The Federal Hockey League news universe was set on fire yesterday when we stumbled upon the yet-to-be officially announced team’s website, revealing basically every detail the team has.

Well, one thing that immediately caught our eye on the website was the team name and logos, shown here:

Because anytime you get a new team, it’s important to get off on the right foot with a name and logos that that stand out, and grab attention, and most importantly, make fans want to buy gear and wear it proudly at the games or out in public.

But what does the Bus League Hockey staff think of the FHL’s newest team’s entire look?

Mat

First off, the name is straight fire.

It’s a great nod at the city’s past while setting the tone with the double entendre of three goals by a single player and the classic rabbit magic trick.

The Rabbit logo is well thought out, having the three diamonds running down the right side as a mark for the teams ownership group is smart and you don’t often see diamonds used in sports logos, particularly hockey. I wasn’t sure about the orange and black color decision because of the Danville Dashers, however, Danville seems to use grey a fair bit and I imagine something has been thought out uniform wise to avoid the clash issue.

My only true complaint is the rabbit’s paw and stick. The paw is disproportionately big beside the head & the stick seems rushed. If they added a carrot top to the bottom side of the hand like the top grip of a stick, it would of been cooler.

As for the Danbury D coming out of the top hat. That’s a masterpiece. Simple, straight to the point and gives a nod to the aforementioned rabbit trick. I’m looking forward to seeing the uniforms when they are unveiled. If done correctly they could really compete with Carolina & Port Huron for best uniform / logo combination in the league.

Overall, I give them a B+ with points docked for pending color clashes and the disproportionate rabbit paw/tiny stick issue.

Shawn

Well, yesterday sure developed overwhelmingly quickly. After being given a tip some odd time ago that the Danbury team had a three word team name, the guessing began.

Upon finding out confirmation that my second guess was correct, I immediately was intrigued. I knew the name would be polarizing IF the logo and brand was not up to snuff. The name is what the name is, but it’s about the overall brand: logo, colors, wordmark. I honestly couldn’t think of what the logo would be, but I was afraid it would be a beer-league looking logo with the typical Danbury historical colors – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but this new team in this new FHL needed to establish itself apart.

Boy, they did that and more. When I saw the logo along with the colors and wordmark, I was awfully impressed. Going off of the magic implication with the word “Tricks” was unique, and executed fantastically. Doubling-down on the Halloween/Magic type brand with the Orange and Black primaries was a bold choice that immediately sets it apart. Yes, I know Danville /has/ orange and black as part of their colors, but they are more primarily focused on the grey primary with some of the hunter’s orange. I think based on the Danbury logo, the jersey sets will be uniquely-designed.

I dig the primary logo with the rabbit holding the mini-stick. That’s a REALLY good sellable logo – meaning people WANT to wear it on hats, shirts, hoodies, etc. Heck, I want merchandise with this logo on it. It’s slick, it’s unique, and it’s fresh. It looks professional, and like a logo you could see in an affiliated logo. They could not have created a more perfect representation of their team name, and absolutely crushed the branding element. People aren’t just thinking “oh, Hat Tricks…that’s a name”, they’re seeing the logo and thinking “that’s sweet. They really did that well”.

The secondary-logo…wow. Masterpiece. They have three outstanding logos they can switch between with the Primary, Secondary, and even JUST the Wordmark. They’ve set themselves up for quite some success going forward with JUST the branding.

For me, I’ll give the name a B-, just because of its initial feel and how it’ll sound as a professional sports name to the average person and business. The logos, I will give an A to the Primary, and an absolute A+ to the Secondary.

Overall, I’m giving this overall brand an A-. Name vs. Logo combined together makes this an outstanding addition.

Ron

Not going to lie, when I heard the name “Hat Tricks” I actually outloud said, “Oh nooooooo,” and relayed my feelings about the name to the BLH chat.

Then I googled the team name, amazingly finding their already active website, saw the logos and colors and immediately changed my tune on it.

And honestly, the more I hear the name, the more I grow to like it. I like the connections to the city’s past as a major hat manufacturer, and like the connection to hockey with the name. But I love that the logos kind of take away from hockey, and make it a magic-focused name, as in the type of tricks a magician does when they pull a rabbit out of a hat, it’s honestly pretty clever and has more going on than just a hockey team using a hockey term for their name.

On to the logos. That rabbit logo with the wordmark underneath it is absolutely fantastic, honestly, a showstopper of a logo that I think has to be in the conversation for the best logo in the league. It’s clean, it’s bold, the colors pop, and the white rabbit really stands out among the orange and black accents. And I love that Hat Tricks wordmark underneath it, it instantly feels both classic and modern at the same time, which is not an easy thing to do. Honestly, this is a logo that I would wear, and probably will purchase at least a shirt or something when they go on sale.

As for the secondary logo with the hat and the D, I’m not as wild about that as my partners as the site. It’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with it, but nothing about it really stands out or pops. I’m sure it will look fine as a secondary logo on the shoulder of a jersey or a t-shirt, but it just doesn’t stack up for me compared to the main rabbit and word mark.

One thing I really like, and think is well done, is the diamonds in both logos. They’re pretty subtle, and add the feel like something magical just happened to the logos, while being a nod to the owners of the team. It’s not easy to do, to add in a nod to the owners without beating the fan over the head with it, but they did a good job here with that, right down to a diamond dotting the I in Tricks.

Overall, I’d give the name a solid B, the primary logo with the rabbit an easy A, and then another solid B to the secondary logo. Combine it all up, and this is an A- set overall. Really, these logos are so well done, that it elevates the name. Can’t wait to see this look on the ice come the fall.

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