Panthers See Red
Monday · Jun 6 · 2011 | 12:59 PM PDTThe Florida Panthers have officially launched their new marketing campaign today: We See Red.
The campaign will culminate on June 24 with the unveiling of their new red home jersey at the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul. The first player to wear it will be the Cats' first round pick, which currently sits at No. 3 overall. Here's a link to the Panthers' press release on the matter. And an excerpt:
“We See Red” signifies the Panthers’ passion, aggressiveness, new blood, attitude, desire and commitment to winning under the leadership of General Manager Dale Tallon and now, Head Coach Kevin Dineen. Coinciding with the campaign, the Panthers will also unveil a new home jersey at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft on June 24. The jersey will feature the Cats’ “true colors” and will be worn by the team’s first pick — currently No. 3 overall.
All right, I may have just said most of that in the previous paragraph, but now you have it from them too.
Personally, I like the idea of the Panthers returning to red. That's how I always think of them. The dark blue just never worked in south Florida. Now, whether this means they'll actually improve the jersey remains to be seen. What I mean by that is they only specifically mention unveiling a "new home jersey," making no reference to a new road sweater to match.
This makes me wonder if they'll simply take the template of the current jerseys and just make a red one. I'd much rather see them go with a design more like their third jersey — or even that original red one from the early '90s. As always, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
So when the Stinkin' Panthers go back to red, they'll be the third team in the Southeast Division to wear that color (Carolina and Washington being the others, of course). The Lightning will now wear blue instead of black. And as we know, red and blue are by far the most common colors in the NHL.
We don't yet know what the Winnipeg team will be named, but if it's the Jets and they go with the blue-and-red color scheme, boy will that be original and will certainly stand out. I'm hoping they go with something in a nice green, honestly — or even purple to make up for Los Angeles dumping it. But that's just because I like variety. Ultimately, I hope whatever is chosen is liked by the fans in Winnipeg.
That's all for today. Coming later this week: Remember how we ranked the Canadian NHL team uniforms a few months ago? Yeah, we're about to start tackling the rest of the league. (Just in time for me to take a nice long vacation. More later.)
Reader Comments (27)
I wish they were redsigning both their jerseys not just the home. This to me just sounds like they just recoloured the current home jersey design so that the red switches places with the dark blue. The striping pattern of both the current jerseys really sucks. I really wish (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) that they would completely redesign their jerseys to look something much more similar to their original jersey.
Just a minor note/correction. The Draft is in St Paul, MN not Minneapolis.
The red Panther looks like Darth maul from Star Wars.
The Cat at the end of the video looks like Darth Maul.
If Winnipeg is called anything but the Jets and dressed in blue and red it will be a damn shame. Those 80's jerseys were awesome.
Kind of reminds me of another short-lived and red-themed slogan of a previous Tallon-lead team.
The Hawks very briefly adopted the "Red Rising" slogan, but it only lasted for about a single season before "One Goal" became the slogan.
Wonder if this one lasts any longer than Red Rising....
Thanks Ryan. Brain malfunction on that one. Fixed.
Also something of note, all of the Panther head logos from the third jerseys are gone and there's no longer an ad to purchase the third Jerseys on the site. The only place left you can find the old panther head on the site is the message board, which they still haven't updated from the baby blue and navy style. I think this pretty much confirms that the leaping panther is going to be on the next jersey.
I'm so glad to see the Cats going back to the red. A few other things of note: The Panthers' logo being used on the site is now the classic Panther, not the simplified alternate-jersey-style cat. Also, the alternate jersey has completely disappeared from the team home page, except in 1 picture of an event the Panthers did where a cardboard cutout of a player shows him wearing the alternate. All great things. Go Cats Go!
Why do they show the old mighty ducks in this video? lol
@Moose: It's the Portland Pirates, former affiliates of the Ducks. It was to show new Panthers coach Kevin Dineen behind the bench.
