(All opinions expressed in this article are my own)
The hockey community has rallied around the Utah Hockey Club since its inception this past offseason, and now the community is trying to figure out what the team’s permanent name will be. In this edition of NHL Recap, we’ll discuss the different name options and how the organization is using fan input to help decide.
THE ORIGINS OF THE UTAH HOCKEY CLUB
The Arizona Coyotes rebranded to the Utah Hockey Club as a result of numerous internal issues. The team was evicted from their arena in Glendale, Arizona after missing multiple payments and ended up playing their last two seasons at Arizona State University’s rink in Tempe. The team was purchased by the Smith Entertainment Group, which also owns the Utah Jazz and the Delta Center, on April 18, 2024, for $1.2 billion. The team was named the Utah Hockey Club for the 2024-25 season with the intention of establishing a permanent name before the start of the 2025-26 season.
UTAH’S PERMANENT NAME
The options for the franchise’s name have come down to three finalists: the Utah Mammoth, the Utah Outlaws or remain the Utah Hockey Club. Originally the ballot included the Utah Wasatch (referring to the Wasatch Mountain Range in Utah), but fans chose to replace the option with the Utah Outlaws. Another popular suggestion was the Utah Yetis, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied the trademark application claiming that the name was too similar to other companies that already used the word “yeti”.
One of the organization’s key goals in the naming process has been fan involvement, and fans were asked to voice their opinions at voting stations in Delta Arena from Jan. 29 – Feb. 4. Potential logos for each of the three name options were leaked to social media near the end of the fan-voting process, but the leaked logos are drafts and are likely not reflective of the final designs.
Even though fan voting has ended and no official announcement has been made, the organization continues to reassure people that there will be an official name, logo and mascot before next season.
