Lake Erie Warriors’ rebrand, become Gulls after racist logo causes uproar

The National College Prospects Hockey League’s Lake Erie franchise is rebranding after less than two months as the Warriors. The team’s racist logo caused an uproar and the league has announced the team will now be known as the Lake Erie Gulls.

The National College Prospects Hockey League’s Lake Erie franchise are rebranding after their racist logo drew the ire of many across the hockey and sports world.

Lake Erie’s team, which was originally called the Warriors, will now be known as the Gulls after images of the team’s original logo, which was unveiled in May, began circulating. Uni-Watch’s Paul Lukas was among the first to put the logo out for a widespread audience to see, and it didn’t take long for the logo to cause an uproar.

The original logo features a red-skinned Native American with a mohawk, screaming into the distance. The logo also had a tomahawk and a feather. It’s hard to imagine how anyone believed the logo would be well-received.

The NCPHL didn’t take long to respond once the public outcry began. Per GoErie.com’s Victor Fernandes, NCPHL commissioner Bob Black said the league would take “appropriate” action regarding the logo’s offensiveness.

Since Black’s statement to Fernandes, the Lake Erie franchise has changed both their team name and logo to Gulls, removed their former Warriors social media pages and even taken down the original recruitment video, which had the tag line, “You’re only as good as your values.”

In a series of replies to Fernandes, the NCPHL said the team will be “restructuring” under the new name, with the current stylized ‘G’ logo being a temporary mark. The logo will be updated, the NCPHL said, once the league receives “final, approved image assets.” The NCPHL added that “more changes and announcements” are coming regarding the team.

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