It's likely that Seattle will join the NHL in 2020 as the league's 32nd franchise, but there's still a lot of work to do before then. The biggest thing is the renovation of KeyArena, but they'll also need to create an identity for their team. That includes choosing a name, creating a logo, and designing jerseys.
They'll also need to decide upon a colour scheme, and that's what this post will focus on. Below are 20 colour schemes that the Seattle ownership group could consider, starting with a few different green options (Seattle is called the Emerald City after all).
Note: Seattle HC (Hockey Club) is just a placeholder name. That's not what I think they should be called or anything.
Green, White
For me, the simplest solution is to use green, white, and nothing else. Detroit is the red and white team, Toronto is the blue and white team, and Seattle could be the green and white team. Plus it's a colour scheme that hasn't been used in the NHL since 1927 (Toronto St. Pats).
Light Green, Dark Green, White
Another option would be to use two shades of green, a lighter kelly green and a dark forest green. No NHL team has ever used a double green colour scheme before.
Light Green, Dark Green, Gold, White
If that's not enough, why not add a third colour, maybe gold? This colour scheme could also be seen as an evolution of the Supersonics green and yellow look, without being a direct copy.
Although, maybe they
should directly copy the colour scheme of another Seattle sports team. It wouldn't be the first time that teams in a city shared a colour scheme (Pittsburgh is probably the best example). Here are a few options if they want to go that route.
Green, Blue, Silver, White (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Seattle's current hockey team, the Thunderbirds, use a colour scheme which is very similar to the Vancouver Canucks (the nearest NHL team to Seattle). But they could differentiate themselves by making green the primary colour.
Navy, Bright Green, Silver, White (Seattle Seahawks - 2012 through Present)
Next up is the navy, bright green, and silver colour scheme of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. If they wanted to go with blue and green while avoiding the Canucks comparisons, then this would be a good option.
Blue, Navy, Bright Green, White (Seattle Seahawks - 2002 through 2011)
They could also use the Seahawks' previous colour scheme of double blue and bright green. I don't think they will, but they
could.
Bright Green, Shale, Blue, White (Seattle Sounders FC)
Another option that includes bright green is the Seattle Sounders colour scheme. This colour scheme seems a bit too specific too directly copy (if that makes sense), but I could see the hockey team considering some sort of variation.
Blueish-Green, Navy, Silver, White (Seattle Mariners)
The Mariners are a rare example of a Seattle sports team that doesn't use a true green, they instead opt for a very blueish-green (or greenish-blue?). That's probably the reason I don't think this would be a good option for the Seattle NHL team.
Dark Green, Yellow, White (Seattle Supersonics)
Last but not least is the green and yellow colour of the old Seattle Supersonics. These colours have been used in the NHL in the past (North Stars and Golden Seals), but not for 30 years or so.
Moving on from existing (or pre-existing) Seattle colour schemes, let's try a few red based options (I doubt red will be their main colour, but the Seattle ownership group has been using
red for some promotional stuff).
Red, Green, White
A red and green colour scheme would have historical ties to Seattle, as the Seattle Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup in 1917 while wearing red and green barberpole jerseys. The only problem is the similarity to the Wild's colour scheme (and the 1982-92 Devils), but they could differentiate themselves (like by using head-to-toe red uniforms, with green just as an accent colour).
Red, Black, Turquoise, White
Red, black, and turquoise are common colours used in
Coast Salish artwork. It's also a unique colour scheme, the only team (I can think of) that used anything similar were the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies.
Red, Brown, Sand, White
Brown isn't used very often in pro-sports, so I thought I'd try it in a few colour schemes including this red, brown, and sand option. I get a lumberjack vibe from these colours, I don't know if that works for Seattle or not.
Okay that's enough red for now, let's get back to some more green colour schemes.
Green, Brown, White
I also tried brown as a secondary colour paired up with green. This colour scheme could work if they went with the name Evergreens (or maybe Totems).
Dark Green, Burnt Orange, White
I've always thought green and orange looked great together, so I thought I'd throw this dark green and burnt orange colour scheme into the mix as well.
Dark Green, Light Blue, White
The Canucks use a darker blue with kelly green, maybe Seattle could use a darker green along with a light blue.
Green, Navy, Light Blue, White
Another option for a green and blue colour scheme would be to add an accent colour. Maybe a light blue, which would create a green and double blue scheme.
Green, Navy, Red, White
They could also use red as an accent with the green and blue. It would have ties to the Metropolitans with the red (and green), while the green and blue connects them to current Seattle sports teams.
We'll finish off with a couple of brown options, and one black choice. I'd be very surprised if they did go with brown as their primary colour, and I hope black isn't, but I thought I'd include them anyways.
Brown, Dark Brown, Light Blue, White
This double brown and light blue colour scheme is entirely based off of Ross Hettinger's fantastic
Seattle SeaLions concept. I really liked how unique these colours were, and I thought they'd work well in Seattle.
Brown, Dark Brown, Bright Green, White
Another variation would be to use a bright green instead of the light blue. It wouldn't work as well for aquatic names (SeaLions, Seals), but it be could be a fit for a name like the Totems.
Black, Bright Green, White
Black would be a boring choice for a primary colour, but I figured I should include at least one such colour scheme, so here's a black and bright green option.
So what do you think of these 20 colour schemes? Do you have a favourite, or is there another option I should have included? Leave your feedback in the comments.
