Canadian junior team reworks logo after using one similar to Toledo Walleye

Mark Monroe

The Blade

Feb 18, 2020

9:25 PM

A junior hockey team in Ontario has been using a logo featuring a familiar fish and the Toledo Walleye have taken exception.

A team called the Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye that plays in the Lakehead Junior Hockey League has been using a logo that looks strikingly familiar to the one used by the Toledo Walleye.

The logo features a cartoon walleye fish with a missing tooth that is holding a stick. The font on the Walleye lettering also is nearly identical. The Toledo franchise has been using the cartoon fish as its main logo since the franchise's inception in 2009-10.

Craig Katz, the Walleye's director of merchandise and licensing, said the team is aware of the infringement.

“We take a lot of pride and invest considerable time, energy and money in protecting our intellectual property,” Katz said. “The [ECHL] and the League’s trademark attorneys are aware of this infringement and a correspondence has been issued.”

The Thunder Bay Fighting Walleye have been using the doppelganger logo since the beginning of the 2017-18 seasons when the team switched nicknames from the Stars to the Fighting Walleye.

The use of the logo came to light locally on social media Monday when the team based in Thunder Bay, Ont., announced that it was switching leagues next season. The team will be called the Kam River Fighting Walleye and will play next season in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

On Tuesday evening officials from the Canadian junior hockey organization issued a statement indicating that they have changed their logo.

“The Kam River Fighting Walleye ownership group has nothing but respect for the Toledo Walleye hockey organization and their passionate fans,” the statement reads. “Due to this respect we have re-designed the logo for our team so there is no confusion between these two organizations. We hope this calms the waters.”