I agree with you Chris, it would be nice to have the Winnipeg team in a different color than Blue and Red. Especially since Columbus kind of took that color scheme after the Jets had flown South for a few winters. I'd like to see Jets in Green and White, simular to the NY Jets NFL team. It sounds like they will not go with Jets, which I think stinks because it would be like they got there team back, not another team.
i was expecting a jersey unveiling
I forgot to mention in my last comment. The Winnipeg Owners will have to decide on a Name and Logo soon, because they're going to have to have some Jersey's made up for the Draft coming up June 24th. Maybe they will use the Draft as a launching pad for the New Jersey and New Logo as did Cap's did after the RBK design changes several years ago. I'm very anxious to see.
St4rr: You shouldn't have been. I mentioned previously that the jersey was going to be unveiled at the draft. This announcement was just an official confirmation of that fact from the team.
Kirk: If you ask me, I'd bet on a name and jersey reveal on or right after June 21 when the Board of Governors officially approves the sale and relocation of the Thrashers.
I'm still very sour over my Bolts moving to a blue primary color and eliminating black and silver. While the new logo has definitely grown on me, switching to that shade of blue just looks like the Tampa Bay Maple Bolts, or some similar nonsense. It really doesn't make any sense to me at all. But yes, I admit it, the logo is growing on me. lol
I'd like to see the Cats go to more of a yellow with red trim. I think that would feel more South Florida. What if they scrapped it and went with a more Art Deco color scheme? Would be original.
Hi Chris, the relocation was dependant on them selling 13,000 season tickets. Which they did. So it's just a rubber stamp now to be completed. I'm sure they want to get there Name and Logo and Jersey out there asap to start selling with the finals on, they just haven't decided. I believe that they really want to go another direction, but the vast majority of fans want the Jets. So they don't want to break the hearts of the fans .....yet. I speculate that they believe they have a better name and logo and that in the long run they believe the fans will like it better. I've been watching the Winnipeg and Atlanta papers online everyday threw this whole thing and noticed on the message boards some interesting comments that some Winnipeg fans said they wouldn't buy season tickets if they were named something different than Jets. Others are saying that the team called the Jets were a failed franchise and that "we" (Winnipeg Fans) should start fresh. But that isn't so much true, the Jets won 3 Championships in the WHA. They were stuck in a division in the 80's with the Oilers and Flames, who both had great teams.
Even if they couldn't sell the 13,000 before that deadline, people in the media were saying that they have no choice to relocate this year, or that team folds in Atlanta for a season or more, because the owners weren't going to operate it losing another $20 million or so for this season and the NHL wasn't going to foot the bill. Media up here in Canada has been all over this and I thought that it was interesting that a few analyst were saying that the new CBA is killing the Southern American teams because they're forced to pay the minimum of +/- 40 million a season. If that team only wants to pay +/- 20 million for Players and not lose +/- 20 million that makes more sense. Which makes sense, make a cap for the maximum, but not the minimum. Sometimes I wonder what owners are thinking, they close the league up for a year to make a new CBA that only hurts them and then come out of that season signing guys to 15 year deals? The average player in the league makes 2.3 million a season now according to McLean's Magazine, who just had a new magazine out with the cover story "How we got our team back" and a huge Jets logo.
Two other random notes about the Winnipeg Jets. The Calgary Flames, used Atlanta Flames name, they didn't change it and it's been successful. Not saying that Winnipeg Thrashers is a good idea, but it has worked for Calgary. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Winnipeg owners, Truth North, said like the NHL said......who said it's too late to change the divisions and that Winnipeg would have to play in the South-East division for one season...... they said it's to late to order new Jerseys for this coming season and will use Thrashers, sell all a bunch of those Jerseys and then release the following year a new logo and Jersey. More Jersey sales! Now that create's a problem because the Away and Alternate Jersey's had "Atlanta" on them, so you couldn't use them. The Away (white) Jersey would be fine, and maybe, as I've found out from your site, they were going to have a new Thrashers Alternate Jersey...... and that this was already in Production and could use that as their Home Jersey.
