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Trademark Filings Provide Clues for NHL Team’s Name in Utah

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The NHL yesterday approved the sale of the Coyotes to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, paving the way for the team’s relocation to the Beehive State. But what will the team be called in its new home?

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the only thing that’s been decided so far is that the team’s geographical locator will be “Utah,” not “Salt Lake City”:

As noted in LeBrun’s tweet, a new team name may take a while. So what will they be called in the meantime? Possibly “Utah Hockey Club,” at least judging by some recent trademark application filings:

Per this article, “All of those have matching domain registrations that were made last week – anonymously, of course – and all of the domain registrations except for Blizzard seem to have been made by the same group.”

Also of note: The Brooklyn-based design firm Doubleday & Cartwright, which created the uniforms for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and MLS’s Inter Miami, has been hired to handle the new Utah NHL identity:

One final note: If you’re going to suggest team names in the comments, please don’t make Mormon jokes. Thanks.

 
  
 
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Comments (140)

    Blah, enough with the s-less nicknames. Stingers is the way to go.
    Would have liked them to go by Salt Lake or Salt Lake City.
    Certainly not a fan of the use of HC or Hockey Club. I get that it works under soccer / European naming tradition, but it doesn’t fit in US pro sports. “Welcome to Salt Lake City, tonight it will be the Flames vs the Hockey Club.” No Thanks.

    That’s not going to be the permanent name but I actually disagree. Flames (etc) vs The Hockey Club,” actually sounds pretty cool.

    Stingers would be great, possibly Swarm as well if they decide to go with a bee themed name.

    It is so clear they should have gone with Salt Lake Stingers. Still refers to the region and not just Salt Lake City but looks like they want to use Utah.

    In the NBA, the joke (before 2014) was always there needed to be a 3 way team name trade. Bobcats go to Utah, Jazz go to New Orleans, and Hornets go to Charlotte.

    This time, why not name the NHL team the Utah Bobcats? Bobcats actually have a connection to Utah.

    my thought exactly…just keep Coyotes. i know it doesn’t really have a connection to Utah, but Jazz REALLY doesn’t have a connection to Utah.

    Nah. Start fresh. I wouldn’t want that stink from the Arizona Coyotes on my team.

    I kinda dig Utah Yetis.

    The NHL is doing what the NFL did when the original Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore. Officially, “Utah HC” will be a semi-expansion team, starting from zero in terms of records and identity but with the roster and staff of the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes history (including the original Winnipeg Jets) and trademarks are being held in escrow until Alex Meruelo, or a successor who has their shit together and hasn’t burned every bridge within 200 miles of Phoenix, can build a proper stadium in the next five years and pay to get the franchise back.

    They can’t keep Coyotes. The previous owner retained the rights and will be given an expansion team if he can line up a stadium in the next five years.

    Personally I think he should stick with “Utah Somethings,” as he stated in the press conference.

    But seriously, a while back, when he was still pushing expansion, he suggested Utah Yeti. I really like that. Utah Blizzard sounds like a minor league team. He had it right with Utah Yeti.

    I saw someone on Reddit suggest Hoodoos as a nickname, and I thought was kind of great. It relates, I think to Bryce Canyon NP:

    link

    I support this idea, solely because the coaching staff could be referred to as the “Hoodoo Gurus”.

    As a lover of Utah’s national parks, this is where my mind immediately went. However, there’s no way on earth Hoodoos would actually happen, as most people would have no idea what it means. So with that being said, I think the Utah Arches would be a more realistic choice.

    I’ve loved the idea of Utah Parks. Simple, and could do some nice logos with delicate arch, and the color palette could include green and red-orange, which would be unique

    Sticking with Coyotes would have been the best option but I guess they can’t do that because of the laughable idea that the Arizona Coyotes might be revived in a few years as part of the terms of the deal

    I have almost no doubt they’ll be revived. If you understand Bettman’s vision, the state of hockey, and what the NHL values in a market, it’s clear as day they’re coming back. So are Atlanta, with Houston to join, and 1 more. Should be Quebec City but NHL will likely spurn Canada again to “expand the game.”

