I have never been to Coralville, Iowa. I do know that the city sits about 90 minutes east of Des Moines, and I also know they have a new ECHL team that is affiliated with both the NHL's Minnesota Wild and the AHL's Iowa Wild. If you're a regular reader of this blog, I strongly believe that minor-league teams should have their own identities in order to build their own fanbases, and the Iowa Heartlanders have managed to secure their own unique name and logo outside of the Wild's grasp thus far. Today, they unveiled their uniforms, so I held my breath when it came to seeing their deer logo plastered on Minnesota Wild-esque jerseys because that would be disappointing.
Except I'm not disappointed because these jerseys are solid! I wasn't sure how the gray and black would be used based on the Heartlanders' logo, but they used the contrasts nicely and added those yellow highlights in on the dark jersey to really make the yellow pop. While I do lament the fact that there's no gray shoulder yoke on the dark jersey mirror the white jersey's design, it works. The white jersey, on the other hand, is my favorite of the two, and it's a classy, simple jersey with all the necessary elements to make it a hockey jersey. Classy is the style this season in Coralville, apparently!
It should be noted that the Heartlanders will be unveiling an alternate jersey at some point, so keep your eyes peeled on their site for those details. Based on the Pantone colours for the team, might we see a "coral" jersey based on their official colours?
I wouldn't complain if they did a coral jersey with the deer on the front. That would be highly unique, and certainly would be noticeable as an alternate jersey. Time will tell if this happens, so keep your eyes peeled for that Iowa Heartlanders alternate jersey!
The font for the Heartlanders for the names appears to be standard block except for one tiny detail: the cross marks on the T, in the middle of the E, the lower horizontal on the L, and the ends of the S are all angled. I have no idea what this font is called, but it makes the font unique on the Heartlanders' jerseys as it's a specific font and not "standard block" lettering. The numbering follows the same font typeface. Overall, it's fairly easy to read and see at a distance, so this font works for me. No complaints here.
This image to the right is the yin and the yang of hockey jerseys in the modern era. The prairie rose shoulder patch represents the state flower for Iowa, and it looks pretty solid on the shoulder as the colour really pops nicely on the black background. However, the giant AK logo of the jersey manufacturer appearing on the neckline both at the back and the front is so unnecessary and gaudy that it really pulls the eye from some of the other elements. It's time that hockey starts demanding manufacturers' logos appear on the hem of the jersey again. I'm done with Adidas' and Athletic Knit's and CCM's and anyone else's logos occupying places of prominence on professional hockey jerseys.
Overall, though, the Iowa Heartlanders really lit the lamp with these jerseys. The colour scheme works nicely as the logo pops on the chest of both uniforms, the font is easily readable and can be seen from a distance without trouble, and the secondary features aren't overbearing or unneeded outside of the manufacturers' logos which the team can't control. Consider me a fan of what the Heartlanders have done here, and I look forward to seeing these jerseys in ECHL games this season!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
Like the deer logo and the shoulder patches even more. Was hoping for colours than other than the two tone grey for the deer. Brown would have been nice (a very little used colour for hockey jerseys). Even using coral as a secondary or tertiary colour would have liven the jerseys up.
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