CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Back at the beginning of July, Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin told me "never say never" when I asked if we'll ever see the Penguins' old logo that debuted 1993 make a return.
A leak from the sports fan gear shop Fanatics this summer was the first indication that the Penguins will be bringing that logo back out of retirement for the first time they stopped using it as a shoulder patch in 2007.
Call it the "triangle Penguin," the "robo-Penguin," the "pigeon," or whatever you want. It's almost certainly coming back.
I'm starting a new regular feature this season called "Survey Says," where I go around the locker room and ask as many players as I can the same fun question about something that isn't quite hockey related and lets readers get to know them more.
For the first edition, I asked the team what they thought of the robo-Penguin logo. Here's what they said:
Sidney Crosby: "I like it. We're lucky we've had some different jerseys, some cool ones. But that one, I think of probably later on for Mario (Lemieux) and then (Jaromir) Jagr right in his prime. That's when they used to wear white at home."
Kasperi Kapanen: "I think it's cool, we should bring it back. That's a retro logo. Hopefully we do something with it. I think of Mario when I see that."
Casey DeSmith: "I love it. Really simple. Lemieux, Jagr, (Tom) Barrasso, the legends."
Rickard Rakell: "I really like it. It makes me think of Jagr."
Danton Heinen: "I like it, the old-school. When I think of that, I think of Jagr."
Brian Dumoulin: "Vintage! I just think of Mario, Ulf Samuelsson, Ron Francis. Those guys."
Bryan Rust: "Awesome logo, old-school logo. I think about Mario, Jagr, the good old days, things like that. It'd be cool to wear that jersey."
Kris Letang: "It's retro."
Tristan Jarry: "I like it. I think just of Pittsburgh's early success with Lemieux and Jagr, I think that's who I think of when I see that logo. It's going to be exciting to wear."
Mark Friedman: "It's sweet, retro. Mario, Jagr."
Brock McGinn: "I like it, Alexei Kovalev wore that jersey."
Jason Zucker: "I love it, the retro, it's awesome. Mario for sure is who I think of first."
P.O Joseph: "I like it, that's the old logo, yeah? When I see that I just see the old jerseys. I feel like the first time I was watching the Penguins was with that logo."
Marcus Pettersson: "I think it's classic, it's a pretty good look. I just remember Jagr in that jersey."
Jake Guentzel: "I love it. It's an old-school kind of logo, I can't wait to see it. Jagr, Lemieux, those guys, I love that."
