At the same time they’re retooling the team, the Boston Bruins have refreshed their look.
In a Denis Leary-narrated video released on social media Monday morning, the Bruins unveiled a tweaked spoked-B crest as well as a new slogan: “Built by Boston, Powered by Tradition.”
For the logo, the design of eight spokes connecting an outer circle to an inner serif “B” stays, but there are now two versions: one a gold, black-outlined “B” and black spokes within a gold circle, the other with the opposite color scheme.
They may look familiar; they’re quite similar to some of the ones used during the team’s 2023-24 centennial season.
The thin black outline of both the “B” and spokes that first appeared in 1995, then remained when the serifs were added in 2007, are gone. This gives the logos a cleaner and more modern look while also harkening back to the sans-serif gold and black “B’s” and non-outlined spokes used from 1949-95.
The team has not announced where and how the new crest will be used. However, it does not take a degree in fashion design to surmise that the gold “B” would work well with the black home jerseys, and the black “B” on the road whites.
“Since ‘07, we’ve had one primary mark that sits on both a light and dark background,” said Andrea Mazzarelli, the team’s vice president of marketing. “We’re going back to a tandem of primary marks here with this change. So we’ll be kind of tasked with watching for correct usage and trying to guide the correct usage of the logos on certain backgrounds.”
Being different but not too different is always the challenge for any historic franchise, and the public reveal makes it clear how hard the Bruins are trying to walk that fine line.
Set to stirring music with shots of TD Garden and Boston, with clips of Bruins players past and present engaged in goal-scoring, board-banging, gloves-dropping heroics in front of cheering fans, the one-minute video clip features Leary articulating the message the franchise is trying to put across with the brand changes, ending with the new slogan and the new black “B” logo.
“For over a century, the Boston Bruins have stood for more than just hockey. We’ve stood for a way of doing things — harder, tougher, louder, and more loyal than anywhere else,“ Leary reads. ”Our attitude, our identity, our truth unchanged, but our legacy is not something to rest on. It’s something to live up to.
“The players past and present embody it. The fans carry it. And the city forged it. Together, we turn the page. Built by Boston. Powered by Tradition.”
The team said “Built by Boston” serves as a tribute to how the franchise has been shaped by the fans, city, and culture. “Powered by Tradition” acknowledges “the legacy that drives the team forward.”
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.