The Saint John Mill Rats
The Saint John Premier Basketball League franchise today unveiled their new name and logo. Well, their new logo at least.
The team has decided to keep the Mill Rats nickname that had been formerly used by the franchise when it was in Manchester.
A contest was held via text message to determine the team’s new identity and closed less than a week ago.
It is nice to retain the Mill Rats, name though I have to admit, I was looking forward to seeing what could be done with an entirely new concept. Mill Rats is still quite fitting with the industrial history of the Saint John area. I certainly prefer this design focusing on the hard working mill employee versus the literal representation of an actual rodent. I’d hate to see a giant rat wondering the stadium as the mascot.
The logo is strong with nice colouring, and I think will be marketable to a youthful audience. I tend to prefer a more iconic type of logo for organizations that can be identified from a distance when detail might be obscured. But still I think this could work well.
With the logo unveiling now complete, the team will likely focus its attedniton on filling out its roster for the the winter season. Timelines could be pushed up for this process, as there has been some reports the season could begin as early as October if Puerto Rican clubs join the league.
I would love to hear what people think of the new team’s identity. What do you think of the name and new logo? Pass? Fail? Meh?
Disappointed in the name and logo. Really was looking forward to something new. I think the owners made a mistake. Mill= polution, rats= disease and filth.
Massive fail on all counts.
You think they would at least rename the team something with some ties to the city, such as shipbuilding or something.
The mill has historical reference to Saint John as well, so I don’t mind that part of the name. However, as stated in my earlier post I would have like to see something like “Wharf Rats” do go with the port theme.
Epic win for use of the Windjammers
Having grew up around Saint John and lived in the core of the city for nearly a decade….I can tell you there is alot of mills, and alot of rats. I like the name, but the logo is a little too much. i like the idea of the blue collare dude but they may have spread the cityscape a little too much.
@Bill
I am assuming they will drop the cityscape for a lot of merchandising and other usage. This is just the concept and the Mill worker will be the main logo used.
For those interested, some more great info on the name and logo from Station Nation
For slippy,
Can you edit a comment for me?
@Joe
Depends. What would you like changed?
The logo and name are terrible.. I agree with the comment by Tony. Rats … is that really something we would like to use to represent our city.. rats? Neither the name or logo makes me want to come watch one of these basketball games, and will most likely be an epic failure. I simply cannot take a semi-pro or pro team seriously that portrays such an image. Two of the biggest eye sores in Saint John are the pulpmil and wharf rats. This represents our city in a negative way. Why don’t we try something a little more positive or more historical. The mill may have historical reference to the city, but to represent a sports team by industry is just not ideal. Think about the big fire that occured in saint john -Saint John Fire sounds way better. Think about it, Miami Heat…. Saint John Fire. Maybe even The Saint John Loyalists. Wayy better than something that represents a mill that pollutes the air and water, and disease carrying rodents.
Looks like a logo for Pittsburgh! GM has no imagination or sense of anything Canadian. Looks like a con job to me.