New AHL Club Stockton Heat Unveil Name, Logo, Uniforms

The Calgary Flames are returning the “Heat” nickname to the American Hockey League.

Just a season removed from relocating the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat to Glens Falls, NY where they were re-named the Adirondack Flames, the Flames are shuffling their top farm club once again, and I sure am gonna miss their Atlanta throwback logo.

Yes, the AHL Flames are off to Stockton, California where, as they announced last night, they will be known as the Stockton Heat. The Heat will replace the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder who have essentially swapped places with those Adirondack Flames, they have been sent east where they will be known as the Adirondack Thunder for 2015-16.

“Calgary wanted to rebrand the team for a couple of reasons: first, they wanted the fans to have no confusion that this is a new team at a higher level. They were also eager for a fresh start for hockey in the City of Stockton under a new banner.” – Stockton Heat President Dave Piecuch

It seemed clear from Piecuch’s later comments that the club wanted to retain the tie-in with the brand to the Calgary Flames:

“There were close to 10,000 entries in the contest. Of the seven most popular entries, five of them were Flames-related, and those became the five finalists. The name Heat, which was one of the most-entered names, was chosen out of the five finalists because the Central Valley is certainly known for its heat and it kept the name weather related, something that California is known for across the world.”

In addition to the new name the club also unveiled their primary and alternate logos as well as the new uniforms.

The primary logo features a black and yellow flame in front of the letter “S”, italicized and in a red and black circle. The team name around it in yellow. The alternate logo is merely the “S” with flame from the primary roundel but in red instead of white. We’ve added them both to the site — don’t forget to rate them!

The uniforms are a straight clone of the Calgary Flames, Adirondack Flames, and Abbotsford Heat uniforms, just swap out the logo and the various national/state/provincial flags. There will be an American flag on one shoulder, a state of California flag on the other.