While the Winnipeg ?Whatevers? and Victoria ?V's? (WHL) are not decided yet, why not have a logo and Jersey competition? You never know how's watching .......and maybe one of your submissions will get some designer who submits to your site some money and launch his/her's career? Nothing makes us more fascinated than speculating or wishing.
Lastly, you have to admit, professional logo's are the hardest things to design, successful ones anyways. Any "cool" logo, like the Manitoba Moose, just wouldn't cut it for the NHL. It has to be like a Major Corporation, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. A professional sports team logo needs to be simple, strong and symbolic.
Kirk: You made a lot of good points in your comment but I think you're really missing the fact that the NHL's Board of Governors are not merely figureheads. At this point, it may well be a rubber stamp, but they do hold all the cards here. If they do not approve the sale and relocation, it doesn't happen. That being said, it's not remotely in their interest to do that.
The Drive to 13,000 campaign was not the be-all, end-all or anything official. It was simply a way to show the BoG that there's enough money and interest in Winnipeg to support the NHL — in essence, proving to the BoG that it is indeed in their interest to approve.
And I do disagree with you on the idea that they are still making up their minds on what to call the team. They have 16 days until they'll have to present a jersey of some kind to a draft pick. Not to mention, they will begin play in just three months and will need a logo stamped all over their gear and merchandise well before that time comes.
I have no doubt that at this point a name and logo have been decided upon and approved. If anything, they may just be waiting on delivery of prototype jerseys or even just the final jersey itself. True North has been working to bring the NHL back to Winnipeg for far too long to not already have a branding and marketing plan in place.
Just my two cents on that, having seen the way these things have gone in the past. And of course, I could be completely wrong. As we've come to learn, speculation is for suckers. But that's a lot of what we do here, isn't it?
Don't be too hard on Chris for saying Minneapolis instead of St. Paul. The US Census Bureau considers St. Paul to be part of the Minneapolis metropolitan area, so saying that the draft is "in Minneapolis" is technically not wrong ;-)
It’s ok to Disagree, that’s what makes sports talk great fun.
On that topic, how should any Team successfully pick a new identity?
If you’re going to pick a team name, colors and logo, you want to go with the city’s history and make-up/character of the city.
With a little research one Wikipedia we easily find out that Winnipeg first was a French Fort called “Fort Rouge”, or Rouge is Red in English obviously. Then later in early history it was called the “Red River Colony”, the main River going thru Winnipeg is called the Red River.
So you would think Red would have to be in Color Scheme. Also the Natives were sometimes known as the “Red People” to French and English Explorers as they used red for war paint and other purposes. Manitoba has a large population of Natives.
Should they be called the “Reds”? Probably not, because there is already the Reds in the MLB
Their other History is regarding a Statue called the “Golden Boy”, bought from France and has a long history with the City.
The Winnipeg Bombers that play in the CFL have Gold and Blue as there colors.
On TSN (The Sports Network here in Canada), Dave Hodge said in a recent telecast that he likes the name “Gold”, the Winnipeg Gold. Not sure if I like that, or even, the “Winnipeg Golden Boys” maybe a little bit better.
So how about a combination of Gold and Red. Maybe throw black in as well as I’m not sure the two by themselves work. I guess Minnesota Gophers College hockey team looks pretty good.
Going back to the Jets and the Winnipeg Bombers that must come from Winnipeg Air Force with the Canadian Armed forces. Maybe “Winnipeg Aviators”? It still has a tie to the Jets, but it’s different.
The rumors also swirl that the team will not be called Manitoba something’s, not Winnipeg. Something I’m not a big fan of. I’d rather have the city name, just like I’d rather see the Colorado Avalanche originally called Denver Avalanche. Using Manitoba would be a big mistake in my opinion.
Some Hockey History says that Winnipeg Monarchs. There is already the Monarchs in the AHL and it’s too close to Kings.
Also their talking about the Winnipeg Falcons because they were the world’s first Olympic Champions, 1920. It looks like the more I search that the Gold jerseys With a Black Stripe threw the middle and a Red Maple Leaf that team Canada wore a few years ago as a Retro come from the Jerseys the Winnipeg Falcons wore for those Olympics.
