Utah team name polling opens, list of potential names revealed

[lakeshirts37]

Here's a compilation I made of my favorite logos for some of the finalists, utilizing the generic HC logo colors which I would almost guarantee are brought forward to the final design (not that they won't also add a pop of a third or fourth accent color).

Many of the AI concepts are slick but WAY too busy for a hockey sweater or modern logo. I think like @rt has mentioned, if the graphic design/branding company that Smith hired is known for simpler, modern logos - then some of these fit that profile of "would they look clean and clear on a hockey sweater during a game".

I'm also not a fan of logos where it's like "HEY ADD CROSSING HOCKEY STICKS BEHIND THE LOGO SO PEOPLE KNOW IT'S HOCKEY".

Outlaws Logo: By @rt from AI - recolored. I think if they do Outlaws they will lean into something "western" like this as opposed to actually having some hockey-masked "bad guy".

Yeti Logo: From thefaceoff.net - not sure by whom - recolored. Love the incorporation of the "U" and one of the few Yeti logos I have seen where the Yeti isn't some super weird looking, disproportional face.

Mammoth Logo: A concept logo not for Utah but just for a Mammoth-themed team by Thomas Hatfield from Dribble - recolored. Simple, bold, stylish and well-proportioned.

Venom Logo: By @HabsGifs on X (not sure if they created it or were just posting it from elsewhere). One of the few Venom/Viper/Snake themes that doesn't look overly detailed. Slick potential for an interlocking "U & V" secondary here.

chatgpt can create these - I really hope they look better than this

 

[BKarchitect]

chatgpt can create these - I really hope they look better than this

I mean AI did create some of these. One hopes an actual human professional design and branding company can create something better.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

The Utah “Singular Noun” are going to shoot up to the top of my least favorite teams lists

 

[cptjeff]

Meh….

I think it has a lot more to do with the proliferation of soccer fans among younger generations in America and the clearly incorrect assumption among owners they are capturing some marketing zeitgeist by mimicking the European model of naming. SLC is already home to perhaps the weakest example of all with “Real Salt Lake”.

It’s also the placeholder name for franchises as of late, including the Utah one so it makes some sense to include it moving forward in the voting poll in the low likelihood is somehow catches on.

Nobody is politically or morally outraged about any of the 20 listed names suggested by ownership so the idea that the is some “oh clearly ownership is just being pandering and PC” is an absurd notion. Last I checked, “Fighting Mormons” was not on the any serious list.

The negative publicity will come and has been coming because everybody online has an opinion and a reason they think all the names are “stupid”. Why are we trying to label this a PC exercise?

Say, has anyone heard of this obscure hockey team called "The Canadian Hockey Club"? I think it's normally written in French as "le Club de hockey Canadien"

I mean, I don't love that naming system, but it isn't exactly unprecedented in North American pro sports.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Say, has anyone heard of this obscure hockey team called "The Canadian Hockey Club"? I think it's normally written in French as "le Club de hockey Canadien"

I mean, I don't love that naming system, but it isn't exactly unprecedented in North American pro sports.

Being older than dirt grandfathers you in. There's more than enough American soccer teams with European-style naming systems that drives the disdain for it. Remember when the Montreal Impact changed their name? Fans complained loudly, ticket sales plummeted, and a second new badge had to be designed to at least bridge the gap within a couple years. A completely unnecessary and costly error of their own making. That was for an existing team, but 'Club de Foot Montreal' was unable to steal any of the prestige they were trying for.

Rooting for a soccer team with the word Galaxy in the official name feels a bit weird when talking with Europeans, but I'd rather root for a team with a unique identity that makes sense for where it is than one pretending to have a history it doesn't.

There's also an element to feeling like any organization who does that thinks that they're above the naming conventions that have dominated the US & Canada for well over a century. That's our history, not this borrowed off-brand junk.

I hate names that aren't possessives in general, but no matter how stupid I find the name Minnesota Wild I'd still take it over Minnesota HC. That's where I stand with these names.

Then again this is a market that stomachs a team named Real Salt Lake - the single most egregious faux-European name in American sports.

