Hockey

One consistent logo.

When Hockey Canada merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994, they wanted to create one logo that all Canadian hockey teams - men, women, junior and Paralympic - could play for.

"As with any brand, it needed to be simple, direct and allow us to take that trademark over multifaceted materials," recalled Dale Ptycia, Hockey Canada senior manager of licensing and merchandising.

From late 1993 to early 1994, Hockey Canada created and approved a new logo, created by Paul Edwards, an Ottawa-based designer. It would serve as the logo for all its teams and on all corporate business cards, letterheads and merchandise.

They called it the "Team Canada contemporary logo," and the silhouette of a hockey player skating on a red and black maple leaf would be seen on Canada's jerseys for the next 15 years.

It means more than you might think.

The silhouette was designed as a genderless athlete to show that any man, woman or person with disability could play hockey. The red and black were chosen to illustrate hockey taking place in all seasons.

"It was really designed to incorporate the basic elements of Canada," Ptycia said.

Before the 1964 Olympics, the Canadian Olympic team's jersey design depended on which team represented the country on the world stage.

Great teams of yore like the Winnipeg Falcons, the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen and the Trail Smoke Eaters often wore a simple sweater with a Maple Leaf stitched on the crest.

They were the country's best amateur teams then, often a collection of blue-collar workers who would represent Canada after winning the Allan Cup. But with the rise of Soviet hockey system during the 1950s and early 60s, Canada created an official national program in time for the 1964 Innsbruck Games and began to work toward a standard uniform.

For the 1972 Summit Series, John Lloyd - an advertising art director who went on to direct music videos - designed the revered red-on-white maple leaf logo. The Canada Cup teams of the 1970s and 80s wore a similar jersey, halving the maple leaf and adding the words "Canada."

In 1990, Canada's first world championship women's team wore pink sweaters with white gloves, a look repeated for one game at the 2007 worlds for a breast cancer fundraiser.

"We embraced the concept of the power of pink," Ptycia said.

There have been similar throw-back looks: at the 2004 World Cup, Canada wore the Winnipeg Falcons jersey of the 20s; and at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics, Canada honoured the early Canadian teams with a stylized logo and third jersey of a Maple Leaf.

"There's plethora of logos that Hockey Canada owns," Ptycia said. "We probably have a stable of about 55 ... that we protect and act as the custodian and guardians, from the 20s, the World Championships and other events Hockey Canada participated in."