NHL Unveils Logo for 2022 Heritage Classic in Hamilton

The National Hockey League this morning unveiled the logo for the 2022 NHL Heritage Classic, their third and final outdoor game scheduled to take place during the 2021-22 season.

The game will be held on March 13th in Hamilton, Ontario at Tim Hortons Field, the home of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats between the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. Hamilton, for those readers unfamiliar with Canadian geography, is located on the shores of Lake Ontario, conveniently between the cities of Buffalo and Toronto.

The logo shows a shield (or “horseshoe shape”, as the press release referred to it) with a double-blue outline. A steel interior with six rivets around the edges pays tribute to the six Heritage Classics (including this one) with two crossed sticks behind a leaf and a banner wrapping around noting the year and location of the game.

The shield shape is lifted from Hamilton’s city crest, as are the blue and yellow colours. There is an overall theme of steel throughout the logo, in reference to Hamilton’s long history in the steel industry (some would call it the Pittsburgh of Canada).

LINK: NHL Heritage Classic Logos History

Assuming it’s played, this will be the eighth outdoors game the NHL has held in Canada. The first outdoor game in league history was a Heritage Classic game in Edmonton back in 2003.

Uniforms have not yet been released for either the Maple Leafs or Sabres for this event, so take the usage of their usual logos in the above graphic with a grain of salt (they’re placeholders folks, just placeholders). The 2022 Heritage Classic will be the first time an American team has competed in the Canadian-themed outdoor event, previously the Detroit Red Wings played outdoors in Toronto for the one-time-only Centennial Classic on New Year’s Day 2017.