The Maritime Junior “A” Hockey League began a new era in junior hockey on Friday as the Board of Governors unanimously approved a new branding initiative that sees the league receive a new name, logo and overall marketing strategy. As of today, the league is now called the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League).

Central to this rebranding is the introduction of a clean, memorable new logo. The MHL logo features three stars within the crest that serve two purposes. Firstly, each star represents each one of the three Maritime Provinces that host MHL franchises. Secondly and most important, they emblemize three key MHL brand pillars: Education, Elite Sport and Leadership.

“The goal of this rebranding is to make the league current, modern and professional”, explains MHL Board of Governors Chairman John Lynn. “We believe that the new name, look and numerous marketing components of this strategy will assist in adding more sponsor value and help grow the fan bases of all 11 teams.”

The rebranding efforts were carried out by Clary Flemming and Dan Mailman of Clary Flemming & Associates of Bedford. “The new brand is to better reflect the evolution, growth and changing business philosophy of the Maritime Junior Hockey League” says Flemming.  The centre piece logo is modern, professional and iconic which should appeal to both the existing fan base and the younger demographic”.

And appealing to the young demographic is a key component of the new initiative. A core element is to market to the family demographic, promoting MHL games as quality family entertainment. The MHL will introduce regular promotions as a means to introduce new fans to its hockey.

“The promotions will be geared to engage the community, gain new, repeat visits to MHL games and focus on youth and parental involvement”, adds Lynn. “The new brand coupled with these promotions will serve to attract new fans that might not normally be exposed to our product.”

In addition to promotions, the rebranding is a multi-faceted plan that will introduce a number of new promotional tools with a focus on consistency in communications. A revised web site will be introduced as soon as possible and teams will be provided with consistent MHL branded radio and newspaper advertising templates that can customized for use at the local level. Other marketing collateral such as posters, banners, fan memorabilia and arena audio spots to recognize sponsors will be used to further enhance the brand.

“The foundation has been laid and the team ownership are now committed to a new brand that reflects our new business strategy” says Lynn. “The new brand is sculpted to reflect league philosophy and offer a fresh, youthful image as we move forward as a league. We are very excited about this initiative and we are greatly looking forward to rolling out each piece over the next several months”.

With the new brand underway, the league now shifts focus to the MJAHL Draft which takes place at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena on Saturday at 1:15pm. At the draft, awards for Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year and the new MJAHL Builders Award will be handed out. For all of the draft selections in real-time, as well as award winners, visit MJAHL.com.