AHL Manitoba Moose Relocated and Renamed

Seeing the need to move the AHL farm club out of Manitoba now that it's been granted another NHL franchise, the True North Sports & Entertainment owners have decided to move the familiar AHL franchise to an area that has been long waiting for a professional franchise to return to it's

St. John's once contained the NHL's Maple Leafs as it's area for developing young players, but once the Toronto management abandoned the Eastern coastal ends of Canada, the St. John's Newfoundland hockey fans were sent some major junior hockey to fill the void.

The Moose AHL franchise will once again find itself a new home and been renamed as the St. John's Ice Caps. It's logo will feature a strong looking font word mark "IceCaps" underneath a snowy mountain peak. It's shape is taken directly from the Newfoundland landscape.

I like it as an AHL logo. It's not too cartoon, but it's not holding back by the more businesslike NHL image branding. It would have been nice to bring back some other names used in the area in the past, but those might get confused with other NHL parent clubs as far as affiliations go.

But from the source article that I found (linked at the bottom), some fans have been outspoken and critical about the new name and logo.

A number of fans unhappy with the new moniker were quick to note its similarity to "Iced Capp," a popular drink served at Tim Hortons.

Is that so bad? Really?

Let me know what you think about the new AHL team logo by leaving a comment or two (or even three) in the appropriate places.


[Via: Rogers Sportsnet]