HOCKEY FAIL

CLIENT

Union Hockey League

ABOUT

Union Hockey League was supposed to be a pre-pro/semi-pro/senior-A full check hockey league. I was contracted as a third party to create all of the team logos and their jersey designs, unfortunately it was a bad financial situation for all parties involved, except the con-man owner. Out of it, however, I did get some cool logo designs (and some that I’m not super proud of, but I was following the direction given). A few of these teams are still using these logos in whole or part, even if they have no clue that I designed them.

LOGOS

Union Hockey League was supposed to be a pre-pro/semi-pro/senior-A full check hockey league. I was contracted as a third party to create all of the team logos and their jersey designs, unfortunately it was a bad financial situation for all parties involved, except the con-man owner. Out of it, however, I did get some cool logo designs (and some that I’m not super proud of, but I was following the direction given). A few of these teams are still using these logos in whole or part, even if they have no clue that I designed them.
Fun hockey playing astronaut logo. The location of this team changed several times, even after the hand off of the final approved logo. Of all of them, this was one of my favorites to design.
Is it buffalos or buffaloes? I lean toward the -oes version, but the GM said they were the -os version. Originally, this was presented without the crest behind, but the powers that be wanted it to be anchored to something.
The stand alone charging buffalo logo. More the way it was initially intended!
The Frozen Fury concept was a Viking. Initially, I was asked to look heavily at the Minnesota Vikings logo. Instead, I shifted the concept to lean more into Leif Eriksson and other Viking iconography to come up with this Viking design. Ultimately, this team changed locations and names a few times and I believe no longer exists.
Monogram alternate logo for the Frozen Fury.
Another team that never made it off the ground. The concept was to have a general breaking through the jersey or ice.
This primary logo for the Gold Kings has always pained me. I love how the lion head turned out, but sometimes the designer loses the argument on best uses and practices. The team GM really wanted a fine serif font and the shift in the top lines always felt weird to me.
Alternate monogram logo for the Gold Kings.
My third favorite of the bunch. This one I was given a lot of freedom of design, colors, and textures. This team is still in existence and using this logo.
Simple lumberjack logo for a team based out of New Hampshire. There were other logos to be designed around this, but the team folded before we even got approval on this one. Oh the possibilities!
Secondary M logo for the Mallards.
Mallard logo for the Canton Mallards, which would move two or three more times before taking the ice.
Branding: UHL Mallards
The owner of the league was adamant that he wanted to rip off the Colorado Mammoth lacrosse logo. I was adamant that was not the right way to go. Somewhere in the middle came this logo. It's still in use (with some minor changes) as the Midwest Mammoths.
Branding: UHL Mammoths
Mammoths icon as a secondary logo positioning.
Bear with fleur de lis logo for the Soo Nordiques. As far as I'm aware, this logo is still in use.
I was provided a sketch and MS paint version of this logo and asked to clean it up and make it look professional. I unified the text, defined the color palette, and generally cleaned up the design to be professional. This logo is still in use.
Cincinnati, a river city, requested something that aligned with that heritage. This logo incorporates a hockey stick wielding tug boat pilot, a pilot wheel accent, and a bold color palette. This team never took the ice.
I don't hate this logo. I don't love it either. the request was to modify the iconic Islanders fisherman logo to fit more with a turn of the century lighthouse keeper (a sentinel). This team is still called the sentinels, but stumbled their way into a new logo (that I unfortunately didn't get to design) that is more synonymous with the name.
Another logo in which I was provided concepts and ideas from Google to cobble together into something magical. The coiled viper anchors the text in this logo, and gives it a dramatic flair. This team still exists and is still using this logo.
Alternate Vipers logo.
Branding: UHL Voyagers
Secondary monogram whale tail logo to go with the primary Norwhich whale logo.
I was requested to take an existing logo and modify it into something new and updated. This take on an orca was one of the other top three favorite designs of the pack.
Not much direction was provided for this, outside of some images cobbled together from Google and that they wanted it to be "rustic modern." This is another team that I don't think ever took the ice.
Avalanche inspired yeti logo. I'm not sure if this team ever took the ice.

IN THE WILD

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Soo Nordiques with their bear head logo jerseys.
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Mallards showcasing their alternate M jerseys.
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Vipers entering the ice with the primary logo on their jerseys and shells.
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Holyoke Papermen jersey.
Sentinels logo in their only season of play using the light house keeper. They were no longer West Michigan, though.
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Buffaloes jersey with full crest logo.
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Jersey and swag for the Killer Bees.
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Boston Gold Kings vs Mallards.

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