Photo courtesy of Annika Norman

White Bear Lake was chosen as having among the best uniform designs in the state.

Who's Got The Look?

Janjet's Best and Unbest Logos and Uniforms

Time to go Uniform Nerd and identify the very best girls hockey uniform and logo designs in the state – and call out some teams who might be in line for a rebrand.

With the help of local graphic designer Meg Jenson, we’ve come up with our favorite uniforms and logos in Minnesota, and utilized Meg’s expertise on some potential redesigns; from minor tweaks to total make-overs.

A caveat: This is intended as pure fun, not to razz certain teams nor glorify others. Budgets are tight and not every organization can pony up for new uniforms every few years. This is strictly a friendly design critique on what we are seeing out on the ice.

Let us know your preferences; which teams do you think have the best looks going?

Send us your favorites to: janjet3000@gmail.com

In alphabetical order, Here’s how we see it:

The Best

Armstrong/Cooper Wings

Armstrong/Cooper Wings 

A sea

mless merging of the two Robbinsdale schools. The diagonal A C works perfectly in front of the Red Wings-style logo. Crisp, clean design and color scheme. The red script “Wings” road jerseys are also quite striking.

Blaine Bengals

Blaine Bengals  Photo courtesy of Hailey Hansen

The B

engals’ two-tone blue jerseys are pretty much perfect. The white piping that separates the light and dark blues makes everything synchronous. Incorporation of the Boston Bruins front logo works well and the Bengal paw prints on the shoulders nicely tie everything together.

Breck Mustangs

The M

ustang logo is a stylish 3D version of the Denver Broncos’ logo. The team’s jerseys are set off with a pleasing white/navy blue/gold color triad. The dark road uniforms are an effective merging of classic retro and clean modern.

Breck Mustangs 

East Grand Forks Green Wave

There

’s some pretty intense green comin’ atcha on these jerseys, but the Green Wave goes all in and owns it, creating a fun, uninhibited design. Just the right amount of red accent piping on their new threads. The EGF logo in the Boston Bruins-style oval works well, too.

East Grand Forks Green Wave 

Eden Prairie Eagles

Red uniforms can get obnoxious in a hurry, but EP does it right with a judicious mix of deep red, white and black. The EP logo is particularly well done, with clean lettering and a confident, fierce eagle.

Lakeville South Cougars

Sport

y, modern look, with side profile Cougar nicely framed in a rounded rectangle. Main image pops, with an aggressive lunging Cougar. Crimson and gold trim colors are outstanding.

Lakeville South Cougars  Jim and Ruth Lindquist Photography

Minneapolis

We ab

solutely love the old throwback M logo and black/silver/white colors. The Minneapolis home whites are really excellent uniforms. Now, how about a nickname.

Vintage Minneapolis 

Minnetonka Skippers

Minnetonka Skippers  Photo by Leslie Johnson

Sharp

two-color design, utilizing the familiar ‘M’ logo. Ship’s anchor on the shoulders is a nice detail. Simple is often better and there’s no need to mess with what works. Tonka’s threads are ship-shape.

Rochester Century Panthers

Rochester Century Panthers 

This is what the front of a hockey jersey should look like. Panther on shield is visually catchy and fun, yet clean and well defined. The dark blue/gray/white color scheme is stylish and modern. High five for the panther paws on the shoulders.

Waconia Wildcats

Cats get a redesign and it hits the mark, with a great new logo and color scheme. Posh new locker rooms, too!

Waseca Bluejays

That Bluejay logo is marvelous and we don’t care what anyone else thinks. Get that on the front of a Waseca jersey immediately!

White Bear Lake Bears

The b

ear paw logo is a classic, put inside the oval crest. The thin striping on the sleeves and waist looks smart, with a touch of old school. The Bears will look great hosting HDM 23!

White Bear Lake Bears  Photo courtesy of Zoe Timmons

Also nice:

Alexandria Cardinals

Champlin Park/Coon Rapids Rebels

Edina Hornets

Maple Grove Crimson

Orono Spartans

Prior Lake Lakers

Roseau Rams

Willmar Cardinals

Time for an Update

We called on local graphic designer and sports jersey enthusiast Meg Jenson to spruce up a few uniform logos that might be overdue for an update.

