The recent Minnesota Wild NHL Stadium Series Alumni game featuring the North Stars logo and colors got me thinking, what if the Minnesota Wild could rebrand as the Minnesota North Stars? Plenty of cities have lost their teams and have got their team name back (Winnipeg, Cleveland and Charlotte to name a few). Charlotte even had a new team, the Bobcats, that changed their name to the name they lost to became the Hornets again.
The question is always, what about the Dallas Stars? You could see the Stars not wanting there to be a Stars and North Stars back in 2000, but now they have now been around for as long as the North Stars were. If the branding is distinct enough, both teams should be able to co-exist and maybe even become better rivals due to the names. There's the Red Sox and White Sox and we seem to get along just fine. MLS will have two (maybe three) Uniteds soon and no one seems to concerned.
If the Stars got on board, would the Wild do it? Or why would they? Well, the main reason would be money. New merchandise to push is always good. The new Hornets have shown the market for the nostalgia knows no bounds. The North Star N can been seen on fans young and old already, so it’s not just a rebrand for old timers.
The project becomes how to merge the Wild and North Star identities. Instead of just co-opting the North Stars look, I wanted to combine it with the Wild in a way that shows respect for their colors. The Wild has also always had a strong brand and there is no reason to ignore it. Also, highlighting "iron range red" more and not using black can further differentiate between the new North Stars and the Stars.
Here we go North Stars!
