Birth Of The Swirl

The logo to the left, that of the Carolina Hurricanes, isn't much to write home about when it comes to design elements. The eye of the hurricane depicted by the logo is supposed to represent a puck while the red and black swirls around the outside are the colours found on the hurricane flags that fly when stormy weather is on the radar. Again, it's not overly creative or significant in its design in any way, and it certainly leaves a lot to be desired when one considers that former owner Peter Karmanos was able to use the Hartford Whalers logo as the owner of the franchise.

Back on June 16, 1997, the relocated Hartford Whalers were already operating as the Carolina Hurricanes after Karmanos renamed the team on his own. There were no contests or consultations with marketing experts; rather, it was Karmanos' knowledge of the devastating hurricanes that affected North Carolina that backed his naming decision. While there was some talk of possibly naming the team the "Ice Hogs" or "Ice Pigs" based on North Carolina's hog farming industry, that name was reflected in the team's mascot, Stormy. Needless to say, the creativity possessed by Karmanos in coming up with thoughtful and fun teams names was less than zero.

With several teams already using "Hurricanes" as a team name, including the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes, it's hard to imagine that Karmanos was going to come up with something earth-shattering in its design. With Glen Wesley and Kevin Dineen on-hand for the unveiling, here's what that logo unveiling event looked like in 1997.
Kudos to the Hurricanes for dressing the kids getting high-fives in non-Carolina jerseys. Nothing says "check out our snazzy new logo" more than having every other logo in the league on display. At least Karmanos had Wesley and Dineen in Hurricanes golf shirts for the event if he couldn't get two of his key players into Hurricanes jerseys in time for the unveiling.

In the 25 years since the unveiling, the Hurricanes have represented the state well, winning one Stanley Cup, playing in two Stanley Cup Finals, and winning their conference five times including over the past two seasons. The growth of hockey in the area thanks to the Hurricanes being present has been very noticeable, and the elevation and addition of other teams such as the Charlotte Checkers and the Fayettesville Marksmen have led to more minor hockey programs being started. I can't fault the Hurricanes for helping to expand the game in a region where it was never on the radar, so they have done some good in their time in North Carolina.

I still long for the Whalers to return full-time, but seeing Carolina wearing that logo as their "reverse retro" jersey is just wrong. A handful of the players who wore that jersey in past seasons weren't even born when the Whalers still played in Hartford, so that's somewhat bothersome to an old man like me too. What can't be denied, though, is that the Whalers logo is infinitely better than the Hurricanes logo in every respect and manner, so there's still work to do in Carolina.

If there's ever a time for the swirl to be fixed or improved, the 25th anniversary of its unveiling seems appropriate!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!