World Hockey Association 2 is the name of a former development hockey league created by David Waronker for the World Hockey Association in 2003 and ceased in 2004. The league was composed of six American hockey clubs, and the champion’s trophy went to Jacksonville Barracudas.
One of the most short-lived sports leagues ever existed, World Hockey Association 2 was created with the idea of a development league for WHA, the major hockey league of the United States, ceased in 1979 and thought to be recreated. And the “development” only lasted for one season, in 2003.
The six teams competing for the WHA2 trophy were: Jacksonville Barracudas (champions), Alabama Slammers (second place), Macon Trax (finished third), Orlando Seals, Miami Manatees, and Lakeland Loggerheads (the league’s outsiders).
As for the “mother-league” of WHA2, the World Hockey Association, it was founded in the USA in 1972 and successfully operated until 1979, being the main competitor to the famous NHL. The idea of recreating the league came up at the beginning of the 2000s but died with the cease of WHA2.
What is World Hockey Association 2?
World Hockey Association 2 was the name of the experimental hockey league, which was established in 2003 with the idea of recreating the World Hockey League, the formerly reputable organization, and the only competitor of NHL in the 1970s.
In terms of visual identity, the World Hockey Association 2 had, obviously, only one logo, designed in 2003, and it had nothing in common with the original badge of WHA from 1972.
The World Hockey Association badge from the 1970s was executed in a fresh and patriotic blue, red and white color palette. It was a circular badge with a white background and a thin red outline, where the main part was taken by the blue drawing of a hockey player, placed above the bold red “WHA” abbreviation in a slightly slanted and narrowed sans-serif typeface. The badge looked simple yet bright and cool.
The logo of the World Hockey Association 2 was completely different and looked more like a boxing belt bucket trophy. First of all, its shape: rounded crest with sharp details of the wordmark’s banner. Above the logotype part there was a globe image in gradient blue and red, and under — the hockey puck in black and red. The full lettering was written along the bottom arched part of the badge, and set in blue sans-serif capitals over a light beige background.
The badge comprised quite a few small details, and because of this, it was the type of logo that looked better at larger sizes. For instance, the lettering “World Hockey Association” was only legible provided the logo itself was rather large. The same could be said about the globe in the top part of the emblem. What was visible at any size was, of course, the lettering “WHA 2” in a bold serif typeface.