The Stanley Cup Playoffs have a brand-new logo

The NHL is making a branding change — unveiling a new Stanley Cup Playoffs logo this morning. They’re calling it “the next era” of the Stanley Cup brand, and it’s below in all its glory.

Of course NHL public relations has the details on the reasoning behind some of the more intricate details, if you’re so inclined. Interesting that the league would opt for a design scheme with separate word marks, but the Stanley Cup protruding from a stylized banner is pretty neat.

As part of the unveiling this morning the league is taking a stroll down memory lane by looking back at some of the more distinctive — good and bad — looks for the Stanley Cup Playoffs branding over the years.

Friend of the program Chris Creamer of Sportslogos.net has the full collection to help save a few clicks.

Rather steady drop off in the post 2004-05 lockout years as the league has slowly dropped any semblance of color to make the focus directly on Lord Stanley’s Cup itself, which is most reflected in the latest redesign that dropped this morning.

This, of course, matters very little for the Philadelphia Flyers, who will not be donning anything with this logo this season — or potentially for the near future as well.