My Problem with the Leafs' 1967 Logo(s)

Up until I started HJC, I had no idea! I had no idea that the team and their merchandisers were (knowingly or unknowingly) carelessly placing a logo, that never was actually used on a Leafs jersey, on official team items.

Here's what I am talking about...

Above is the logo that is commonly referred to as the Leafs 1967 logo, however it is not. I have seen the team use this logo on their scoreboard, in their game programs, and it has been painted outside on the arena sidewalks on several occasions. I have also seen the same logo, and continue to see it, on hats, t-shirts, golf balls and more! What's the problem? Here's the problem...

Above is the actual 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs logo! Proof is below in the form of a 1967-68 team photo.

Here is a side by side comparison of the two logos. The correct version appears on the left.

I went to shop.Canada.NHL.com and counted at least 6 pieces of merch that were using the incorrect logo. Here is just a small sample of those items.

While I was there, I also counted the pieces that were using the correct logo. TWO! Two items use the proper logo and it only showed up on the merch this season, after the 3rd jersey was released!

Thankfully, they got the logo correct on the new 3rd jersey!

It doesn't stop there though. There are two other incorrect versions of this logo being used on other merch. Jerseys to be more specific.

Above is the "CCM Vintage" version of the Leafs' 1967 jersey. As you can see, the actual logo has not been used and neither has the commonly used "imposter" logo. It looks like CCM or the Leafs have created their own and entirely new version the the logo.

If you thought that was bad, at the beginning of this season (2011-12) Roger Edwards by Reebok came out with a "Heritage" version of the Leafs' 67 sweater.

Again, you can see that an entirely new version of the logo has been created for use on the jersey!



I haven't done a thorough inspection of every NHL team's logos, but last year I did notice another "incident".

The Pittsburgh Penguins told us all that for the primary logo on their 2011 Winter Classic sweaters (now the 3rd jersey) they would be bringing back the 1967-68 "Penguin scarf logo". Instantly I knew that was not quite the case...

As you can see, the points of the triangle on the '67 logo do not touch the inside of the circle. That's not the case for the Winter Classic version. This likely was done on purpose though and is not a glaring oversight, such as the Leafs' 67 logo. When I see a Pens WC jersey, the first thing I look at (when attempting to detect a fake) is the logo and if the points of the triangle touch the circle.

Perhaps this is making a mountain out of an ant hill to some people, but as a jersey/logo geek this is a big deal to me. As a jersey collector this is an even bigger deal to me. I had the "CCM Vintage" version of the '67 sweater for 2 years before I started to look at it more carefully and realize it was a different logo.

Got any logos "glitches" that you have noticed? Leave a comment.