

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You’ve heard my thoughts on the jerseys. What are your thoughts?

Link to the original forum can be found here.

36 thoughts on “4 Concept Jerseys for NHL Expansion Teams”

  2. Some pretty cool ideas for expansion teams jerseys. As far as teams/cities joining the NHL, the city I want to see have the best chance of (re) joining is the Quebec Nordiques. I believe that the city and province of Quebec were totally robbed of their team when they were re-located to Colorado. I admit that I am partial to the area because my step-father is from a small town in Quebec and I went to Quebec City for my honeymoon (beautiful city) and fell in love with the area. This part of Canada DESERVES to have an NHL franchise back. It would also make a great rivalry with the Montreal Canadians again like it was becoming before the Nordiques left. Of all the cities mentioned for possible franchises, I think the WORST possibility would be a team in Las Vegas! Are you kidding me? That would be the most stupid area to locate a team in my opinion! A team in Seattle would be OK, Ontario, and Halifax as well. I’d even like to see the Hartford Whalers come back to give the Boston & New York markets more competition, although I know it’s highly unlikely.

  3. Of the four suggestions the only one that has a hope of seeing daylight on the next round of expansion is the Seattle Kraken. I had to look up what a Kraken was and lo and behold it’s a sea monster. So why not the Seattle Sea Monsters. I figure that way they should easily defeat a Duck, Shark or King in their own division.
    Could they digest a Canuck, Oiler or Flame is whole other story.

  5. Seattle should be called the Totems. They have a junior team that already uses it. Cool logo and jersey to boot! I thought the other two cities considering expansion other than Seattle and Quebec was Las Vegas and a second Toronto team in Markham?

  6. Really cool concepts the only one I didnt like was the Kraken and I think that the Ontario team should be a city.

  7. Great idea for an article. Excellent concept designs by chewbarky. My choice for Seattle would be one of these three: Seattle Metropolitans, Seattle Totems or Seattle Sasquatch

  8. The Beavers concept (including those uniforms) would fit perfectly in Portland, Oregon. The minor league baseball team here was named the Beavers, and Oregon is the Beaver State. The green and gold uniforms also correspond with the Portland Timbers colors.

  9. If #4 is the team name, and has attached mascot, I believe it may become a big seller, no matter the colors!

  14. …fun project & some great designs…

    …seattle’s gear, i’m kinda “meh” about simply because I see them all as a bit drab were they on the ice, seen in comparison to the vividness of say, any of the “original six” sweaters & full uniforms…

    …nordiques sweaters, all of ’em are stone knockouts & whilst “home & away” are variations of the past, the white away uniform with the addition of light blue on the lower sleeves n’ socks makes that a match to any of my all time hockey favorites…they could use all 3 of these uniforms with the old red shorts the nords used to wear also…

    …highlanders outfits are all great too although i’d incorporate one or two thin (emphasis – thin) red bands to accent the striped portions of the ‘home & away” gear to continue the “red lion” theme…if “the ‘fax” & surrounding area could support an nhl team, it would be great for the canadian east coast…

    …beavers uniforms are solid & I agree, the primary logo on the chest, incorporating the beaver caricature in the shape of the letter “b” is awesome…we can all use a little beaver / tail in our sporting lives…

    …overall, total props to sparky for a great effort…good stuff…

  15. “None of these jerseys are copyrighted from what I can tell.”
    Incorrect: it appears Sparky is Canadian and there is no requirement that copyright be registered in Canada. You don’t need to put a (c) on it or anything else to have the protection of the Copyright Act. It exists automatically the moment he creates the drawings, so his works are protected. You should probably change this line because it will encourage people to illegally rip off his hard work.

  17. All three Halifax Highlanders jerseys are awesome, and the alternate Quebec Nordiques jersey is one of the nicest sweaters I’ve ever seen. Everything about the Seattle Kraken concept is just a headshake for me…not into it at all.

  20. Lets be realistic nothind east of Ontario can support life in sport….. they can bearly support life. Pro sports need to be in pro cities. The drain on failing pro team on its people is hard on money and spirts. Funny how theres no Phoenix just Arizona….. put on the state not the city.

    But again this is just opinion and its mine….
    got a beef

  21. nice designs…… Love the Halifax uniforms. Very nice. In fact, they’re all great. You should join Nike and bring some sanity back into the fold.

  25. How long before the Ontario Beavers make it into the league and their first blowout game find people screaming “the Beavers are taking a pounding tonight” or “the Beavers are taking a licking tonight”. Yeah, I’m sure that will make their owners very proud to hear.

  26. So…I guess no one has ever seen the movie “goon” before and how the halifax highlanders were the main team in that film? Why not the St. John Shamrocks as well then?

  28. I want to see the Jersey designs for the other two potential franchise teams not mentions:

    1. Regina ‘Pile of Bones’
    2. Las Vegas Sin Bin Kings

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