    Can the NHL handle an expansion of 3 or 4 more teams? I don’t watch hockey, but that can’t help the quality of the product.

    Probably yeah. Only reason being, 8 of those teams can be in Canada (7 are now), and hockey is actually super popular in central and northern Europe. Either bigger than or on par with soccer in Scandanavia, Czech Republic, Austria, northern Italy, Switzerland, pretty big in Germany. So there’s a bigger player pool than, you may think.

    The NHL can’t handle the poor talent and bad product it has in bottom 20 teams. Another 4=6 teams will further dilute the product and lead to more awful hockey.

    I’d be interested in a 36-team league that had some form of relegation. Maybe A and B levels at 18 each. Could create more excitement in the mid and lower strength teams, more games matter when your seat to even be at the level to play for the Stanley Cup is at stake each year. Could do an 8 team playoff for the cup each year. As well as two 4 team playoffs (east and west) in the B level to move up to the respective east and west A level the following season. You’d be assured 26 of the 36 teams have something at stake at the end of each season.

    Not sure I see the urgency when Atlanta’s been vacant for 13 years and they could place a team in Houston at any time

    The urgency now is the owners lost a lot of money during COVID and expansion is a quick injection of a lot o money.

    Regarding Atlanta specifically, they feel they have that market figured out now. Where the Thrashers went wrong was playing downtown. As much as hockey doesn’t want to admit it, and it’s not PC to day, hockey is a rich kid’s sport. It just is, that’s the reality.

    The NHL saw what happened when the Braves moved, a new Atlanta NHL team would put their arena in the wealthy northern suburbs of Atlanta and they’ll probably do much better.

    They sound like American Gladiators. I’m pretty sure Fury indeed was an American Gladiator.

    I like the idea of going with Utah Hockey Club until they can figure out a name. No reason to rush it.

    Why do journalists refer to this as a nickname? Aren’t the team names the organizations’ actual corporate names?

    Not exactly, and in some cases, not remotely. While the Eagles, for example, are Philadelphia Eagles, LLC, and the Steelers are Pittsburgh Steelers, LLC, the Commanders’ corporate name is Pro-Football, Inc., and the Seahawks are Football Northwest, LLC.

    link

    I think Utah Yeti would be cool – that little (forced) alliteration. Would give them a lot to work with on mascot and branding.

    I don’t think they could get away with the Yeti nickname. The first mascot of the Colorado Avalanche was a Yeti and they still use the Yeti foot logo in marketing.

    Utah Killer Bees since Utah is the Beehive State. I’m not in favor of calling them the Hive. You can refer to the arena as “the Hive”.

    I’m doubting Killer Bees, partly because of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the CHL that were around for a decade, and later a junior team in the NAHL.

    Appreciate the ask for no Mormon jokes… so many long eye rolls after the last article about the move with “suggestions” that weren’t funny the first time I heard them years ago and aren’t funny now.

    That said, been batting around some ideas, and throwing this out there as something different: the 47’s

    In the spirit of the Niners and Sixers (they’d be the Sevens), it pays homage to the pioneers who arrived in 1847 to Utah, and also adds to the NHL their own “date” name like the NBA and NFL.

    Despite the obvious significance to the history of Utah, I don’t think they would want a name that references something so specifically related to the LDS community

    Pioneers does have a specific regional LDS-connotation but works both ways inside and outside the state. As a non-LDS former Utahn, I really like this possibility.

    Wouldn’t go down well, politically, for the same reason that the Padres would never have that name if they were starting today.

    I’m not a religious person at all. That being said, I don’t think most people would consider 47’s as religious either. I like the Pioneers as well. Even something around 1896. Those are all important historical attachments. I say embrace your history!

    It’s not just the religious connotations, as Utah’s (considerable) Native population probably wouldn’t be thrilled with naming a team after the settlers who came and took their stuff.

