Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.
-Stephen Leacock
Manitoba is a hard place—one of the coldest and most unpleasant populated areas on earth. Her residents are diverse, but united by certain traits: sturdy builds, mercurial attitudes, and perforated smiles. These are hockey fans. Their lives are so hard that an aggregation of carving steel, solidified water, frozen rubber moving at high speeds, and fist fights actually constitutes a softening: two hour thaws, 82 times a winter.
And that’s just in the big league. Through a historical accident that briefly lost Manitobans their NHL franchise, they gained an AHL franchise, The Manitoba Moose. This is a farm team: its players are cattle for the NHL, wracked with hunger but full of potential. Nobody cares if the team wins or loses, but impactful play could mean a glorious change in fortune for players. The resulting effort is high; the resulting game is gritty.
That’s why The Manitoba Moose chose BLKBK’s font, Extra Mile, to represent their brand in advertising and on the scoreboard. We created Extra Mile using a gritty, well-used brush—frayed but venerable and enduring. The result is a character font, distressed but with hard lines. It evinces determination and an unyielding presence in the face of anything, on or off the ice.