Proposed new Winnipeg Jets logo!

Now that we have the matter of selecting a pope over and done with, we can get on with other priorities like creating a new Winnipeg Jets logo.

Why do the Jets need a new logo? It's a perfectly fine logo, although I did nit-pick it somewhat when it came out.

However there is a reason all teams except the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils have come out with so-called "third jerseys" or alternate uniforms: marketing. There is always more money to be made from the fans, and a new jersey with a new logo is one way to do that. It also gives the fans more choice.

By the way, it makes sense to me that the Red Wings would resist creating an alternate jersey and logo -- they have a classic original six look that's hard to improve upon. Possibly the best overall uniforms in the league -- but the Devils?? The Devils have one of the worst logos in the NHL: an "N" and "J" fused together into a deformed faceless demon. There are sooo many things you could do with their logo, like this or this.

I am sure the Jets will come out with an alternate jersey at some point. Whether it's a WHA-era retro jersey or something completely new, it's going to happen.

An alternate logo should be a different look and feel than the original. For example, if the original is cartoonish or playful, then the alternate should be more sedate or formal. Some teams choose to go with throw-back uniforms and logos pulled from the past, or designed to look like they came from the past. Some replace their picture-based crests with plain text logos. This is fine too.

Phoenix shows us an example of what not to do. Their alternate logo is in the same style as their regular crest, making it almost completely pointless ...

The Jets' crest is of the more serious variety, therefore I envision something a little more playful or whimsical as their alternate crest. For this I look to their farm team, the St. John's Ice Caps. I happen to like the Ice Caps logo. It has a nice bold aesthetic.

It is certainly in a different style than the Jet's current logo, and it has the additional shade of blue which could be worked in to the redesigned uniforms, along with the grey.

So what might this new logo look like?



Ladies and gentlemen .... the new Winnipeg Jets logo!

The alternate Jets logo above is the property of the author of this blog. If you wish to use this logo for commercial or personal use, please contact the author in the comment section of this blog post or by email at: cherenkov *at* live *dot* com

The ticket to attracting better candidates

Have you ever voted in an election for the person you disliked the least? Does it seem sometimes that there are no good choices on the ballot?

In the last civic election I voted for a real estate agent because there was so little to choose from. The field was so bad that the incumbent won easily even though most people agree that he's doing a terrible job. In the last Manitoba provincial election your choices were somebody with no fiscal responsibility, and somebody else promising to be just as irresponsible. Only one person has stepped forth to vie for the leadership of the opposition party after the role was vacated after an embarrassing loss to a party that's running the province into the ground.

At every level of government voting rates are low and trending lower, because there are no inspiring candidates. Voting is an unpleasant task where you have to pinch your nose while checking the box.

While in a twitter conversation with Luc Lewandoski I came up with the best idea ever to resolve this conundrum: Give politicians free Jets tickets! They are a valuable commodity that is sure to attract quality candidates to the political arena. It is a perk that could perk up the field in any political race. The job may be thankless, and you may be scrutinized and criticized at every turn, but tickets to the hottest show in town help to make it all worth while.

The best part: it won't cost taxpayers a dime. Private corporations can provide all the tickets. All we need to do is encourage them. Let's send out the word to all the companies out there with Corporate boxes and season tickets: invite politicians to Jets games! Lots of them! ALL OF THEM!! If they all go to Jets games, then the playing field will still be level.

Let's implement this plan immediately.

What to do with the Master Plan?

About the only surprise is how soon it happened, though the fact that it happened was all but inevitable. On Wednesday, Winnipeg City Council rendered yet another planning document obsolete by approving a proposal to disregard the recommendations of the Transportation Master Plan and fast track road expansions on the periphery of the city:

Amid hubbub, $300 million in freeways approved

Said Dan Vandal, who is emerging as one of the few voices of reason on Main Street:

"I think it sends the wrong message to administration and to the province, who I'm sure paid for half of the master plan. The fact that we can make these $300 million in changes without any administrative comment on whether they're worthwhile is bizarre."

Yes, well bizarre is the name of the game at City Hall.

This change, while fast tracking new roads, no doubt also delays the rapid transit portion of the master plan until some time after the Great Apocalypse. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have wasted my time writing about it or going to the open house, although they do have good cookies at these open houses.

Nevertheless, we spent $1.25 million on this document, so we should try to make some use of it.

My first thought was to use it to line bird cages, but nobody keeps birds anymore. (Why is that? They're small and colourful. What more could you want in a pet?) 

My second thought was that we could use the pages of the Transportation Master Plan to teach kids origami. They could start by doing very simple projects like paper airplanes. This is ideal because it's tangentially related to transportation.

But then it occurred to me that the plan is in PDF format. It is very difficult to make a paper airplane out of a PDF file. I tried once and it was incredibly frustrating. In the end, perhaps the best use we can make of this document, as flawed as it is, is to lock it away in a time vault to be opened in 20 years so that the next generation of community leaders can compare what was supposed to be with what actually happened, and hopefully get cracking on that second leg of rapid transit to the U of M.

