Manitoba Moose

13

It's amazing how this logo is thematically so similar to the old one, and yet is so much better.

Both logos can be summed up as "a moose in the foreground with trees in the background, and the color scheme is teal, brown, and black". But notice how much better the current logo is. The old one was only slightly above standard JACKAL¹ fare. The current one, on the other hand, is one of the best logos in minor league hockey today.

First of all, the moose actually looks like a moose. The teeth are a bit much, but that's really the only thing wrong with it. As with the eyes of the jackal² in Elmira's logo, the lack of pupils actually works, and it's hard to imagine how drawing pupils could have worked. (I suppose they could have had that whole area black, but I'm not convinced that would have worked, either.) And the circle with trees in the background adds compositional balance. As for the teal, it doesn't bother me quite as much now that it's not in half the logos being used. It also helps that it's not being combined with magenta. Teal and magenta is one of the ugliest color schemes I've ever seen a team use, and I have no freaking clue why so many teams thought it was a good idea.

However, if you'll look closely at the "M" in "Manitoba", you'll see they're still using the maple leaf³ motif. If you ask me, this is evidence of a certain amount of insecurity. It's as if they feel a need to assert their Canadian identity. Guys, here's a hint: You're a hockey team. You don't need to assert your Canadian identity! It's the American teams who should feel the need to assert their American identity!

Stil., this is a minor blemish (especially since it's so small) on an otherwise strong logo. It would be better without the maple leaf, but it's still great even with it.

Final Score: 13 points.
Penalties: Region (egregious), 5 pts; Alliteration, 2 pts; Name-Logo, 2 pts; State (for maple leaf), 4 pts.
Bonuses: None.

¹ JACKAL, for those who don't remember (I've only used it once or twice before), stands for "Just Another Crappy Kartoony Animal Logo"

² In this case, I'm referring to a drawing of an actual jackal. The jackal is unquestionably not a JACKAL.

³ The maple leaf is also not a JACKAL. No, I didn't really need to say that, but I felt like putting another footnote in here, so here it is.