    I don’t know if the NHL can handle both an avalanche AND a blizzard

    I understand that Merulo has retained all of the Coyotes IP so that’s completely off the table (unless he wants to license it to the new owner for a year or something).

    Genuine question: this is the first franchise with THREE separate identities, right? There’s been lots with a complete rebrand on relocation, I can’t think of anyone that’s completely rebranded twice like this.

    I’m just thankful the Jets got their IP back and Merulo didn’t also own that.

    Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils.

    Wait what? In other news, the ex-Atlanta Winnipeg Jets have the old IP from ex-Arizona’s Winnipeg time now? I missed that news

    Totally forgot about Scouts-Rockies-Devils. Thanks.

    Yeah, that’s why the Jets are called the Jets and can use the Jets 1.0 IP. It happened when the Coyotes were owned by the league (they took back the Jets IP)

    Oh yeah right…Winnipeg Jets current used Jets pre-Arizona logos for their Reverse Retro uniforms. Duh! I knew that!
    When I read your comment I thought I missed a development about the Jets getting their fragments of history back, which to my knowledge hasn’t happened yet and that would indeed be wholly separate from IP

    Sacramento Kings used to be the Royals in Cincinnati who in turn were the Royals in Rochester and while there were also the Pros and Seagrams.

    Forgot the part when they moved to Kansas City/Omaha before going to Sacramento

    The original Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns, and are now the second (and current) Baltimore Orioles.

    Yeah, I figured there was going to be some examples like that. The first few years of all of the leagues are so chaotic.

    Chicago Packers/Zephyrs –> Baltimore/Washington Bullets –> Washington Wizards.

    MLB: Hold my beer…
    Boston Red Stockings→Red Caps→Beaneaters→ Doves→Rustlers→Braves→Bees→Braves→Milwaukee Braves→Atlanta Braves

    Brooklyn Grays→Atlantics→Grays→Bridegrooms→Grooms→Bridegrooms→Superbas→Trolley Dodgers→Dodgers→Robins→Dodgers→Los Angeles Dodgers

    Perfect place to revitalize the Whalers nickname!

    In all seriousness, I would see if they could get the Grizzlies nickname from the ECHL club that was previously used in the IHL and AHL.

    Elk, Pioneers, Mountain Lions are other good names

    If Utah goes no-name at first, they’d need a logo that could be for literally anything at all in Utah. Most boring case scenario, they have Utah across the chest like the Dallas Stars in 2008, and maybe a map of Utah with crossed sticks as a shoulder logo. Hope they can come up with something more exciting, but once again that sounds like a tough assignment without a name.
    Then I wonder if the team would get a waiver to have new jerseys faster with a nickname. If not, you’d have your home Utah no-name, your away Utah no-name, then an alternate that reflects the team name, then you switch home and alternate, and wait out the clock until the away jersey can match a named identity

    I’m thinking it could be a situation modeled on what we have seen in the PWHL this year. The league started play this season with no team names and fairly generic uniforms. The idea is that PWHL teams will have names and logos next season.

    Utah could pick the team colours and have the generic placeholder uniforms for the upcoming first season without a team name.

    I’m for anything that would work synonymously with Avalanche. Blizzard, Snowstorm, Yeti, etc. I want a fierce rivalry in the Rocky Mountain states

    Blizzard v Avalanche. Let’s go.

    (I sincerely hope they go with a more traditional name).

    Ugh, please no singular form team names or irregular plural forms. It’s so bush league.

    Swarm. Utah Swarm sounds nice and has the Hive State link. First I was thinking Blizzard, does sound nice enough, but Swarm sounds better. With a nice US monogram on the shoulders as a secondary logo.

    I think it will be pretty disappointing if they don’t use Bees in some manner. Salt Lake City Bees has a better ring than Utah Bees if they do, but it sounds like “Utah” is locked in. Salt Lake City Bees also feels more like an established team name that has been around for a century.

