As the Toronto Maple Leafs and its legion of fans prepare to celebrate the club’s Centennial season, the franchise unveiled a new logo tonight that will serve as the team’s primary mark beginning with the 2016-17 season. The logo, introduced to fans in tonight’s episode of ‘The Leaf: Blueprint’, was inspired by the classic Maple Leaf worn by the team from the 1940’s to the 1960’s, regarded by many as the most iconic and popular logo in team history.
“As an organization, we wanted to get back to our roots, when Conn Smythe first changed the team logo to the Maple Leaf in 1927,” said Brendan Shanahan, Toronto Maple Leafs President and Alternate Governor. “Inspired by the badge that he and his fellow Canadian soldiers wore during World War I, Smythe wanted his team to wear the badge with ‘honour, pride and courage. This is our goal for the next chapter in Leafs history. We are committed to restoring the Toronto Maple Leafs to a proud and prominent place and this classic logo will connect the team’s championship legacy with an exciting and proud future for our players, our city and for our fans.”
Inspired by the classic Leafs logo of the 1940’s to 1960’s, the club’s new mark has a number of design characteristics that distinguish it, including:
- The new Maple Leaf has 31 points, a nod to the year 1931 and a defining moment in team history with the opening of Maple Leaf Gardens. The new logo maintains a strong connection to the classic Leafs logo of the past while offering a fresh take on it for the future.
- The new badge contains a total of 17 veins, representing the year the franchise was founded (1917), and includes 13 veins at the top of the crest to commemorate the club’s Stanley Cup Championships.
- The outline, seen in the most recent version of this Maple Leaf from 1963-67, has been removed to create a cleaner, bolder look.
The Maple Leafs will unveil the team’s new uniforms incorporating the logo at the 2016 NHL Draft to be held June 24-25 in Buffalo, New York.
In keeping with past traditions, the Toronto Marlies will also adopt the Maple Leaf’s new mark which will incorporate the historic Marlies crown into the logo.