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Utah team name polling opens, list of potential names revealed

QuizGuy66 said:
Hurricanes - tbh honest at least it was plural. I always associate Florida more with hurricane season but really nothing would meet my approval as they should still be in Hartford and the Whalers (and I hate hate hate that Karamanos brings that out now but I digress)

Coyotes was always an excellent choice and played well off the hockey history of the minors team that was there being the Roadrunners.

Wild. Nailed the two-way logo. Terrible name. Singular names are terrible in general.

Predators was fine - the link was on the obscure side being named for a fossil and though I don't like the color I give massive respect to them for picking the distinctive look in a sea of hipster colors and black.

Blue Jackets is unweildly but ultimately I give them a pass because it is nice that a team for once honored the WINNING side of the Civil War

Golden Knights. I though a bit of a mouthful tbh but since they couldn't be Black Knights I get it. Coulda been worse. (Side note the contention over using Black Knights - because Army - shows why all the duplicate names won't cut it in Utah. Raptors and Grizzlies are NBA names (and Utah's owner wouldn't do that to partners). Saints is already NHL. It has happened (hell Carolina Panthers and Winnipeg once and future Jets) but hard to stand out with a recycled name).

Kraken. Knew it was fate that this awful name would be picked but again boo on the singular names. Utah will surely go down the same awful road.

The Stars got hate from Minnesota but really the other contending logical name would have been Lone Stars - but too easy to make jokes on that.

Sharks stands out as a perfect example of getting it right - perhaps all the more surprising as that was done 100% via marketing/branding research types.

I am proudest as a Devils fan that the team kept that dumb Disney name off the Cup. Glad that franchise in Anaheim rectified that later.

Devils won a contest and was an excellent choice. Way better than what the owner wanted (the process basically got hijacked by a local newspaper contest that wasn't asked for). For all the years McMullen owned the team my invoice envelopes always bore the corporate version of name that he really wanted to give them: Meadowlanders Inc -- thank you for bailing us out newspaper contest!
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interesting stuff. Thanks for that.
 
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QuizGuy66 said:
Wild. Nailed the two-way logo. Terrible name. Singular names are terrible in general.

Golden Knights. I though a bit of a mouthful tbh but since they couldn't be Black Knights I get it. Coulda been worse. (Side note the contention over using Black Knights - because Army - shows why all the duplicate names won't cut it in Utah. Raptors and Grizzlies are NBA names (and Utah's owner wouldn't do that to partners). Saints is already NHL. It has happened (hell Carolina Panthers and Winnipeg once and future Jets) but hard to stand out with a recycled name).

Kraken. Knew it was fate that this awful name would be picked but again boo on the singular names. Utah will surely go down the same awful road.

Devils won a contest and was an excellent choice. Way better than what the owner wanted (the process basically got hijacked by a local newspaper contest that wasn't asked for). For all the years McMullen owned the team my invoice envelopes always bore the corporate version of name that he really wanted to give them: Meadowlanders Inc -- thank you for bailing us out newspaper contest!
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Nailed it with the Wild commentary. Their visual identity is perfect.

I'll never let go that they should've been the Vegas Knights. It's the double entendre with 'Vegas nights' i.e. the experience that pretty much everyone thinks about when the go to Vegas that would've made it perfect. I hate it even more that it prevents Utah from being the Golden Eagles which is one of the few names that I don't actually hate for that franchise.

Kraken is okay for now but I do think that's going to look really dated in about 15 years and I wouldn't be surprised to see a brand identity change within the next two decades.

New Jersey Meadowlanders would've been franchise suicide. New Jersey Devils is perfect and the logo is perfect as well.

Machinehead said:
Fine with Outlaws, I guess.

Utah Yeti just sounds stupid.
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Utah Outlaws is the only name on the list that doesn't sound like a minor-league franchise or an arena football team.

I will forever root against the first NHL fanchise that breaks the tradition of picking a team name and goes by something like 'Utah HC.' It's so incredibly boring and I will wish a Buffalo Sabres kind of fate for their franchise.
 
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Snubbed4Vezina said:
Nailed it with the Wild commentary. Their visual identity is perfect.

I'll never let go that they should've been the Vegas Knights. It's the double entendre with 'Vegas nights' i.e. the experience that pretty much everyone thinks about when the go to Vegas that would've made it perfect. I hate it even more that it prevents Utah from being the Golden Eagles which is one of the few names that I don't actually hate for that franchise.

Kraken is okay for now but I do think that's going to look really dated in about 15 years and I wouldn't be surprised to see a brand identity change within the next two decades.

New Jersey Meadowlanders would've been franchise suicide. New Jersey Devils is perfect and the logo is perfect as well.


Utah Outlaws is the only name on the list that doesn't sound like a minor-league franchise or an arena football team.

I will forever root against the first NHL fanchise that breaks the tradition of picking a team name and goes by something like 'Utah HC.' It's so incredibly boring and I will wish a Buffalo Sabres kind of fate for their franchise.
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Sabres is a stupid name too.

I guess we can get used to anything.
 
Machinehead said:
Sabres is a stupid name too.

I guess we can get used to anything.
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At least they're not The Buffalo Sabre.

And I share your dislike for "Utah Yeti". They're trying for something big and scary; instead it sounds like a bad attempt at alliteration. "Utah Outlaw" sounds like a TV western from the 1960's, but at least it's an interesting theme... maybe a crest featuring Yosemite Sam.
 
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The Outlaws is a horrible generic name that's been overused. Why are any of you choosing that one?
Also why would they name their team after what are essentially criminals?

Utah Yetis doesn't make much sense, but at least it sounds nice and would make for good team marketing. (also note that the plural of yeti is "yetis", so I'm not sure why so many people are saying "yeti".)

Ultimately they need to actually let creative people come up with a list of cool unique names to choose from, because the masses are terrible at it.
 
Lshap said:
At least they're not The Buffalo Sabre.

And I share your dislike for "Utah Yeti". They're trying for something big and scary; instead it sounds like a bad attempt at alliteration. "Utah Outlaw" sounds like a TV western from the 1960's, but at least it's an interesting theme... maybe a crest featuring Yosemite Sam.
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Even if it were Yetis, it would at least be a bit better.

Why is there one Yeti?
 
I kinda think they could go adjacent to Outlaws - like the same meaning, but a different word.

Utah Highwaymen?

Still has a “Wild West outlaw” theme to it.
 
Mammoths wouldn’t be terrible if they would just add the freaking ‘s’ at the end.

Still not a fan of Yeti and also should have an ‘s’ and yes, although the Avs have “retired” their Bigfoot identity (until they inevitably bring it all back as some sort of alternate retro look), I still think Yeti is way too close of a thematic identity. But I guess I get the appeal of having a concise name with the alliteration sound.

Outlaws doesn’t have to be generic if you build a good branding package around it - and I think it presents many more interesting options for graphics and palette than going full hog on some sort of wintry mountain themed identity.

Most identities will have been used by some sort of minor league or fantasy team across the North American sports spectrum at some point - so I’m not sure calling the entire list “dumb and minor league and unoriginal” has much merit. Either you come up with some crazy name that is so unique nobody has ever used it - and you’ll likely be mocked for that as well…or you take a name some athletic franchise has used before and build a strong, professional branding identity around it to elevate it.
 
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