Florida Panthers Unveil New Logo And Jersey

The Florida Panthers look to make a fresh start with a new look, but did it go over with the fans?

Its been the talk of Florida Panthers fans since January. We were told that the classic Panthers logo would be changed and the team would go for a new look to start the 2016-2017 season. On June 2nd, we were finally shown what the new team logo and jersey would look like.

The look itself is a bold step away from what many fans across the league felt was a already decent logo and jersey design. Fans across social media have pointed out similarities to a soccer club logo and have not been fans of the proposed change since initial leaks came out at the beginning of the NHL playoffs.

While the negative reaction has seemed to dwindle since the original announcement broke back in January, there are still many people who are in protest of the change.

Florida Panthers

The jerseys inspiration is partly from the 101st airborne, a division of the American Air Forces. The unit was a key part in World War II in the D-Day drop on Normandy, France, liberating the Netherlands from the Nazi regime and most famously, “The Battle of the Bulge” where they defended Bastogne, Belgium from Nazi control.

The 101st Airborne is one of the more decorated division in the United States military. The jersey kept the red and gold of the Florida state flag as well as adding more realistic looking Florida panther, the animal the team is named after.

Members of the Florida Panthers were on hand to model the new apparel for the unveiling including Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, Shawn Thornton , Steven Kampfer as well as alumni players Ed Jovanovski and Olli Jokinen. Ekblad weighed in with his thoughts on the logo to the Miami Herald shortly after the reveal was finished

“I love it. I don’t think our guys would hold back if they didn’t like it, but in all honesty, we like the look. It’s cool to usher in a new era with the team we have, what’s in front of us, with a new look. We’ve been building and it’s an uphill battle.”

While fans seem to stay divided over whether the logo is a hit or miss as far as how it looks, the Panthers are showing that the team is keeping true to its philosophy of a new era, new evolution and new maturity and staying focused on their one primary goal of winning the Stanley Cup.