Bettman meeting with Ryan Smith, owner of Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake (upd: Smith asks NHL to open expansion process)

[Jussi]

Bring on the Utah Coyotes. It makes too much sense at this point.

 

[Boris Zubov]

At this point, you can find Coyotes everywhere in North America except for the very northern reaches of Canada and Alaska. They’ve really expanded their range in the last 30 years. I saw one here in NC a few weeks ago. Several years back, I was camping in the western NC mountains and a pack of them was making a ton of noise in the middle of the night near the campground. Or at least according to the ranger, it was probably two packs with one warning off the other.

But yeah, iconically they’re still a western thing. Utah Coyotes would work… but I bet new ownership outside of Phoenix is going to want to eliminate those kinds of ties to what people see as a failed organization

Plenty of Coyotes here in Central Connecticut. I've seen more here in little over a year than I did while living in Vegas for a decade.

 

[StreetHawk]

Bring on the Utah Coyotes. It makes too much sense at this point.

I don't think there is any 1 animal that you would associate with the state of Utah. They have Mountain Lions, Gray Wolves, Badgers, Moose, Elk, Bison, and Coyotes among the top 10 mammals in the state. Also Desert Tortoise, Gila Monster, and bullfrogs per WorldAtlas.

Lions and Wolves, already have pro teams called Lions and Wolves. Badgers, immediate association is the U. of Wisconsin. Bisons would work and be different than any of the big pro teams or major college program.

Rebranding from the Coyotes, given their poor history is probably the wisest move if they did leave AZ.

 

[Jets4Life]

I'd second that, BUT ... that "Utah Grizzlies" logo trademark is owned by the ECHL ... a League that historically values its trademarks as much as - if not more than - its member teams.

First off, the logo was originally owned by the IHL /AHL Utah Grizzlies. If an AHL team would have no problem relinquishing the trademark for the logo, I doubt a lowly league like the ECHL would. If an NHL team moved into Salt Lake City, like most ECHL teams, they would have to relocate. It's a non-issue.

 

[Brodie]

honestly Utah Coyotes with all of the current branding would still work and would slap... Utah is a southwestern state and is just as entitled to that aesthetic as anyone

 

[No Fun Shogun]

No offense to Coyotes fans, but let's be frank... does the Yotes brand have meaningful value in a new market?

I'm not really seeing a reason to keep the name if the franchise moves elsewhere. It's not like the Raiders and now the A's moving to Las Vegas, those were established and historic brands that admittedly have fallen on hard times as of late. The Yotes brand has had one deep playoff run in its history and not really any semblance of a national draw fanbase-wise.

There are coyotes in Utah and everywhere, but if they move a fresh rebrand seems like it be a smart move.

And count me in the camp that team names should always remain behind if an ownership group ups and leaves. Keep the name and iconography with the folks that gave a damn.

 

[Brodie]

I just don't think there's anything very distinctive about Utah that lends itself to a team name and if you're going generic why bother switching away from the brand that is readymade for the region you're located in

if we're talking the Jazz, sure, but the lack of strong associations with the Arizona Coyotes makes it ideal to just transfer it wholesale to Utah

 

[kaiser matias]

I'd second that, BUT ... that "Utah Grizzlies" logo trademark is owned by the ECHL ... a League that historically values its trademarks as much as - if not more than - its member teams.

I was going to suggest reviving the old Salt Lake Golden Eagles, who played in nearly every minor league except the AHL and ECHL during it's day, but surely the Golden Knights would have issue with the first word, and the NFL Eagles would not be happy with the second. And that's before getting into trademark ownership (the Islanders were the last NHL affiliate, and before them it was Calgary).

 

[LMFAO]

So Quebec city shouldn’t get an NHL team because people there are already habs fans then why Kansas City deserves a team ?

 

[BMN]

There are coyotes in Utah and everywhere, but if they move a fresh rebrand seems like it be a smart move. And count me in the camp that team names should always remain behind if an ownership group ups and leaves. Keep the name and iconography with the folks that gave a damn.

I think you pointed out an e.g. where it works with the Raiders. In fact, I'd argue that's the most successful branding in sports history in terms of friendliness to its owner: the Raiders imagery is all about being outlaw'ish and the Davis family's "we'll take the damn team whereever we want" makes it a highly portable brand that doesn't need to change. Most teams with strong brands have the allure of said brand tied to the city (could you imagine the Packers suddenly playing in Sacramento?) but the Raiders defy that.

While it rankles locals when their team bails *and* takes the name with it, for the relocating team, it can provide some folklore to make their team seem less "new time novelish." The Braves kept their name (admittedly not their original name but still) through two relocations & now it's a 111 year old brand in a market that didn't have *any* Big 4 franchises in the mid 1960s. (Fun fact: because of this, Atlanta has more markers/banners for titles won outside of Atlanta than on (Boston Braves + Milwaukee Braves + St. Louis Hawks > 2 Atlanta Braves).

