A Lot More Venom

If you didn't know the Columbus Cottonmouths before today, you certainly will after today as they unveiled a brand-new logo for their 21st professional hockey season. You may recognize the name from the news as the Cottonmouths are the SPHL team that employs Shannon Szabados as their starting netminder, but they have had a number of excellent stories outside of Shannon's story - Andrew Loewen and his dancing, head coach/GM and former tough guy Jerome Bechard, and the new logo above. While the old logo for the Cottonmouths bared fangs, this new logo is fierce and out for blood - like real cottonmouth snakes!

According to reports, the jerseys will remain the same in their classic blue, yellow, and red color scheme, but the logo on the chests of the Cottonmouths players will reflect the new direction of the logo as per coach Bechard.

"I think this logo promotes what we are. It's a little fierce," Bechard told Paul Stockton of WMC Actiion News 5. "I think it was important to come out with something... a different look, with the same concept of what we stand for."

The unveiling happened this morning at 11am ET in Columbus, and it appears the press were anxious to drop all sorts of serpent puns as the following video shows.

Dayne Young decided to use the "shed their skin" analogy, but there is a good image at the end showing the old and new logos. I have posted it below this paragraph, and I really like the new logo when comparing it to the old one. Sure, it's a little cartoon-ish in its angry face, but the lines are cleaner and the design is simpler, and there's a special saying about keeping things simple. Needless to say, this new logo works well.

So what prompted the change?

"We heard from some people that we weren't consistent with our brand," marketing director Abbie Meadows told Dana Barker of the Ledger-Enquirer. "That's what I tried to do last season with our 20th-season logo, but to create consistency for the next 20 years, I wanted to start fresh with something totally new."

Meadows and president of business operations Ashley Foster spearheaded the rebranding project as the Cottonmouths embark on their 21st season in Columbus. The green that was seen on some of the jerseys in the last few seasons is gone completely as the team returns to its three-color palette in 2016-17.

"We had to convince (owner) Wanda (Amos)," Foster joked. "She likes the old snake head, but she trusted us with it, and it turned out really well."

The Cottonmouths begin their 21st season of pro hockey on the road Friday, October 21 at Macon, Georgia against the Mayhem. Their home opener is the next night at 7:30pm at the Columbus Civic Center as the second-half of the home-and-home season-opening series with the Mayhem. The team hopes to have a ton of merchandise on hand with the new logo at that time. There are a limited number of t-shirts available now, but I assume most of those will be gone by the time this is published.

What do you think of the new Cottonmouths logo? I'm giving it a thumbs-up, and let's hope that the Cottonmouths can return to the playoffs after missing them for the first time in their 12-year SPHL history. If they're looking for a fresh start, today's new logo was a good way to get that started!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!