Put a steak in the Kane rumours

I first heard the rumour about three weeks ago. The story goes: Evander Kane was at Hy's Steakhouse with a group of people and tried to leave without paying the bill. When challenged by the waitress, he said something to the effect that he shouldn't have to pay because his presence there was a benefit to the restaurant.

I never mentioned this story before on social media because I had my doubts that it was true, and there was really no point in spreading a negative rumour anyhow. But then this happened:

Which led to this being written.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that the flashy-dressing young Kane did what the story says he did, but there are many other possibilities as well. Maybe there was a misunderstanding among the group about who was going to pay, and maybe Kane has a deadpan sense of humour and made a joke about not paying, even though he fully intended to. Maybe a waitress was just pissed about the tip she got, or maybe nothing happened at all and somebody with a bone to pick concocted the rumour out of thin air. Maybe he stopped at Co-op for a fill, and by word of mouth that turned into "stiffed a waitress on a bill."

You can't really blame Winnipeggers for believing that there's fire when they smell smoke. The rumours about the Jets coming back were obviously true, as were the rumours about IKEA coming and Tim being gay. (Inside joke. Please disregard if you don't know Tim.) However, whether it's true or not, we need to drop this whole thing ... as soon as I'm done writing this post.

If he didn't do it, then obviously it is wrong to imply that he might have. If he did do it, I am pretty sure he learned a lesson here and will not do it again.

Word gets around quickly in a small city like Winnipeg, and you just can't get away with that shit. Besides, he should get a second chance. He has a ton of potential, not just as a player but as an ambassador of the sport, and he's still very young. It is counter-productive in every way to anchor him to this story. It would also be unfortunate if the lesson that he took away from all this was that Winnipeggers are nasty and unforgiving.

That is all.

Yes, I am aware that this post may seem somewhat hypocritical.

By the way, if you haven't checked out my Oduya comic strip yet, click here.

The Adventures of Johnny Oduya: Episode 1

Uh oh, somebody got into the crayons again...

Here's a doodle I've been picking away. Hope you enjoy.

Click HERE to view full size or click on the picture.

THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY ODUYA

The NEW Winnipeg Jets!

What can I say? Amazing first game here in Winnipeg. Just a few of photos from the game:

Hitting the ice:

Last 20 seconds of the first Jets WIN in 15 years!:

New Winnipeg Jets jerseys

Hey there. Here is a quickie post to let you know that I'm still alive. Due to a recent career change the posting has been a little sparse lately, but I can't let something as important as the Jets uniforms to go uncommented.

source

Much like the logo, the jerseys are not bad but not quite right either. The colours are sharp in jersey format and the logo has found it's home right in the middle of the chest like a bullseye. I think where the uniforms go wrong is with the arms, and in particular the stripes on the sleeves.

The horizontal strips are low down on the sleeves and give the appearance of the uniform being bottom heavy because they create visual width below the mid-point of the uniform, while there is nothing up top to balance that. This is more pronounced on the white uniform, but the dark one also has that width down low.


If you are a pear-shaped Jets fan, this is bad news for you. Fortunately, other than the Dustin Byfuglien, none of the Jets are currently pear-shaped. Furthermore, the jerseys should appear more balanced when the players are all geared up with the shoulder pads. If I buy one -- and I probably will -- it will probably be blue.

For my analysis of the logo, click here.
For my original jersey concept, click here.

UPDATED: New Jets logo, tweaked

Evan Marnoch articulates well my thoughts on the new Jets logos.

Let's get the secondary logos out of the way first. This logo, which I presume is a shouder patch, is very nice. I approve!This alternate scripty-looking logo is not good at all. It's disjointed and clumsy, and the plain sans serif WINNIPEG does add anything. I hope they reconsider this one.
Now on to the main logo. I don't think it's bad, but it could be better. Evan does too, saying this:

The main logo could have been so much stronger if they were able to cut ties with the maple leaf ... The shape of the plane alone occupies a similar shape to the leaf and I think it, along with utilizing similar colours (ie. blue circle & red plane), would have been enough. Sure, some people might miss the reference. But for those that would get it - it would allow them to feel closer to the concept, as if they were in on the reference. This would have created a much bolder mark. Much more identifiable. Instead - they tried to do too much by including both images.

The plane superimposed on top of the leaf looks forced and uncomfortable to me. You have too many pointy things everywhere. This logo has bad feng shui, plus the red little pointy tail beneath the plane bugs me because that is not part of the maple leaf. It's like they took the top part of the leaf and stuck it where the stem is supposed to be, or turned the maple leaf into a jet plane flying south.
So the first thing we do is get rid of the maple leaf, because our team is The Jets, not The Maple Leafs (thank God).
It's much cleaner, but too drab. Evan suggests making the plane red so let's do that:
Better? I think it's better. You have the red inside the blue circle which leaves a strong resemblance to the original RCAF logo without going to unnecessary lengths to replicate it. One minor problem is that the grey or silver is relegated to a secondary color, when I'm sure the mandate was to make it prominent.