    I desperately hope it is not Blizzard or Venom, those are Arena Football names at best.

    I’m sorry, but how do you get that far into negotiations without having a team name in mind? Now the move is official and imminent and they STILL didn’t iron any of that out?

    Typical NHL amateur hour.

    When the owner says he’s not gonna rush things, my immediate reaction is, wow, someone is taking himself a little too seriously.

    Imagine if all teams in US league history took such an approach. Geez …

    -C.

    I’m no lawyer but it seems that arranging all the trademarks, IP, domain names and social handles and all that is surprisingly difficult.

    The Cleveland baseball team spent how many years trying to change its name, and when they finally picked Guardians, they had to settle up with some small time roller derby team with the same name.

    Look at how many issues Vegas had getting a seemingly generic name like Golden Knights, they had to fend of a military parachute group that no one in 2,000 years would confuse for a hockey team.

    Have you ever worked in branding? I do, and it takes a helluva long time if you’re doing it right. The ideation, market research, IP arrangements, logo design, color scheme, social media handles, lettering…the list goes on and it takes over a year if you’re not rushing it. I can also tell you that despite being in negotiations, you can’t really do the heavy lifting until the ink is dried and the team has formally changed hands. Otherwise, you run the risk of the other party pulling out or any number of stupid things nuking the deal and then being stuck with millions sunk in retainers for the outside vendors you brought in for the rebrand. The timeline is way too compressed to come up with a new brand identity and have it rolled out in time for the new season, so they’re stuck in no-man’s land. If this was a normal expansion process as SEG originally intended, they’d have had years to work on this, not months. I give Ryan Smith a lot of credit for acknowledging that.

    You can pick one or the other: either you get goofy or generic names the owner personally thought of without any groundwork done and stuck with it, or a team in transition takes its proper time. Demanding that a pro team dream up a cool and unique name, logo, and brand in like 2-3 months just isn’t feasible.

    The Rockies work so well for Colorado, I would love to see the logos, uniforms and branding for the Utah Arches.

    If one has to be told that utah has some connection to bees, it doesnt work. No one is walking around ready to associate bees when they hear Utah. So we can knock that off, right?

    Also, stingers, buzz, etc…amateur sounding dogshit.

    And ‘hockey club’ doesnt work because that us a given. And its why they need a name.
    Ffs just call them “team that plays home games in Utah”. Where is the line drawn?

    That’s assuming that there must be a connection to the team location and the name. I happen to know that both New York NFL and San Francisco MLB players — or even each city’s residents — are no taller than their peers. Sometimes the association grows even when there is a geographical mismatch (c.f. Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, etc.). “Bees” would work fine, or maybe it won’t, but that would be irrespective of whether people get the association or not. Sometimes names just sound cool.

    No one has even mentioned the obvious choice, the Utah Golden Eagles. Returning to our first hockey team and revive that fan base.

    I think the NHL and the Golden Knights would object to another Golden insert noun team name.

    Revive the fanbase? Raise from the dead? Who alive remembers it?

    Also, one team with a ridiculous Golden as an adjective in the team name is one too many.

    Lets not have high school mascots as pro team mascots.

    I despise singular team names on principle, but that seems to be the norm now for the NHL, so whatever. I’d love to see HC for Hockey Club, even as an interim identity, Washington NFL style. Then Blizzard in a couple of seasons when all the marketing and design has the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

    How is it the norm? Only 4 of the 32 teams are singular, and of the last 11 expansions, only 3 of them were singular.

    I don’t really follow hockey, but I thought Utah Yeti was a great name. It seems like they’re not really mentioning that as a possibility anymore. Based on the comments of more knowledgeable fans, it sounds like the Avalanche are claiming that is part of their brand. That’s a shame. Yeti versus Kraken would’ve been classic.

    Superbas, Tip-Tops, Maroons, Beaneaters, Tally-Hos. Or, let the sportswriters come up with one as in the old days.