The Coyotes brand sort of falls in the middle for me as an outsider: It's reasonably generic enough to be portable. But on the other hand, you generally keep a name if you think it has a little bit of bandwagon potential. I don't see much of that in the Yotes brand.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

So Quebec city shouldn’t get an NHL team because people there are already habs fans then why Kansas City deserves a team ?

What?

 

[T_Cage]

There is a LOT of money in Utah (more than most people realize).... If you get the right people to buy in in that state, they can absolutely fund an NHL team

 

[Yukon Joe]

No offense to Coyotes fans, but let's be frank... does the Yotes brand have meaningful value in a new market?

I'm not really seeing a reason to keep the name if the franchise moves elsewhere. It's not like the Raiders and now the A's moving to Las Vegas, those were established and historic brands that admittedly have fallen on hard times as of late. The Yotes brand has had one deep playoff run in its history and not really any semblance of a national draw fanbase-wise.

There are coyotes in Utah and everywhere, but if they move a fresh rebrand seems like it be a smart move.

And count me in the camp that team names should always remain behind if an ownership group ups and leaves. Keep the name and iconography with the folks that gave a damn.

The short answer is - it would be up to the new franchise owners what they want to do.

Honestly in hockey pretty much all hockey relocations involved a name change. Thrashers became the Jets, Whalers became the Hurricanes, Nordiques became the Avalanche, Jets became the Coyotes... Only team I can think of that kept its name in a move was the Flames, and arguably North Stars to Stars.

Because yeah even before that: Scouts->Rockies-> Devils and Seals to Barons.

But I mean Coyotes - it does work for Utah. I don't think they could/should use the kachina logo as that imagery is associated more with the Hopi people who live in Arizone/New Mexico, not Utah. But the base howling coyote has always looked sharp (even if not associated with success), or they could take the name and go in 1000s of different design directions.

Or whatever. When you spend a billion dollars yu can name the team whatever you want - as witnessed by Vegas. (Bill Foley didn't get Black Knights like he wanted, but he got his second choice).

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

So Quebec city shouldn’t get an NHL team because people there are already habs fans then why Kansas City deserves a team ?

You sure you clicked on the right link?

 

[KevFu]

If the Coyotes did move to Salt Lake, they'd want to rebrand the team so it wasn't "The struggling Coyotes" reputation. They'd treat it like a "new franchise" for a while.

 

[Brodie]

Sadly you're probably right that the Kachina coyote is too associated with Hopi and Navajo imagery but the Utes are very closely related culturally and maybe they could keep the color scheme and wider imagery with a different coyote representation

 

[Stumbledore]

No offense to Coyotes fans, but let's be frank... does the Yotes brand have meaningful value in a new market?

There are coyotes in Utah and everywhere, but if they move a fresh rebrand seems like it be a smart move.

And count me in the camp that team names should always remain behind if an ownership group ups and leaves. Keep the name and iconography with the folks that gave a damn.

If folks gave a damn, they'd have a huge TV audience and fans pushing them to stay.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

If folks gave a damn, they've have a huge TV audience and fans pushing them to stay.

They do. The problem is that there's seemingly not enough of them, but they absolutely do have fans that care and are pushing them to stay.

 

[StreetHawk]

If the Coyotes did move to Salt Lake, they'd want to rebrand the team so it wasn't "The struggling Coyotes" reputation. They'd treat it like a "new franchise" for a while.

They would be better off with a re-brand. Don't think there is too much positive out of the Coyotes brand. The main issue is having the time to work on a brand and securing trademarks to whatever name they chose. Could be the Utah Bisons or some other animal that is common within the state.

Smith would be wise to have his marketing staff with the Jazz look into getting trademarks for a variety of names if he is truly interested in an NHL team.

 

[CraigBillington]

Probably something else bee-related,),

or something else with a double z.

The Buzz.

Although, that sounds awful

 

[Shwan]

Utah Pioneers
Utah Frontiersmen
Utah Express (Pony Express)

I personally would develop something to tangentially rope in the certain religious demographic that lives in SLC.

But 100% a rebrand would be needed.

 

[Spydey629]

The Buzz.

Although, that sounds awful

They are the beehive state…. What about “Bees” in general?

Or do the Blue Jackets and Lightning (mascot wise) get to veto that?

 

[Yukon Joe]

Sadly you're probably right that the Kachina coyote is too associated with Hopi and Navajo imagery but the Utes are very closely related culturally and maybe they could keep the color scheme and wider imagery with a different coyote representation

I don't think the Utes are that similar - they're on a different language group, and just googling some Ute artwork shows a very different style.

Now you could totally go with a Ute Indian-inspired design language - that would be quite interesting actually. But it wouldn't be Kachina.

 

[Lt Dan]

I personally would develop something to tangentially rope in the certain religious demographic that lives in SLC.

But 100% a rebrand would be needed.

The SLC Magic Underwear?

 

[Boris Zubov]

They do. The problem is that there's seemingly not enough of them, but they absolutely do have fans that care and are pushing them to stay.

Their games on local TV average 33K viewers. The fans they do have may be super loyal, but the rest of the town couldn't care less.

The SLC Magic Underwear?

View attachment 715357

Jesus Jammies as the locals call them.