As a youngster from Montreal, it was a requirement to absolutely love and participate in the sport of hockey. Participating not only meant waking up for 6:00am practices on Sundays or practicing your slapshot in the backyard hockey rink (I had one!), but to analyze each and every hockey team in comparison to our beloved Montreal Canadians.

While our home team was not always the best in the standings, we had one thing no other team had: the deepest and richest team history. These elements are key factor in consistently selling out each regular season game, win or loss.

With new management, Tampa Bay has recently rebranded their logo from the cartoony, multi-element Bolt to a one-colour, simple design. An easy blue. Vintage sports-inspired lettering that almost looks heat pressed onto a jersey by Jean-Jacques in the tuck shop. 

Some might believe this move was to simply sell new jerseys for the new company. I believe it was done to convey the most important element of a hockey brand, which is the traditional spirit of the sport. As mentioned, the history of a team such as the Canadiens always present. For a team with virtually NO history, it requires a brand and design direction that evokes this feeling. The feeling of history creates pride and pride sells.