📸: @TheHersheyBears/X
The Hershey Bears released a new alternate logo for the 2025-26 season to celebrate 20 years of affiliation with the Washington Capitals.
The Bears largely combined elements of one vintage logo from each team, and added one of their recent marks at the top to bring the design together.
Hershey’s current affiliation with the Washington Capitals began during the 2005-06 season. The two teams inked a six-year extension in January 2024 that will keep the clubs partners through the 2029-30 season.
The new Bears alternate logo utilizes the crossed sticks and puck from the Capitals’ Capitol Dome logo — worn by Alex Ovechkin during his NHL debut, where he scored twice on October 5, 2005 — and mashed it together with the typography of the Swiper Bear logo first introduced during the 2009-10 season when the team won its 11th Calder Cup championship.
The Bears added stars to signify the championships both teams won during that time and included the Bear Head logo at the top to complete the look.
Per the release graphic:
Anchored by the beloved Bear Head, a fierce symbol of our identity
The lettering is derived from the iconic “Swiper Bear”
Six Stars to represent the 5 Calder Cups and 1 Stanley Cup claimed during our affiliation
Modern era color palette in shades as rich as our storied history (North American Black, Grizzly, Kodiak)
A new Bears’ alternate jersey with this logo seems likely at the least, as the social media post teases “and we’re not done yet.”
The Capitals and the Bears had one other previous affiliation from 1977 to 1984. In total, Hershey has won six of its AHL-record 13 Calder Cup championships while partnered with the Capitals in 1980, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2023, and 2024.