Thoughts? Better? Too plain? (Too plane?)

original logo soure
h/t Brent Lauman

UPDATE ****************************************
Right, well it appears that I wasted my time modifying the logos. Some guy not only made the exact same change, but went through the trouble of mocking up the uniforms on Jonathan Toews. I only hope he spent more time on it than I did:

source
h/t: shifty

Return of the Jets / Portage & Main party

As a Winnipeg blogger I am obligated by an obscure bi-law to write a post about the return of the NHL to our fair city. Okay, I'll do it, but it will be mostly pictures.

The long awaited moment -- even longer awaited than IKEA -- has finally come! The press conference this morning confirmed it. Chipman was professional and passionate in his announcement. Bettman looked like he was telling his patient that he had inoperable brain cancer. Premier Selinger's speech went something like this:

It's such a pleasure to be here for this announcement. It wasn't long ago that we retired Mark Keane's jersey. Mark was such an outstanding player and he sold me a great mattress. No wait, that was David Keane. Haha. Yooooouuuu'll find us! I love that guy! Except he drives too fast. No wait, that was Steve McQueen. Great actor. Loved it when he sang happy birthday to the President. No wait, that was Norma Jean. Norma Jean is not my lover.She's just a girl that says I am the one. Haha. Where was I? Oh right, welcome back to the NFL!

Oh well, we all make mistakes. The important thing is: we're getting the Jets back!

You hear three things as you approach Portage and Main from the south: wind howling through the buildings, beer cans clanking along the road, and the din of a crowd. The closer you get, the more the crowd noise takes over, until you find yourself in the midst of a mob. Here are a few photos and a video of a conga line that eventually encircled almost the entire intersection.

Winnipeg's new NHL team unveiled

The end of the Phoenix Coyotes' season is nigh, and with that comes the announcement of Winnipeg's new NHL team. The accountants and lawyers have worked out all the details under the shroud of a secrecy agreement to prevent information from being leaked out, but it's tricky to keep everything under wraps. And so it is that I have come across some important information, via a friend of the Peanut who happens to be connected with the Chipman family.

Ever since rumours of the Coyotes coming back to Winnipeg started, there has been speculation about what the name might be. Will they be called the Jets again, or something else? If something else, what?

Well, I have the answer for you. And not only that, I have a prototype of their jersey. They will not be called the Jets, primarily for marketing reasons. Virtually everybody in the city has a Jets jersey in their closet at this point, so there will be a new name and new colours, forcing all true fans to buy new gear. The name will have a connection to the City of Winnipeg, it will invoke the pride of Manitobans everywhere, and will symbolize the best of what we have to offer the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

drumroll....

There is of course a back-up name, in case this one doesn't work out for some reason, though I can't understand how there could possibly be a problem. But just in case: welcome to the Falcons!

(yes, I'm recycling material. Whatcha gonna do about it.)

The Jets are coming!

The rumour mill is churning extra hard these days in Winnipeg: engineers and architects inspecting the MTS centre, the Saskatoon Blades checking out new homes, conversations overheard in the Fairmont Hotel lounge, Gary Bettman sightings in town ... That's right boys and girls: the NHL is coming back to Winnipeg!

The current variation of the rumour started last year, as far as I know. There was a Regina sports reporter who heard something, and this post on a Saskatoon blog last October from "Trusty Rusty":

the Atlanta Thrashers people are in Winnipeg looking over the MTS centre with plans to expand seating to 18,000. It gets better.

The rumour also goes that the Moose would move to Saskatoon and then Jack Brodsky would move the Saskatoon Blades to Winnipeg, giving the MTS a NHL/WHL combo like Edmonton and Calgary.

You have to believe him. After all, he is trusty! Now, every internet forum in town is buzzing.

If the rumours are true, there will be an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) -- right after the trade deadline. So ... it is safe to say that we will be hoisting the Stanley Cup in three years, but what will be the team name on the trophy? According to this Toronto Star article, "The NHL earlier this year contacted Canadian regulators to reinforce its trademark on the Winnipeg Jets name." I heard that the "Jets" name was owned by Barry Shenkarow. Somebody else said that the NHL owned it. I have a vague memory of winning the rights to the name in a coin-snatching competition after a night of Yukon Jack and tequila, but try as I might I cannot find the paperwork.

Regardless, even if Chipman can get rights to the name, the name will probably change so that everybody who currently owns Winnipeg Jets gear (approximately 80% of the city) will have to go out and buy new gear. That means that you and I will need to be prepared to provide input into the team name so that we don't end up with some disaster like The Raptors or Mighty Ducks.

With that in mind, I have come up with some preliminary ideas for team names. Vote for your favourite in the comments or suggest your own! Here we go:

1. The Manitoba Flood
2. The Winnipeg Level 4 Puck Theives
3. Winnipeg World Class
4. The Walleyes
5. Shakin' All Over in the 'Peg
6. The Winnipeg Falcons
7. Hey Everybody, We've Got A Helicopter
8. The Manitoba Monopolies
9. The Volts (in honour of our great hydro resource, you see...)
10. The Voyageurs
    
    and my personal favourite:
    
    
11. The Burtons!

late addition:

12. The Manitoba Rebellion