KHL teams logos, jerseys and brands

[Milos Krasic]

Kuznya went back to their old logo. No more bloody M.

 

[Foppa]

Pardon my ignorance but is Neftekhimik's current logo (the pinwheel thing) based on a corporation logo that either backs or is in fact the club? It looks like they took this corporate or sponsorship logo with three petals and just gave it "motion" to create what they have been using.

I can't tell from the ticket resolution but do they have some sort of nickname that is being rendered in that new logo?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah, it's very modestly changed corporate logo of a corporation which owns the club and, in a sense, owns the city. Nizhnekamsk is a "fake" city built around the factory so THE factory is everything to those people basically, reason their lives are the way they are. So naturally the hockey team is reflection of that as well.

And as far as I know, they have no "official" nickname.

 

[Foppa]

Very interesting. I know it's not an uncommon thing in European sports to have clubs based around a corporation or industry that is vital to a community. Let me ask this as a follow up - given this is a relatively small town, is it simply the presence of the corporation that allows them to have a team in the KHL? Seems like they are mostly sitting in the bottom portions of the charts...are they a club at risk of sliding down to the VHL as the KHL starts to contract in the up-coming years or are they considered a safe bet to stay at the top level due to corporate backing?

 

[Milos Krasic]

Rubin Kazan has been sponsored by the same corporation.

 

[vorky]

Very interesting. I know it's not an uncommon thing in European sports to have clubs based around a corporation or industry that is vital to a community. Let me ask this as a follow up - given this is a relatively small town, is it simply the presence of the corporation that allows them to have a team in the KHL? Seems like they are mostly sitting in the bottom portions of the charts...are they a club at risk of sliding down to the VHL as the KHL starts to contract in the up-coming years or are they considered a safe bet to stay at the top level due to corporate backing?

Neftekhimik is at risk, but not in the first wave. Nizhnekamsk is from the republic of Tatarstan (capital is Kazan), one of wealthies Russian regions and I would say the best hockey support from regional government. That is a reason why Neftekhimik is in the KHL, but is & always be as a second team of Tatarstan (after Ak Bars). If the KHL relegates 7 Russian teams as planned, Neftekhimik must be one of them.

 

[Caser]

I guess this link belongs here then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizhnekamskneftekhim

About Nizhnekamsk itself, while it is a relatively small city (population of 235k), city of Naberezhnie Chelny (population of 530k) is only 40 minutes away and it also influences the market.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Let me ask this as a follow up - given this is a relatively small town, is it simply the presence of the corporation that allows them to have a team in the KHL? Seems like they are mostly sitting in the bottom portions of the charts...are they a club at risk of sliding down to the VHL as the KHL starts to contract in the up-coming years or are they considered a safe bet to stay at the top level due to corporate backing?

Severstal is another example of the same thing in the KHL.

Yes, the financial backing is the only reason they have KHL clubs in a cities like that but at the same time for the same reason they are safe to stay for a foreseeable future. KHL has to take some drastic steps for teams like Neftekhimik to be kicked because competitiveness would have to be a priority and poor teams would be the ones to go. They are far from the first in line. And since it's pride sort of thing the corporation would probably just pump another X million euros into the team if they had to to keep it in the KHL.

 

[Milos Krasic]

Yep, Neftekhimik has actually made the playoffs 5 times in 9 KHL seasons. They aren't some awful team.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Also their awfulness comes from being mismanaged terrible unlike most other cases where it's just flat out lack of money. Considering the size of the budget, over the 9 years Neftekhimik is probably the most underachieving team. Also their location doesn't help as Russian player probably picks any other team but Yugra over Neftekhimik for the same salary.

 

[Atas2000]

Yep, Neftekhimik has actually made the playoffs 5 times in 9 KHL seasons. They aren't some awful team.

They need better management for the big team. Thaey have a great school. But whet it comes to the KHL squad they change a lot without achieving much. The coaches croussel is stupid.

 

[Atas2000]

I guess this link belongs here then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizhnekamskneftekhim

About Nizhnekamsk itself, while it is a relatively small city (population of 235k), city of Naberezhnie Chelny (population of 530k) is only 40 minutes away and it also influences the market.

https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ÃÂÃ...ºÃ°ÑÂ_ðóûþüõрðцøÑÂ

It is actually much bigger. The agglomeration has more than a million people all within a short drive.

 

[Atas2000]

Very interesting. I know it's not an uncommon thing in European sports to have clubs based around a corporation or industry that is vital to a community. Let me ask this as a follow up - given this is a relatively small town, is it simply the presence of the corporation that allows them to have a team in the KHL? Seems like they are mostly sitting in the bottom portions of the charts...are they a club at risk of sliding down to the VHL as the KHL starts to contract in the up-coming years or are they considered a safe bet to stay at the top level due to corporate backing?

