From the Depths: AHL’s Cleveland Monsters Launch New Brand Identity

There’s something new in the water in Cleveland: a new brand identity for the city’s American Hockey League franchise.

The Cleveland Monsters unveiled the new identity on Wednesday, July 12. It is “the culmination of a multi-year process led entirely by an internal team of brand managers and graphic designers from Rock Entertainment Group,” according to the team’s website. The identity includes a new set of logos and a simplified color scheme of blue, black and gold.

“Black and Blue Hockey is about more than just the evolution of our colors,” said Ben Adams, the Monsters’ senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “It’s about the brand of hockey played by our Monsters and the toughness of the city this team represents.”

The new primary logo features a head-on view of a black monster emerging from the blue waters of Lake Erie, surrounded by a black roundel bordered in gold that includes the team name in a white, nautical-inspired font.

*Courtesy **@monstershockey** / Twitter*

The secondary logo is the familiar silhouette of the lake monster that the team has used since its inception in 2006 as the Lake Erie Monsters, but with the new colors applied. The tertiary logo is a stylized M with serifs, bevels and “a tail that is a nod to what might lie below the surface in the depths of Lake Erie.” The stylized M is also found in the new wordmark.

Along with the logos, the Monsters also unveiled new jerseys on Wednesday. Both the white and black versions of the jersey have the secondary logo on the front along with blue and gold striping on the waist and sleeves; the top edge of the broad blue stripe has a subtle wave shape. Both jerseys also have the new primary logo on the left shoulder and the logo of their NHL affiliate, the Columbus Blue Jackets, on the right shoulder.

The names on the back of the white jersey are blue, while the numbers are blue with a gold outline. On the black jersey, the names are gold and the numbers are white with a gold outline.

The Monsters are also carrying forward a blue jersey that they first wore in the AHL Outdoor Classic in March 2023. It has the primary logo on the front and black and gold striping on the waist and sleeves. The numbers are one-color white, while the nameplates are black with white lettering.

*A front view and back view of the Cleveland Monsters jersey worn in the AHL Outdoor classic in March 2023. (Photos courtesy **@monstershockey** / Twitter and **TheAHL.com**)*

Prior to Wednesday’s reveal, the Monsters had worn jerseys that were heavy on maroon, gold and black — the colors of the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom the Monsters share an owner (Dan Gilbert) and a home arena, the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. They changed their name from the Lake Erie Monsters to the Cleveland Monsters in 2016.

The Monsters kick off their 2023-24 AHL regular season on the road against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, October 14. Their home opener is on Friday, October 20 against the Syracuse Crunch.