 

[aufheben]

Venom very pro beach hockey.

 

[Blowfish]

No Yeti?

 

[Spargon]

No Yeti?

Look again.

 

[hfman]

Utah Snakes
Utah Reptiles
Utah Vermin

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Just going to say that the official state cooking pot of Utah is the dutch oven, so probably a pretty big missed opportunity there.

 

[hfman]

Utah Oasis
Utah Serpents
Utah Rattlesnakes
Utah Rattlers
Utah Boas
Utah Constrictors
Utah Snakes
Utah Vipers
Utah Corn Snakes
Utah Common Watersnakes


But I mean how can you go wrong with the Utah Snakes

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

Utah Oasis
Utah Serpents
Utah Rattlesnakes
Utah Rattlers
Utah Boas
Utah Constrictors
Utah Snakes
Utah Vipers
Utah Corn Snakes
Utah Common Watersnakes


But I mean how can you go wrong with the Utah Snakes

I do kinda like Utah Sidewinders 🛩

 

[Guardian17]

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

The Utah Abominables.

On a serious note, I don’t mind the jerseys they’ve announced. They’ve been upfront all this time about matching the Jazz colors, and the recent “Sky blue” and black Jazz colors are featured in UTAH’s scheme like they said would happen.

Plus, they remind me of U of Maine’s sets (minus the shoulder yoke) which are kind of sharp. I wonder if Utah HC will go with sky blue / (mountain blue) helmets and pantshells for their road whites.

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

If Yeti comes out on top in polling, the old school Edmonton Ice logos are somewhat ‘on brand’ for Utah with the whole mountain peak and a hockey stick wielding Yeti angle.

 

[Slimmy]

It has to be Yeti. Utah Yeti is so cute. Let the unis be pink.

 

[mattihp]

The color scheme is nice. Would love see something more daring though.

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

The color scheme is nice. Would love see something more daring though.

If you use the Utah Jazz’s brand revamp as a barometer, (black/white/mountain blue are all there) maybe the hockey team will also use a version of the “mountain purple” in their 2025-2026 sets. D&C are handling the Jazz revamp as well, so a cohesive 2025-2026 rollout of both team’s new look might not be out of the question.

Mountain Blue and purple would certainly be daring color palette skating around the ice.

 

[mattihp]

View attachment 883919
If you use the Utah Jazz’s brand revamp as a barometer, (black/white/mountain blue are all there) maybe the hockey team will also use a version of the “mountain purple” in their 2025-2026 sets. D&C are handling the Jazz revamp as well, so a cohesive 2025-2026 rollout of both team’s new look might not be out of the question.

Mountain Blue and purple would certainly be daring color palette skating around the ice.

I love purple

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

I love purple

There’s a clamoring from hockey fans for purple to return. Utah has a chance to possibly get there first.

 

[StreetHawk]

My only problem with Blizzard is that their closest geographic rival will be the Avalanche, and it's thematically a bit too similar for comfort.

Mammoth is also the NLL team for Colorado.

Honestly, I think it's either Venum (with a bee logo), or it's Yeti.

 

[cptjeff]

Mammoth is also the NLL team for Colorado.

Honestly, I think it's either Venum (with a bee logo), or it's Yeti.

No offense to the lacrosse lovers out there, but that's like worrying if the local travel youth baseball program is using the name.

 

[DrandonBudinsky]

Mammoth is also the NLL team for Colorado.

Honestly, I think it's either Venum (with a bee logo), or it's Yeti.

If “Kraken” won out because of a large contingency citing the meme, Yeti certainly has a chance. Cryptozoology fans rejoice!

The question will go to how long does it have for staying power say- 10, 30, 50 years from now.

Come to think of it. Aren’t the New Jersey Devils named after the pine barrens devil?

 

[Sniperberg]

I hope they stick with Utah Hockey Club. Just keep it simple like that.

 

[Stive Morgan]

I'm down for Venom if they can also get some Marvel/Disney rights.

Screw the snakes, it's all about spiders and symbiotes:

Damnnn I totally forgot Eric Calderone existed. Glad to see he's still going