The Vegas Golden Knights: Logo Breakdown

The NHL has added their 31st team and last night they unveiled their mascot, the Golden Knights. I hope that they do well in Vegas. I am kind of nervous to see what teams I cheer for will have to give up for the expansion draft. At the end of the day, I think you have to be excited for the hockey fans that live in Vegas, and the ones that need an excuse to go to Vegas.

The NHL succeeded in the expansion effort to Vegas where other sports have failed. You talk about the NFL and their plans to go to Vegas but nothing has really materialized. The NFL has talked about the Raiders moving there but it seems like the Raiders just moved back to Oakland.

UCF's new logo

The Golden Knights will give Vegas back the hockey that it lost at the end of the Wranglers existence. The Wranglers were an ECHL team, that played in the Orleans Arena. Started in 2003, the Wranglers played until 2014. Outside of UNLV's club hockey team, it's safe to say that hockey is back in Vegas.

Let's dive into some analysis of the logo and the mascot name. When you think of the name Golden Knights, there's really not that many that come to mind, which is a good thing. The University of Central Florida is the Golden Knights, and they have a similar color scheme to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Florida Panthers

Another college that uses the Golden Knights as a mascot is Clarkson University. To my knowledge, best know for hockey, Clarkson uses more of a green and yellow color scheme. So, a little different than the black and gold but the same mascot name.

The shield behind the helmet is like the Florida Panthers logo, which the Panther head is placed in front of a shield. It's a nice look, makes people think of soccer logos but I like it. Maybe this a trend, is the NHL trying to move to logos in front of shields? The Florida Panthers debuted their new logo at the start of last season.

The helmet itself is similar to the one worn by the Senator in the Ottawa logo. Its a very similar style in helmet. Looking something straight out of a Roman legion. Maybe a little inspiration or influence came from that historical period.

Ottawa Senators

Overall, I like logo, it's definitely "Bold in Gold." Very professional looking, it will be interesting to see how it looks on the jerseys.

The secondary logo is a star in front of crossing swords. This would work well as a shoulder patch. I am not sure that you could use it for an alternate jersey.

Like I said, the Golden Knights puts the NHL at 31 teams, you have to think that they would not want to keep an odd number of teams. The question is, who's next?

Golden Knights Secondary Logo

More information on the Golden Knights:

Vegas Golden Knights' Website

The Columbus Blue Jackets Hot Start

The Columbus Blue Jackets, who are notorious for bad starts are off to the hottest start in franchise history. The team is currently riding a four game win streak, and an eight game home win streak. Leaving many people in the NHL saying, "Who would have thought?"

The season started a little bit rough, they had a good thing opening night against Boston. They were up 3-1 in the second period, and the Nationwide faithful were ready to start the season right. The Bruins exploded for five straight goals and won 6-3.

Two nights later, it was more of the same, the Blue Jackets found themselves down 2-0 until Zach Werenski scored a power play goal in the 3rd period. The Sharks quickly answered and it was 3-1. A late goal from another Lake Erie Monster, Josh Anderson, made it 3-2. Another game, another loss at home and it looked like it was going to be another long October.

The Blue Jackets had almost a week off before they played the Chicago Blackhawks. Something, clicked for the Blue Jackets during that time. Werenski opened the scoring for the Jackets. The Blackhawks answered for a tie in the second period, but the Blue Jackets had other ideas. The Jackets two goals in the second period would be enough, as the Blackhawks could only muster one goal in the third. The first win for the Blue Jackets on the season, and they started home streakin'!

Blackhawks vs. Blue Jackets

The Western Conference road trip we all feared, started with a bang. The Blue Jackets easily handled the Dallas Stars, 3-0. It was the first shutout for the Blue Jackets on the season.

A small hiccup in the trip was an OT loss to the LA Kings and another loss to the San Jose Sharks. It's a good thing the Blue Jackets do not have to play the Sharks anymore this year.

Things got back on track with a 4-0 win against the Not So Mighty Ducks! ;) It was the second shutout of the trip. The Blue Jackets finished the road trip with 5 points in 4 games, which in my opinion was better than expected. Especially, the way that the team rebounded in the final game against the Ducks.

Enter November, the Blue Jackets welcomed the Dallas Stars to Nationwide Arena. It was the first home game since the win against the Blackhawks. It look a late power play goal from Sam Gagner to force OT with the game knotted at 2. Seth Jones had the game winner in OT.

Hey Habs, scoreboard!

Next, came the Canadiens to Nationwide Arena. The Canadiens up to that point had not lost a game in regulation thru ten games. The Blue Jackets took no mercy that the Canadiens started the back up goal, as they pounded the Habs 10-0. The league took notice as one of the best teams had no answers for the Blue Jackets offense.