Cloquet Lumberjacks

The purple

, gold and white color scheme is pure Minnesota, but the scruffy woodsman logo has got to go. Keep the colors, lose the facial hair. The lovable Cloquet slacker dude is a bit of a classic in Minnesota hockey but the girls team could use a fresh new look all their own.

  Meg J. Creative

Crookston Pirates

The g

rumpy Crookston Pirate looks straight out of a bad 80s Halloween party – and his ride left without him. Who says there aren’t female pirates in northwest Minnesota kicking butt and winning games? Meg’s gold hoop earring in the shape of a C is a masterful touch.

  Meg J. Creative

Gentry Academy Stars

Gentr

y’s jerseys look like the logo for a corporate surveillance and security company specializing in anti-theft, multi-platform computer network firewall maintenance solutions. And that’s all I have to say about that.

  Meg J. Creative

Meg comes to the rescue with a superhero-like shield, great new colors and a strong emphasis on the nickname with multiple patterns of stars.

Detroit Lakes Lakers

The r

edundant nickname aside, the sailboat is a potentially cool logo, but this boat looks like it’s taking on water: SOS! Meg cleans things up with a seaworthy craft that looks like it will make it back to the marina safely.

  Meg J. Creative

Dodge County Wildcats

The W

ildcats need to retire their rabid blue nightmare cat. Borrowed from the old Florida Panthers sweaters, this logo screams 1996. Meg has freshened up the cat so it looks like it wants to beat you, not eat you. The new DC road jerseys with the interlocking letters are a huge improvement.

  Meg J. Creative

East Ridge Raptors

Great n

ickname, good colors. But the current Raptor comes off as dazed and confused, possibly irritable. It also tries way too hard to turn the wing into the letter E and it ends up being neither. Their new Vegas Knights-styled front crest is hard to read and unnecessarily busy. The minimalist all black secret service unis with gold lettering are dour and artless.

  Meg J. Creative

Meg scores with a big, beautiful Raptor whose extended wing creates a seamless gold R.

Fergus Falls Otters

Anoth

er great nickname. Nice brown/gold color scheme, but that Otter has moved on from Squirt hockey and is now in high school vying for state tournaments. Meg’s updates give the Otter a more mature look and a much stronger visual. Gloves, stick and facial details all pop now!

  Meg J. Creative

Hastings Raiders

Anoth

er pre-Title IX dude whose time has come and gone. Time for this Raider to hit the 80s after-party with the Crookston Pirate! Meg creates a striking HR shield with interlocking letters for a logo that will stand the test of time.

  Meg J. Creative

Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato Dragons

Props

. .to the adorable fifth grader who won the LDC logo contest 30 years ago, but it’s time to step away from the eroding L being eaten by a white dragon. Meg’s dragon looks strong, lethal and formidable, with a nice distribution of green and black colors.

  Meg J. Creative

Thief River Falls Prowlers

The f

rightened black and white kitty is replaced with Meg’s strong, confident Prowler and TRF’s blue/gold/white colors come to the forefront. A monumental upgrade that would look great on a jersey front.

  Meg J. Creative

Northern Lakes Lightning

A lot of hockey teams are called the Lightning, which is mostly unfortunate,

especially since the logo is always basically the same. Here, Meg has cleaned things up and simplified the design, eliminating all the lettering and replacing it with a lightning bolt bisecting an N L.

  Meg J. Creative

Stillwater Ponies

A red

pony with a bad perm can and should be improved upon. Meg opts for a modern update, keeping the basic design and freshening up the image of a pony within the S.

  Meg J. Creative

Let us know your preferences; which teams do you think have the best looks going? Send us your favorite girls hockey uniform designs to: janjet3000@gmail.com

Want to connect with Meg? Contact Meg J. Creative about a uniform redesign or any other graphic design needs.

Meg Jenson (Meg J. Creative) is a triple threat graphic designer, illustrator and multimedia artist with a passion for image-making. She loves bringing projects and brands to life using her bold style, distinct voice and insatiable passion for creating. She can be reached at megjcreative@gmail.com