NHL Playoffs 2013 Predictions (Stanley Cup Finals) HbD-Style

Nailed the last round! Going 2-for-2 in the third round gives good branding a 9-for-14 record overall. Even called Chicago in 5 games perfectly. After last year’s 5-for-15 debacle, I’m feeling pretty good about this. And now we have an epic branding showdown in the Cup Finals: two Original 6 teams with a long history of excellent design and strong branding.

For those just joining, I’m taking a look at the playoff matchups from a branding/design perspective. We’ll compare the overall branding of each series and see how they match-up. This includes the logos, alternate logos, jerseys, historical logos and jerseys, and everything else that builds a team’s brand.

CUP FINALS

(1) Chicago Blackhawks v (4) Boston Bruins

As I mentioned previously about the Blackhawks, their logo ranks at #7 in the BTLNHL Countdown, which is very decent, but they also have one of the absolute best jerseys in the league, both home and away. They have history (as the logo hasn’t changed at all since 1964, and the same concept since their inception in 1926), the Madhouse on Madison, a passionate fanbase, overall high-quality design and a good Winter Classic jersey addition. Overall, from a branding perspective, they’re a beast. Overall, there really has been a lot of mis-steps for this team from a branding perspective.

As for the Bruins, they have everything the Blackhawks have, and their logo was ranked as the 2nd-best logo in the BTLNHL Coundown. It’s iconic, it’s got history and they have lived up to their brand of being the Big, Bad Bruins almost every season. They know their team, they like their style of play, and everything meshes together beautifully. When teams play the yellow and black, they know what they’re in for. They have their brand and identity stamped on everything. Their big misstep is their alternative logos and jerseys over the last 40 years. From the bizarro leopard-bear of the ’70s, the smiling Smokey Bear in the ’90s and ’00s, the overly complex and oddly shaped alternative logo of today, and the “meh”-inducing logo for their Winter Classic jerseys, they’ve kind of stunk up the joint. And the alternative jersey with Smokey on it? Awful.

So which brand comes out on top? The one with the better logo, but with some pretty misguided design decisions in the last couple decades, or the one with one of the best jerseys in the league but the logo that’s not quite as good? This is one of the best match-ups of the playoffs, but in the end, consistent quality wins out.

Chicago in 7.