We’ve been talking about what the league ought to do to bring fans back and win new ones following the disastrous lockout that wiped out last season, and yessirree, Bob, this is bound to be a smash.

The old shield logo was black with the orange letters “NHL” slanting down toward the lower right between parallel lines. The new one — get this — has silver instead of orange, and the letters slant up toward the upper right!

Lost in this new design is the clever element of the “L,” with its obtuse angle, looking like a hockey stick. But we must make sacrifices in the name of progress. The upward-slanting letters “project a vibrant, optimistic image,” according to the league.

Optimism is generally an admirable trait, but it’s also kind of the default when you’ve got no place to go but up.