It is not a very typical situation for Russia. It is a multicentric agglomeration counting at least 4 bigger cities/towns placed on both banks of the Kama river. All within an hour drive. The 2 bigger cities Naberezhnye Chelny and Nizhnekamsk have grown around bigger factories to become corporations. It is Kamaz the biggest russian truck manufacturer for Naberezhnye Chelny and Nizhnekamsk Neftkhim for Nizhnekamsk. But the agglomeration also contains a 1000+ years old Yelabuga for example. That all means there is a much bigger market than only Nizhnekamsk. Of course the sponsoring corporation gives life to the team basically. As in all pro-sports it is a status thing and object of representation for Tatarstan elites. It is a wealthy region. And the Nizhnekamsk agglomeration is the second focal point of wealth in Tatarstan(south of it Al'metievsk is the oil capital of Tatarstan, but it is a bit on it's own and money wise under Kazan control via Tatneft which owns AkBars). There is a bit of a rivalry between the Kazan rich and the ones at the Kama. Having a KHL team is an important prestige thing. No way in hell will they give up their KHL claim. As I already wrote they need to manage the team better. The resources are there.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not sure if this is the topic to post that but Severstal's youtube channel is providing excellent content. One of the leaders of the league in my book at this point.

 

[Rigafan]

Not sure if this is the topic to post that but Severstal's youtube channel is providing excellent content. One of the leaders of the league in my book at this point.

They travel show is amazing. Seeing all the KHL cities and arenas so close up like they do is excellent!

 

[Rigafan]

KHL logos ranked by Canadians

https://youtu.be/Cpx-neijUB0

Interesting pass-time channel. All their own opinions and they are very honest they don't really know European/Russian hockey so well. Still its fun to see them comparing the logos.

 

[hansomreiste]

I can't watch it all at the moment but judging from the start of the video, I have to say I'm very happy to see two decent people. Knowing how annoying and arrogant most Americans can be when it comes to KHL, I love how humble and respectful those guys are. And to think of it, it is actually weird that what one of the most storied clubs in Russia has on their logo is just... D. Room for so many tasteless jokes.

 

[Atas2000]

I can't watch it all at the moment but judging from the start of the video, I have to say I'm very happy to see two decent people. Knowing how annoying and arrogant most Americans can be when it comes to KHL, I love how humble and respectful those guys are. And to think of it, it is actually weird that what one of the most storied clubs in Russia has on their logo is just... D. Room for so many tasteless jokes.

And it is one of the best logos there is...

 

[Rigafan]

And it is one of the best logos there is...

I agree! How they can't appreciate it is beyond me!

 

[RossiyaSport]

https://vk.com/h.c.neftekhimik

Also the uniforms are kinda like the Blue Jackets colors now.

 

[hansomreiste]

That looks WAY better. Wonderful. I like it. The old Neftekhimik was not a bad team but a pretty tasteless, dull one. This is really cool and gives the team some kind of identity, I'd say. Before it felt like just some dudes from the petro-chemical industry playing ice hockey in their spare time, LOL.

 

[Atas2000]

https://vk.com/h.c.neftekhimik

Also the uniforms are kinda like the Blue Jackets colors now.

Awful NA mimicing. Wtf is the wolf? Brainless comic book stuff.

 

[Acallabeth]

Atas is right, I don't like it at all. Amur and tigers works for obvious reasons, but what does that lupus mean? You're not from Tambov, guys. Ohhh, look how scary our logo looks! A big bad roaring wolf! Rrrr woof! Who cares if it has no connection to traditions and history, neither does it represent the city in any sense? At least make it a funny canine petrochemist.

 

[Foppa]

It's definitely not rendered to the same quality as Amur or even Sochi, in my opinion. Too much going on and the shape of the head is odd. I was wondering about the wolf aspect, if that had some sort of relevance to the city/region. Seems the answer is no.

That said - I wonder if this is made to veer away from a more corporation-based logo to provide some sort of fan service, even if it is a bit made up or forced. I guess if it satisfies that teams fans, it is a success. And if not, perhaps a year from now they will revert back to the old package like Novokuznetsk did this year.

 

[vorky]

It's definitely not rendered to the same quality as Amur or even Sochi, in my opinion. Too much going on and the shape of the head is odd. I was wondering about the wolf aspect, if that had some sort of relevance to the city/region. Seems the answer is no.

That said - I wonder if this is made to veer away from a more corporation-based logo to provide some sort of fan service, even if it is a bit made up or forced. I guess if it satisfies that teams fans, it is a success. And if not, perhaps a year from now they will revert back to the old package like Novokuznetsk did this year.

Local Tatarstan´s sport media published an article about new Neftekhimik logo, here. They claim that a wolf was club´s mascot in early 2000s.