The next day was a quick trip for the Blue Jackets to St. Louis. The Blue Jackets lost in OT, not much to talk about when your team loses to the Blues. Facepalm.

The Blue Jackets returned home with a OT winner against the Ducks by the score of 3-2. The Blue Jackets finish the season with two wins against the Ducks, not too shabby.

Another home/away back to back found the Blue Jackets in Boston. The Bruins had the Blue Jackets number again. The Bruins had a huge first period and the Jackets just never got back into the game. The final score was 5-2. The Blue Jackets have one win and two losses in home/away back to back so far this season.

The bounce back came against the Blues, and it was beautiful. It was almost like the game against the Canadiens, the Blue Jackets could not miss the goal. The Jackets got the win 8-4, and a bit of sweet revenge against the Blues after the OT loss a week before.

A hug after a win is nice!

The Blue Jackets finished out the home stand with an OT win over the Capitals and a 4-2 win over the Rangers. The win against the Rangers was the 8th win in a row at Nationwide.

To bring you fully up to date, yesterday, the Blue Jackets beat the Capitals 3-2 in Washington, D.C. It was another one of those games where the Blue Jackets found themselves down early but did not give up. Two goals in the third period completed the rally for the win. It was the Blue Jackets second win against the Capitals in six days.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. The Blue Jackets are bouncing back when they are down. They used to fold and just take the "L" that is not happening. Whether it be during a game or during a road trip, this team is showing resolve early in the season. It is very refreshing to see.
2. The Rookies are showing up. Lake Erie Monsters like, Anderson, Sedlak and Werenski are having great starts to the season. They are out playing some of the regulars and it is challenging the team to play better. They know how to win, they won the Calder Cup last year.
3. Bob, the goalie, is giving the team a chance to win every night. The reason they are able to come back in many of these games is because they are only down a goal or two. Bob is playing great between the pipes and it is giving the team confidence they need to win

Loss to the Blue Jackets Sparks Blackhawks' 8 Game Point Streak

Since losing to the Blue Jackets three weeks ago the Chicago Blackhawks have been getting much better results, and winning more games after a rough start to the season.

The worst part of the start for the Blackhawks had been the power play. They were giving up a power play goal 50% of the time. The normal percentage of penalty kill is usually in the high 80s or low 90s, to give you an idea of how bad the Blackhawks' penalty kill had been.

Since the loss, the Blackhawks have won seven of eight games. The only loss came in a shoot out against Calgary. They are currently riding a six game win streak.

The Blackhawks' point streak started with a comeback win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The game ended in a shootout win for the Blackhawks.

Following the loss to Calgary, the Blackhawks came back with other OT win, this time against the New Jersey Devils. It was another comeback win. Hossa's goal at the 17:49 mark in the third period tied the game. Anisimov scored the game winner in OT.

The Blackhawks came back to the United Center to face off with the Kings. It was the Blackhawks best effort of the season to that point. They won the game 3-0 and it was Crawford's first shutout on the season.

Next, the Blackhawks welcome the Flames to the United Center. They got a bit of revenge on the Flames with a dominating 5-1 win.

The Blackhawks closed out the home stand with another dominating effort against the Avalanche. The final was 4-0 and it was Crawford's second shutout in the last three games.

The Blackhawks flew to Dallas for the start of a home and home with the Stars. The Hawks were down 2-1 after the first; goals from Hartman and Kane in the second period sealed the victory.

Darling kick save

The second game against the Stars started in a similar way. After one period, they were down 1-0. Kane's goal in the second period made it 2-1 Stars.

The Blackhawks got the first two goals of the third period. The Stars were able to tie the game late in the third period. Luckily for the Blackhawks, Darling made a huge kick save in OT. Hossa scored the game winner with 28.7 second left in the OT for the Blackhawks' sixth straight win.


Center of Attention

During the current win streak, the Blackhawks have aided greatly by the play of former Blue Jacket, Artem Anisimov.

Currently, Anisimov leads the NHL in points (17) and goals (8). It helps playing with Kane and Panarin but you still got to put the puck in the net. Anisimov is making the most of his opportunity to play with two of the best players in the NHL.

2010 Stanley Cup Champions

We've Been Here Before

Towards the end of the 2009-2010, the Blue Jackets beat the Blackhawks in two straight games 8-3 and 4-2. Over the next seven games after the two losses, the Blackhawks won 6 of 7 games. That run also included a six game win streak. That season ended in the first Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks in 49 years.