With the entire NHL getting rid of the traditional sweaters that teams employ for the 2007-08, some teams have taken the liberty to update or upgrade (or downgrade pending on opinions) there team logos and uniforms. While the Boston Bruins just basically made things the same, the Columbus Blue Jackets totally red-did their logo, as did the Washington Capitals.

Which leads to the Lightning. There had been a recent report in the St. Pete Times that the team would be "modernizing" their logo for 2007-08... Updating the bolt and "changing fonts" ont he uniform.

Yesterday, a graphic started making the rounds among Lightning fans with a new logo design...

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/pics/JR/TBMSH_2.jpg

THough you may be left skeptical by this, the Buffalo Sabres new logo was "leaked" on a graphic just like this sometime before last season and the unveiling of that logo. So the chances for authenticity are much higher than you'd think.

The font kind of looks like the Rays font sort of. I really liked the old logo, but at least this isn't completely different, so I don't hate it.

how about instead of Florida, a Tampa skyline with the lighting bolt over it

^^ this isn't NY though, it's not like the Skyline stands out and is part of the area.

Also, the concept of the TAMPA BAY names mean the region -- not one city or another.

The biggest qualm I am seeing on other message boards is the inclusion of the text in the logo. Not a "don't wanna be called Tampa Bay" name thing but just "good god, it'd look better without words period!"

^^ this isn't NY though, it's not like the Skyline stands out and is part of the area.

Also, the concept of the TAMPA BAY names mean the region -- not one city or another.

The biggest qualm I am seeing on other message boards is the inclusion of the text in the logo. Not a "don't wanna be called Tampa Bay" name thing but just "good god, it'd look better without words period!"

Well, Tampa is the largest city so they should all bow down to us anyways.
How about this
St. Pete's Skyline on one side then in the middle the sunshine skyway bridge with a lightning bolt and then Tampa's Skyline.
That owuld be cool.

That'd be good for a chamber of commerce logo but not a sports logo...

Hey at least it's not bad as London's stab at an Olympics logo :)

Terrible font. :(

Hey at least it's not bad as London's stab at an Olympics logo :)

You had to head that one off at the pass, didn't you Jonknee? ;)

Vid's noted the one item that has routinely gotten ill mention - the font and the wording in the logo.

Why mess with the current logo? My guess would be to sell more gear.

^^ right. That and this is the 15th season of play. Besides patches and the font on the back of the jersey (letters and numbering) the Lightning have never changed anything on their uniform.

With RBK Edge, a lot of teams are taking the opportunity make uniform changes... The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Washington Capitals are the most notable.

what a terrible logo scheme. whoever designed this should consider a different career path. it lacks creativity and originality. there's so much more they could have done with the logo. the font is awful too. it looks like some doodling that a 12 year old would do on a notepad. it just amazes me that people get paid big bucks to do such shoddy work.

And it remains ironic when people compare this to a "doodle"

The Lightning's logo was originally conceived by Phil Esposito on a cocktail napkin.... A doodle if there ever was one.

Yet 14 seasons of play it's been the face of the Tampa Bay professional hockey franchise....

It's official (http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336301).

http://cdn.nhl.com/lightning/images/upload/2007/08/Splash_Image2.jpg

^I like the old better.

That's cool. I actually like the new design.