The AHL affiliates of the Boston Bruins celebrated Rhode Island Comic Con this weekend by crossing-over with one of the most well-known nerdy franchises: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Baby Bruins have gone all-out for the promotion, bringing back the big club’s retro bear logo (lovingly referred to by Bruins fans as “Meth Bear“) for the primary crest. The bear has a mask and is depicted beneath a Providence Bruins wordmark designed to match the logo for TMNT‘s TV series. These elements are superimposed over a manhole cover, a reference to the Turtles living in the sewer in the franchise.
Out of the ooze and onto the ice. 🐢🧊
We’re going green as the world’s most fearsome hockey team in these turtle-powered sweaters for @ricomiccon Weekend! 🥷 pic.twitter.com/mc2omaTbfE
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) February 12, 2025
The jerseys themselves are primarily green with yellow yokes and stripes. The yellow waist stripe is animated to look like the arm- and leg-bands worn by the characters. Rhode Island Comic Con is the advertiser. A turtle shell design sits under the player’s NOB and number.
The shoulder patches are the 1995-2012 primary Providence Bruins logos. The patch is circled with a light-green border reading “The world’s most fearsome hockey team,” which is a reference to the lyrics of the TV show’s theme song.
TMNT actually has New England roots, too — the idea came to creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman while they were living in Dover, New Hampshire, and the first comic was published by Mirage Studios in Dover.
The Baby B’s wore these unis last night and are scheduled to wear them again during tomorrow’s matinee.
Guess I will be the first to say it: Why isn’t there a team called The Ninjas? Misappropriation of Japanese culture?
Because you wouldn’t be able to see them on the ice/field!
We got a winner here…
are you saying anyone who is not Japanese can’t be a ninja?
No more than I would say people who aren’t Japanese can’t be Sumo Wrestlers; there have been *dozens* of Non-native Sumo, fighting at the highest level of competition. But Ninja Culture is a Japanese creation, much as Reggae Culture is a West Indian creation, and attempts to brand a team as such in what is commonly thought of as a white environment might be unwelcome.
Of course these are goofy minor league publicity stunt uniforms, but there are some things I like about them.
With the color scheme, the rich green, yellow, and black combination looks great and is underutilized in hockey. Adding the lime green and red trim starts to pull it towards 90s kitsch, but it does command attention.
The basic color blocking is effective if you imagine it as a classic yoke-and-stripes sweater without the TMNT details.
The crest is not great, but obviously it’s meant to be cheesy. I like the colors and the overall look of the ringed shoulder logo, if not the motto itself.
The carapace on the back is a good idea, but I think it could be better executed. I think it would be better if it was more elongated towards the top and bottom and less round.
Green, yellow, and black is a *great* color scheme, especially when the green is bright enough to vividly contrast the black.
I really like this wink and a nudge uniform. Great stuff.