BRANDON – The Brandon University Bobcats began an exciting new chapter on Wednesday as BU Athletics officially unveiled a revamped visual identity. In 1967-68 the Bobcats era began when Brandon College transitioned to Brandon University. It has been 20 years since the last logo update when the burst logo replaced the traditional Bobcat head logo. The 50th anniversary of the Bobcats in 2017-18 is perfect timing to give the 'Cats a makeover while maintaining the key values instilled in the program from the start. "The rebrand is a highly anticipated step in our long history of representing the campus and community," said BU Athletic Director Russ Paddock. "We are excited incorporate the original Bobcat logo into the new design to pay homage to our proud tradition with the Bobcats and College Caps." The lengthy process for the rebrand started last fall. Project lead and BU Sports Information and Marketing Officer Matt Packwood worked alongside Brandon University's communication and marketing department to finalize the new look over the spring and summer months. "It's a fairly common practice for sports teams, both in the varsity and pro ranks, to update their visual identity every so often," said Packwood. "In the nearly fifty year history of the Bobcats there have been really only two formal logos, the original Bobcat head and the burst logo of the nineties. As such, we felt it was time for an update and we are really happy with what our design team has come up with." BU Athletics teamed up along alongside w/studio to create a new, sleek design that uses clean edges, is modern and is a throw-back to the original Bobcat logo. The Saskatoon based design firm has done prior work with BU as it designed the visual identity system for the entire university. Member of w/studio Ty Johnston has Brandon roots and specifically with the Bobcats. Johnston was proud to play an instrumental role in another significant project for BU. "Designing the Bobcats' logo was pretty special for everyone at w/studio. I know for myself and the other project lead, Ben Myers, it was a unique opportunity to show some local pride as we both grew up in Brandon and took part in summer camps run by the Bobcats," said Johnston. "We are thrilled with the final artwork and are excited to see it all come to life." The new visual identity comes with a complete graphics package with various versions of the logo, a wordmark and specialty font. A thorough BU Bobcat brand identity guide has also been produced.

Smitty's defeated the Precision Toyota Honeybadgers 7-2 tonight to capture the Division 1 crown in the Wendy's Summer Hockey League. For Smitty's Former Wheat King goalie, turned power forward, Tyler Plante picked up 3 points (2g, 1a) as did Jordan Zenk (2g, 1a) and Linden McCorrister (1 g, 2a). Shane Wiebe and Matt Calvert also scored for Smitty's who were missing many key veterans including Mark Derlago, Tristan Grant, Alex Plante and Brock Trotter. Sam Huston and Tyler Jubenvill replied with single markers for the Honeybadgers. Logan Thompson picked up the win in net while Max Paddock suffered the loss. Game Summary

NHL defenseman Joel Edmundson was in the holiday spirit really early this year as he has donated a large quantity of new helmets to the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings program. Edmundson spent two seasons with the AAA Midget Wheat Kings prior to making the transition to the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors in 2010/11. He was drafted 46th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by St. Louis and has spent the last two seasons patrolling the blue line with the Blues. The NHL player, a fan favourite in St. Louis and a huge supporter of the AAA midget program in Brandon, will donate 26 helmets in total.

Brandon's Calen Addison, and his Canadian National Men's Under-18 teammates, captured gold today at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.  They defeated the Czech Republic 4-1 in the championship final. Addison, currently a member of the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes, was held off the score sheet in the final contest. The 179 lb defensemen, a one time member of the AAA Brandon Midget Wheat Kings, had a terrific tournament registering 6 points (2g, 4a) in 5 games. He is draft eligible in 2018. The only other Manitoban on the teams was Winnipeg's Jett Woo, a defensemen who now plays with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The win was Canada's 21st gold medal in 27 years of summer under 18 hockey championships.

The Boyd Stadium project continues to roll along as it nears completion, and they are now ready to start laying sod. Volunteers are required to assist with the project which gets underway Wednesday, August the 16th and runs to Friday, August the 18th. A minimum of 20 people a day are required to assist and organizers are hoping to double that number each day. They will be laying sod daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and any assistance your can provide during that time would be greatly appreciated. Completing this project over these three days will ensure the fields don't weed over are ready for use next year. The committee would also like to thank Alternative Landscaping for helping out with the project and to to D&B Sprinklers for providing the field with the water it will require to get the sod laid.