Smoky's buffalo faces greener pastures
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Smoky Hill High School's goathead logo is everywhere, including Goodwill. Photo: Robert Sanchez/Axios
Students returning to Smoky Hill High School next week will see a lot less of one familiar face.
Zoom in: Smoky's longtime red, white and green "goathead" logo faces long odds after the National Hockey League challenged a design that closely mirrors the Buffalo Sabres' mark.
Why it matters: Don't expect an overnight buffalo banishment.
Between the lines: Trademark expert and University of Colorado law professor James Juo sees another path:
- Smoky could adopt a new logo, while simultaneously hoofing out its goathead as uniforms, equipment and facilities gradually require replacement.
That could spare Smoky Hill an expensive rebrand — and the NHL a reputation as a trademark bully.
"It's generally not a good idea to go around suing schools," Juo tells Axios.
Flashback: An Axios review of nearly 30 Smoky yearbooks shows the goathead — which appears to differ from the Sabres' only in fur ruffling and one color — dates to at least 2001.
Driving the news: The NHL contacted the Cherry Creek School District last month about Smoky's logo.
- The move doesn't appear part of a broader NHL logo crackdown.
Follow the money: Juo says merchandising likely triggered the NHL's concern.
- The biggest hint comes from a district letter to the school community last month that says goathead clothing and swag won't be sold this fall.
- "We are working to provide non-logo Smoky Hill gear..." the district wrote.
Friction point: No one's talking about why the NHL's targeting Smoky now.
- The district declined an Axios interview. Neither the NHL nor the Sabres returned messages seeking comment.
Yes, but: Online chatter preceded the announcement. The Sabres celebrated the logo's 30th anniversary this season.
Context: Smoky Hill has bogarted bison before.
- A 1997 yearbook shows a student sporting a modern CU-style buffalo.
- The tennis team also once used a Buffalo Bills-style logo.
- Some 1980s football helmets included a snorting buffalo vaguely similar to a 1940s CU mark.
Zoom out: Colorado schools have faced similar trademark headaches.
- Thornton phased out a Texas Tech copy in 2016, while Horizon changed its University of Iowa-style hawk.
Juo says Smoky could raise a "laches argument," claiming the NHL long knew about its logo and waited too long to act.
- But the school would need to prove that — and even a win could prove costly.
What's next: The district told the school community that "[i]f changes to the current logo become necessary," students, staff, families and alumni will help develop a replacement logo.
- The school colors and Buffalo mascot would remain unchanged.
🧠 My thought bubble: The school probably shouldn't pick one of these logos.