Well I am not sure, but like mentioned above they were the entire NHL for a ~25 year span so most older people (65+ years old), grew up with those teams only. For some reason, the majority of those teams claim a ton of tradition and very little change in logos, uniforms and colors. Besides the Hawks and Rangers, they all have a ton of championships too. When you think about it, there are only 14 NHL franchises that pre-date the 1979 WHA merger and have stayed in the same city since then. In reality there should be an original 14: Chicago Blackhawks Detroit Red Wings Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens Boston Bruins New York Rangers St. Louis Blues Los Angeles Kings Vancouver Canucks Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins Buffalo Sabres Washington Capitals New York Islanders For historical purposes, the Kings, Canucks, Sabres, Capitals and Islanders have drastically changed their logos/color schemes since their inception making them seem slightly less historical. People love the idea of going to a hockey game or watching one on TV and seeing the teams in the exact same jerseys as they were wearing 30+ years ago. Theres something very old timey about that I guess.