With all the World Cup of Hockey news coming down the pipe today, the logos and jerseys of all eight teams in the tournament are probably the biggest prize of the day. How will the league design logos for two new teams? What modern spins will there be on the classics? Will Adidas ruin the sanctity of the hockey jersey?
That last question will have to wait until around 4 p.m. ET when Sportsnet reveals the jerseys live in an exclusive -- or you can take a look at some of the leaked jerseys that were floating around on Twitter earlier today.
However, Sportsnet did give us a teaser of all eight logos for the tournament, styled nicely on a hockey puck.
Sneak peek at the World Cup of Hockey team logos. Watch Sportsnet at 4pmET for the unveiling of the #WCH2016 jerseys pic.twitter.com/kximzrIUm8
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2016
The logos of a few of them are probably familiar. The Russian coat of arms with the double-headed eagle, the triple crowns of Sweden, the crowned lion of the Czech Republic and the lesser known Finnish coat of arms with a crowned lion and swords.
Team USA and Canada's typical shield and leaf do get a bit of a makeover here. The U.S. logo in particular has a similar look to the newly announced USA Soccer shield, while Team Canada gets a sharper and thinner maple leaf than years past.
Just me, or does the USA Hockey World Cup logo feel *a lot* like the new US Soccer crest? pic.twitter.com/2QS8fPCILh
— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) March 2, 2016
The biggest reveals are the Pan-European team and the North Americans -- or the under-23 team. The European team is a bit harder to define, looking half like a hockey stick and half like the black and white stripes of an Adidas logo. There's probably a letter "E" in there somewhere for "Europe" too, for all we know.
The strange double triangle is the symbol for the North American team and bucks almost every trend of the classic logos hockey fans are accustomed to. From the strange interlocking letters and the unusual overall shape, it stands out among the logos that have adorned hockey sweaters for years. Quite right for a team with a lot to prove against the rest of the world.
Sadly, the logo inside the center of the puck almost certainly means the return of the World Cup of Hockey trophy from 2004, which looked more like a modern flower vase than sports trophy. Oh well, they can't all be winners.