The ECHL (formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league that has teams scattered across the United States, and one franchise in Canada.  Its newest team is found in St John’s Newfoundland, and while the team name, Newfoundland Growlers, offers the double entendre of a moniker that can apply to both ferocious animals and icebergs (a growler is a small piece or remnant of an iceberg), what we like is the logo – a Newfoundland.

Team ownership had been considering Shamrocks, Storm and Regiment as the team nickname, and there were those who were pushing for Capitals/Caps or Maple Leafs, already the names of local senior entries and the former American Hockey League team from St. John’s, respectively. After six weeks of consideration,  Newfoundland Growlers was wisely the final decision.  The Idea Factory, which has been handling such matters for the team, registered newfoundlandgrowlers.com as a domain name earlier in April.

In an Instagram post, the team wrote: “Our primary logo is a Newfoundland dog – a large working dog who is known for their size, strength, intelligence and loyalty. The dog in the logo is fierce and stoic to represent the pride and resilience of our province, and our reputation of never backing down from a challenge. Paired with a forged-style font, the hard edges and strong weight give it a stone-chiseled feel which lends itself well to the vintage style of the logo.”

According to a press release, the color palette and logo was inspired by a 1917 photo of a Newfoundland dog named Sable Chief that served as mascot for The Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I.

Good luck to the Newfoundland Growlers, and our thanks to “Dawn” for bringing this to our attention!