From the moment it became official that Elmira, New York would be getting a team in the Federal Hockey League, the conversation turned to what they would name the team, and with good reason.

The ECHL still holds the rights to the Jackals name, so it became clear from the start taht it was going to be a fresh start for hockey in Elmira. Names like Express, Royals, and other things that tied into local history were tossed around.

Well, yesterday we got the name and logo, with the new Robbie Nichols-owned team going with the Elmira Enforcers.

It is an ode to law enforcement in the area, and uses alliteration to make a catchy name, and becomes the first time since Danbury to incorporate green into the color scheme.

But, the reaction online once the logo was released was…uhhhh…not kind, to say the least. Many people immediately said the logo resembled that of the cop in The Village People, and had their jokes lined up about when YMCA Night was or whatever other hit Village People song they could think of.

But what we do here at Bus League Hockey think of the name and logo, and how does it stack up to the rest of the league?  Here are our thoughts.

Rovitz

I don’t think I’d ever been as excited or curious to see what the name of this team was, just because of the sheer magnitude of the Elmira announcement a few weeks back. With everything that the franchise had done being a slam dunk up to that point, it was a big letdown to see this logo.

Let’s start with the name. I actually like the name, I think the alliteration works well, and I think Enforcers is a good name in the FHL, it says that they’ll be a tough team that fights and won’t back down, so while it’s not the most original name, I think it works well both in flow off of Elmira, and in fitting in with what FHL hockey is all about.

But the logo. Ohhhhhhh the logo. Shawn and I went back and forth on this all night trying to figure out exactly what is wrong with it. And I think what we’ve settled on is this: It doesn’t look like a logo a real team would use. It looks like a logo from a movie or video game that has hockey in it, but didn’t want to pay for official licenses to have actual team logos in it. It just kind of looks like a sketch compared to the other five logos in the FHL, which all have bold images that stand out without being overly complicated.

The logo is modeled after Robbie Nichols, and he admitted as much to the local paper, and others said that it looked similar to the Elmira Pioneers logo, and that’s true as well.

But the Pioneers logo just looks so much more polished, in every way, from the font, to the guy in the logo.

Now, I will say that I really like the colors Elmira went with, I think green is very under-used and if their jerseys are mainly green, they will look really sharp on the ice. But the question I have is how that logo is going to look on a jersey. It’s not a crest, or strong wordmark, it’s just kind of a generic logo that is sort of there.

I really had high hopes for this name and logo, and it really was a disappointment when this was what they unveiled.

OVERALL: I like the name, I think it works well with Elmira and fits the FHL well, but the logo is really a bummer and probably at the bottom of the league ranks. Enforcers gets a B, but the logo gets a D.

Shawn

An ode to failed potential.

This is such a shame, because there was SO much riding on this as being THE final cherry on the icing of an awesome off-season for the FHL. Granted, in retrospect, it doesn’t really matter because Elmira has hockey back and they’ll lead the charge as the best face of the league.

That is the problem. The Enforcers, being in Elmira, having high-level front office members, and having a chance to revolutionize the league, drop the ball in a massive way because they’re the new face of the league.

Carolina is still and was the face. Their logo and staff is outstanding. Mentor is new and has an uphill battle, but is doing everything right – including logo.

Elmira did everything right- but their face. Rovitz and I yesterday were trying so hard to figure out why it looked so wrong. What was so off-putting about it.

It’s a video game logo. It looks like something you’d see in Disney Sports: Ice Hockey or Backyard Hockey. There was care and attention put into it, but it’s not a professional hockey logo, and is a poor representation of an otherwise outstanding franchise.

I’m not necessarily a huge fan of the name, but the homage to the first responders and the alliteration is nice. The Enforcers name is…campy. It’s like the Sluggers for baseball, or having Havoc or Mayhem. The difference here is we know what an Enforcer is, but not what they are – if that makes sense.

Robbie Nichols looks like a hockey player, and there’s no doubt about that…but he shouldn’t be the logo. That’s just odd. He was not in the Village People, and he was not a police officer. It’s just…an odd choice.

Just look at every other logo in the FHL, in professional hockey, even in junior hockey. Those are logos. This is not a professional hockey logo, and is incredibly disappointing from such a great franchise-to-be.

Overall, the Elmira Enforcers are a missed chance to be the best face of the league. Maybe they’ll redevelop the logo like Quad City, but the name gets a C and the logo gets a D from me.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below or on our social media channels!