Falcons is close to Thrashers. The Thrashers have Gold and Red in there logo, plus Dark blue which the Jets use to have. Maybe keep the Thrashers logo and colors, just call them the Falcons. Funny how that just came around in a circle. The Powder Jerseys of Atlanta would have to go of course, but the logo is pretty good, not a classic, but better than most teams not in the Original Six. What do you think?
I've been hearing for ages now that True North was almost certainly going to go with Manitoba if they got a team, rather than Winnipeg. We'll see if that happens, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Moose name got a promotion, though I would bet on a rebrand from the cartoony AHL identity if they did that.
I'm hoping for a fresh start, with interesting colors. Brown and green perhaps?
As for the panthers, bleh. I was never a fan of their color scheme any way they managed it. I just don't like anything that uses all three primary colors, and both red and navy are overused. Never liked their logo either. Computerized, too detailed, and horribly unbalanced. I was hoping for the double blue to get promoted to full time, and a fresh new logo.
To me, the Panthers entire look has always been in the mediocre to bad category. I guess it fits the team, but they need a complete rebrand, not just another retooling.
Chris,
I heard that Winnipegs team could not be called the "Jets" because that name stayed with them when they left, and Phoenix owns the rights to that name. Is this true?
Also, according to George Richards and On Frozen Pond (a Panthers blog) on Facebook, the light blue alternates will be staying for at least one more season: "#FlaPanthers keeping the JetBlue alternate jerseys for one more season...more real news come Wednesday". I am so happy to see the reds coming back!!
Go Panthers!!!
I don't think the new Winnipeg team should be called the Jets. In the history of the NHL, I can think of 10 markets that have lost a team and then gained a new one later on: Philadelphia, Montreal, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, Denver, New York City, Minneapolis, Quebec City, Ottawa - plus, if you want to get super technical, San Francisco. (There may be more, but that's what I can come up with off the top of my head.)
Of all those cities, only one (Ottawa) gave its new team the same name as its old team. The new teams then went on to forge their own identities and grow their own traditions (to varying degrees). Nobody thinks the Pittsburgh team lacks tradition because it isn't called the Pirates, and nobody disrespects the Minnesota team because it isn't the North Stars. And how many people in Quebec City are holding rallies to bring back the Bulldogs? It seems silly now because the Nordiques forged their own traditions and identity.
Bringing back the "Jets" name just seems lazy and uncreative, and it doesn't give this franchise a chance to develop its own identity. (Plus, the original Jets sucked during their NHL days, so it seems kind of silly to honor them in the first place.) And, on top of that, it's confusing because it's not the same franchise as the original Jets - just like the Cleveland Browns in the NFL.
As per George Richards of the Miami Herald, the Panthers must keep there alternate blue/light blue jersey for this year in order to fulfill their contract with Reebok. After this year it will be gone. So, that will remain the alternate.
All great news here. I'm a Flyers fan but have always loved the old panthers red jersey and the leaping panther. getting rid of the modified head and those hideous baby and navy blue jerseys is one of the best things they could've done. I agree with u chris i really hope they dnt plop the ugly rbk piping design on a red jersey, i'd like to see either the 90s or a slightly modified one, maybe somethinf with three stripes on the sleeves and bottom of the jersey (white blue white or white yellow white pattern).
I also would like to see more green and some purple, thankfully the stars will unveil a green and hopefully the kings will go back one day b/c this silver n black is very plain (unless they add the 90s Gretzky logo). I'd prefer the Jets to be blue and red but wouldnt mind seeing something different. Hopefully it'll work out best for their fans and fans around the league.
There is no chance this team will be called the Winnipeg Jets. Just about every 'pegger has a jets sweater they either still wear or in the back of their closet. This team has the smallest rink in the NHL and a limited number of boxes so every revenue stream is critical. Hence they cant risk the lost merchandising revenue by bringing out the old name and logo.
My prediction. This team will roll out a new name and logo but also introduce and alternate jersey that pays homage to the original Jets.