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***Wally*** · 02-26-2023, 04:29 PM

As any chapter closes or an era ends… a new one begins.

For Toronto, the franchise itself has been measured by great players, lovable users and a single championship. An inaugural team from Season 1, the Toronto North Stars have dealt with their fair share of heartbreak over the last 69 seasons… well minus 1 season that is smack dab right in the middle of all history in S35.

Over the past season, the trails traversed have brought significant change as the expectations took a turn prior to the S69 season in a determined move to look towards a rebuild after seasons of contention. The future itself became of specific focus and that goes beyond draft picks, records and rosters.

Since Season 1, Toronto has donned blue and white, paired with a classic-looking crest on our jerseys. As an original team of SHL, we have felt that changes shouldn’t be made abruptly and have debated, reshaped and gone back to the drawing board on multiple occasions.

Our current logo has stood since S24 and has served its purpose for many that have come and gone over the seasons since. There have mostly been two groups of people every time the topic of a "logo change" came up in the past. The first being those that complained about it being too similar to the Maple Leafs and demanded a - sometimes radical - rebrand. The latter being those that thought it might be a little boring.

During the S67 regular season, we had ample conversation about direction after many previous attempts prior to my tenure. We recognized the lack of a need to change, but acknowledged the resemblance of an existing NHL logo. We also recognized the change many teams have made to create a unique logo that personalizes their footprint here within the SHL. Our goal went from not just rebranding or tweaking a logo, but defining our organization and launching our next era of SHL hockey.

It was the following season (S68) that the pieces and fortitude really started to come together. From the beginning of this approach we narrowed down involvement to limit extreme discussion. Not because we didn’t want to hear opinions, but because too much has led to the wheels just continuing to spin.

What we carried into the project at hand was the desire to keep it classic and not to pursue a rebrand, but to do a refresh. Our goal was to keep specific parts of the original logo and give it a meaning. A meaning that had a deeper connection to the team and especially to our name: North Stars. We didn’t want to give the team a new identity, we wanted to update the logo to match the team's current identity in a more defining way.

The focus on our Toronto identity has always been on wanting to feature CN Tower, but we wanted to be able to define the North Stars aspect specifically. The North Star itself, also known as polaris, is not just a random star in the night sky. It's the brightest star in the Ursa minor constellation in the northern sky almost exactly above the North Pole and it doesn't move. This brought the idea of incorporating a wind rose or a compass into the logo - in a very abstract way, even though we do recognize the similarity of the Winnipeg logo that also uses Ursa minor as a focus as well.

The wind rose (also known as compass rose) was historically used for navigation and one way of navigating was using stars with Polaris being used as a fixed point for North. Without going too much into detail, we decided to use the CN tower's tip as the northern tip for the abstract compass in the logo. It's both representing the city of Toronto this way as well as the North(ern) Stars.

“North Star Objectives are long-term, high-level, aspirational goals that motivate, inspire, and uplift the goal-setter. Think of them the way sailors view the North Star: A way to stay on course, no matter where you are.” - Patrick Ewers

Our goal within our franchise is to continue to foster camaraderie, create a community with purpose and have fun along the way. This quote is one that we found that is the basic foundation of the Toronto North Stars.

Whether you are a rookie or a veteran…
A prospect or an alumni…
Whether you update routinely or are just around for a social outlet…
Winning a face-off or finishing a PT…
Saying good morning or loving a McDonald’s McGriddle…

Toronto is a place that flourishes on supporting what everyone enjoys and succeeds at both in this league and in real life. We support our own and give praise to many even outside of our organization. This will always be our path and we will always continue to aspire to be better.

As we look to our future, we turn the page on not what our franchise is about, but we look to build upon what so many have been a part of. As our rebuild commences, we look forward to the many who will don a Toronto sweater and we look forward to making a surge up the standings once again… While loving every minute along the way.

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Such a big thanks is given to @Hoovuh for getting this to the finish line, but we would like to give a shoutout to @nour for inspiration. I would personally like to thank @Carpy48 for their determination and the constant poking to wrap this up… and most of all your amazing love for this organization. Lastly, I would like to notably thank all of you North Stars out there that have been a part of the team since @mcgriddleluver and I took over this franchise. You are all amazing.

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