After much waiting and a lot of debunked “leaks”, the Fort Knox that is True North Sports and Entertainment was finally cracked today. From it was recovered this leak.

Whoever found this was right on the money, because shortly after the news broke, TNSE announced a press conference to reveal the rest of the logo package.

The GOOD-

-The colours

The colours pay tribute to the original Jets, but are updated nicely. The shades of red, navy and silver work together nicely.

-The alternate logo

It looks like something that you would see on the shoulder of an airman’s flight suit, but with a distinct hockey touch.

The BAD-

The primary logo and wordmark

In the words of Mark Chipman, Governor and Founder of TNSE, “The logo started with the roundel, the circle and the maple leaf, and we went from there…”

Exactly where did you go from there? They added a jet. Wait, these are the Jets, so it would make sense that their logo would have a Jet!

The wordmark is caught in an identity crisis. Part of it wants to be a nice, flowing script, while the other part wants to be an edgy, modern script. Put those together and it’s a mixed up mess. It’s especially awkward at the point where the T meets the S.

The UGLY-

-The seeming lack of effort

The tribute to the Air Force is nice and all, but at least try to be original! They simply took the Canadian Air Force roundel and slapped a clip art jet over it.

-The overuse of maple leaves

One maple leaf is okay, but to have it in both your logos and your wordmark? Not to mention that there is already a team named the “Maple Leafs” in the league. To me, this is similar to a team like the New York Rangers putting stars in all their logos. It’s overkill.

-The use of a roundel

In today’s NHL, if you want something to feel “retro”, put the logo in a roundel. I can understand the history and symbolism from the Air Force, but there are enough teams trying to “play Original 6″ (I’m looking at you, Tampa Bay Lightning)

All in all, it could be worse, but I will always look at the Manitoba Moose logo and wonder what could have been.

I’m BigMan, and that’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.