    I like Utah Yetis. I like Utah Bees. I don’t like the singular metaphorical entity names.

    Utah (Bee) Keepers. Picturing a primary logo that with a goalie helmet with facemask that suggests a bee hive. Instead of a roundel, the logo is contained within a hexagon. Black and Gold for team colors.

    As a Utahn, I really hope we don’t get a singular or irregular plural name. Alos, Bees/Buzz have already been played out locally with minor league baseball. A reference to Golden Eagles would be a great throw-back to the city’s original hockey team. Who cares if there are Golden Knights in the league?!

    Name aside, let’s talk uni’s! I just hope somebody at that consulting firm frequents this site. It’s HOCKEY for God’s sake- give us some striped socked, two toned green/whites, w a logo that looks 50 years old- not a horrendously busy hodge-podge of purple/red-rock/aquamarine disasters that belong in the XFL!

    Coming back to throw this out there: Utah Raptors

    It is quite literally the state dinosaur after all. Too bad Toronto rose that Jurassic Park hype back in the 90’s as this would have been such a great name and fit for Utah otherwise.

    Throw Raptors back into the garbage.

    Unless a lame name is the goal. All jurassic park benefits were used up years ago by Toronto. No value anymore.

    Also, a state having an official dinosaur is not something that should ever be given status or attention. Its the height of pretentiousness.
    AND raptor means bird of prey. Toronto should rebrand; we dont need 2 of these out there.

    You are aware there is a dinosaur literally called the Utah Raptor, yes? Not just “raptor” but the Utah Raptor is its official name and their bones have been found all throughout Utah. Which is why it became the natural fit for the state dinosaur.

    Don’t have to like it, nor will it actually be the name, but there was nothing Jurassic Park or prentious about the raptor getting that name or designation.

    Utah has one of the highest concentration of dinosaur and prehistoric fossils in the world. U of Utah and BYU both have internationally renowned paleontology departments. There are multiple state parks where you can check out dinosaur fossils and tracks, and as another commenter pointed out, there is literally a Raptor named after Utah. So yeah, a state dinosaur makes perfect sense in Utah. Get the (Salt Lake) bee out of your bonnet and chill out.

    Of the names listed I don’t mind “Blizzard” but “Stingers” is definitely the way to go.

    Bees/Buzz/Stingers/Sting have all been done in Salt Lake with minor league baseball and soccer.

    And what is the theme music for the minnesota timberwolves?
    Or the sacramento kings?
    The Wizards?

    Any team?

    I’m hoping none of those five are actually a consideration. Three names that would make better fits for low minor league teams of the 90’s – in hockey or other sports, plus two names that couldn’t be more generic.

    Golden Eagles colors could fit quite nicely in the NHL.

    I’ve already mentioned that all things ‘Bees’ are played out locally, but we could revive the name of an old Salt Lake minor-league baseball team that Bill Murray once partially owned and become the Utah Trappers.

    As for your other suggestions, I’m afraid you’re Utah knowledge may be a bit….dated, my friend.

    From upstate New York but love Utah!!
    Think the Utah Buzz a great name with the Hive for the arena.
    can come up with some great logos and merchandise!

    What they could do is anything. What they will do has little or nothing to do with what is discussed by interested people outside of the organization.

    And btw…guessing the name they eventually choose wins no one anything. In fact, person(s) who claim to have guessed right after the fact- even if telling the truth- are called liars.

    My recommendations for it to not sound too minor league (fury and blizzard are very minor league names)

    1.) mustangs – fast, wild, tribute to the west. Logo could potentially iconic

    2.) rattlers – fierce, short name, state related

    3.) Thunderbolts – this is the reach, but in WW2 the p-47 was based in Utah. Use the plane in the logo. Obvious with the Lightning already in the league it’s very close and steals their “bolts” nickname so likely out. But an homage to WW2 always plays well.

    Is there a logo that could NOT be iconic?
    How is it determined?

