Hershey Bears Honour Past With New Logos, Uniforms

We had a peek followed by a leak, and last night we finally got to see the whole package as the Hershey Bears unveiled their new logos and uniforms in front of season ticket holders at the Giant Center.

The new Hershey Bears primary logo

Intended to “honour the past” as the club enters their 75th anniversary season, the new Bears logo package has a distinct retro feel to it yet still includes modern design elements, an excellent blend of old-and-new.

New alternate logos: Jersey shoulder patch on left, alternate jersey logo on right

All the logos were designed by The Joe Bosack Graphic Design Company — Joe, who was at the event last night, said the Bears had a “good idea” of what they wanted when they approached him to design the new look, adding that the logos were created with the intention to be respectful of the roots of the organization yet still function for modern-day applications and merchandise.

“The Hershey Bears have a legacy, it is one that has lasted 74 years, and one that will be well-represented for a long time to come. The new Hershey Bears logo represents that legacy. We return to our identity with the Chocolate and White colours, and blend a modern look into an historic icon.” – Hershey Bears President and GM Doug Yingst

The walking bear on the primary logo is modelled after the original bear worn on the inaugural season Bears jerseys from 1936-37:

Original bear from 1937 Bears uniforms

Three uniforms were introduced at the unveiling, home whites, road chocolates, and an alternate white jersey. As we learned last week all three jerseys include piping around the shoulders Carolina Hurricanes style, the home and roads extend their piping down each side of the jersey and have a patch of colour under each underarm.

Bears alumni Dave Parro and Frederic Cassivi model the new road and home Hershey Bears jerseys

On the left shoulder is the new “Bear Paw” alternate logo, which includes a splash of red – not seen anywhere else on the uniform. The 75th anniversary logo is on the right shoulder although I was told this will unfortunately likely be replaced with a Washington Capitals logo for the 2013-14 season.

New Hershey Bears alternate jersey in white worn by alumni Mitch Lamoureux, new road jersey behind

Lace-up collars are present on all three, from what was shown last night white laces will be used with the alternate and road jerseys while the home uniform will use cream-coloured laces.

That “chocolate brown” colour used as the base colour for the road jersey is actually PANTONE Black 5, a unique colour in the sports world according to sports team colour expert Donovan Moore of ColorWerx.us

Close-up of the road jersey, note the almost black colour of the “Chocolate Brown” base

The crowd of 3500 Bears fans cheered loudly when the video presentation announced the return of their “real colours” – chocolate and white. Clearly these fans were craving a change back to something more traditional after several seasons of more modern designs which had ignored the roots of the organization. After the NHL13 leak last week the club had received a lot of positive feedback from their fans.

Current Hershey Bears goaltender Dany Sabourin was also on hand for the unveiling and offered his thoughts on the new look, “I like it a lot, it’s simple and nice, good colours. Always special for the players to be a part of an anniversary season like this.”

The alternate logo worn as a shoulder patch on all three team jerseys

The logos and uniforms weren’t the only changes the Bears were unveiling to their fans, “Coco” the team mascot has lost some considerable weight in the off-season and made his new skinny debut during the event also giving us uniform fans a look at the full head-to-toe uniform including pants and sock designs. Thanks Coco!

Coco the Mascot shows off his new slim figure as well as the Bears new pants and socks

Alright, let’s get to some detailed shots of the new uniforms as well as the other sights from last nights event… information about special jersey games and merchandise after the photos:

The white side piping and underarm on the home chocolate brown jersey

Basic block font for home and roads, this may change to a custom font before season begins

The new alternate jersey

The name and number font style for the alternate jersey, additional red trim on this jersey only

The 75th anniversary patch on the shoulder of all three jerseys

Coco shows off the brown underarm colouring on the home white jersey

Patch on the new pants, base brown colour does not match, team may wear shells over pants to better match jerseys

The 75th Anniversary logo at centre ice, note the diamond pattern on the red line to symbolize the diamond anniversary

Hershey Bears announcer Scott Stuccio introduces the new uniforms

Designer Joe Bosack addresses the media after the unveiling of the new logos

Special jersey dates were also announced but designs were not, the team will be wearing special 75th anniversary jerseys for their opening game on October 20th, Breast Cancer awareness jerseys in November, and St. Patricks Day jerseys on March 17th. Bears alumni will be wearing jerseys modelled after their look from the 1940s on January 19th before the 2013 AHL Outdoor Classic at Hersheypark Stadium.

New logo merchandise is available now in-person at the Giant Center (although it seemed to be selling fast as I couldn’t get my hands on any of it), jerseys are not yet on sale but will be in the coming weeks.