    Also, taking initiative in an effort to own a commodity someone else is willing to pay you for is not being a troll.

    Being a troll is suggesting its a negative thing to capitalize on capitalism.

    One thing I hate to consider, how many of these trademark/domain filings are by trolls, hoping to cash in on a name they’re already snarfed up?

    And I might was well throw my $0.02 in:
    * Blizzard is too close to Avalanche for my tastes
    * Coyotes! Yes! Keep the Coyotes!

    In tribute to “My Cousin Vinny”: Utah Youths.

    (Which also gets around the problem of the University of Utah already using the name in question.)

    I have no skin in this game at all as I’m a Stars fan, but I think we’re due for another bird team in the NHL… Maybe the Utah Kestrel or The Utah Shrike would be cool?

    Utah Yetis or Utah Yeti gets my vote. Bighorns is intriguing, but I fear it would have too many crass jokes associated with it. If the owner had decided to go with Salt Lake City instead of Utah, I would have voted for the Stingers. It just seems perfect for hockey team in the state of Utah.

    One thing to remember: The Seattle Hockey Club filed for 13 names when they were deciding for a name. They had Seattle Cougars, Seattle Eagles, Seattle Emeralds, Seattle Evergreens, Seattle Firebirds, Seattle Kraken, Seattle Rainiers, Seattle Renegades, Seattle Sea Lions, Seattle Seals, Seattle Sockeyes, Seattle Totems and Seattle Whales. I think you will see more filings for the Utah hockey team within the next few months.

    Utah was going to be in the team name for the same reason the MLB team will if it comes here – the state required it as part of funding the new venues.

    Personally, I’d love to see them use Stonecutters. The original LDS Temple was built with granite cut out from Big Cottonwood Canyon and stone mining is still very active in the state. Utah Stonecutters doesn’t have the alliteration, but still sounds sufficiently tough enough for a hockey club. Plus, the in-stadium PA could have so much fun with “STONE-Cutttttterrrrzzzzz” like it’s Smackdown.

    I appreciate the kibosh on Mormon jokes. They’re just lazy 99% of the time. If you’re gonna come after the state, at least go with a deep cut and call us like the Cold Fusions or Fry Sauces or Provo All-Stars. Lord knows this place is dorky enough to make jokes for days.

    I previously suggested it be called the Utah Arches, but only if the NOBs were vertically arched.

    A backup idea … call them the Utah Hockey Organ-i-zation for a year before transitioning to Commanders. Uh, never mind.

    Utah teams have historically used the letter Z, as seen in the Jazz, Buzz, Grizzlies, Starzz, Catzz, Freezz, Blitzz, Pioneerzz, Owlz, and Blaze. Who happened to be born in Utah? Frank Zamboni. You can imagine what he happened to invent. The best name possible, in my opinion, is the Utah Zamboniz.

    As a 12 year old girl, in 1969, my dad took me to my very first hockey game in the Salt Palace to see the Golden Eagles. I was totally memorized and I have been a hockey junkie ever since. I always wanted to play hockey but back then, girls did very little in that arena. I moved away from Utah and live in Canada and finally realized my dream on a women’s rec team for 12 years. Not exactly the WNHL but not bad for a girl who grew up in Salt Lake with only one ice rink to speak of (in Sugar House, Hygeia Iceland,) where maybe once a year we put on figure skates and wobbled around in a circle.) I am so excited and pretty jealous that now Salt Lake will have a NHL team and I won’t be there. But I’ll cheer from Canada. I’m going for the Utah Swarm- What is more intimidating to an opposing team than a swarm of stinging bees with hockey sticks coming at you? GO SWARM!

    The Wasatch FRONT

    “Today, 85% of Utah’s population lives within 15 miles (24 km) of the Wasatch Range, mainly in the valleys just to the west. This westside concentration is known as the Wasatch Front and has a population of well over 2,000,000. Salt Lake City lies between the Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake.” (Wasatch Range – Wikipedia)

    “FRONT, noun (1) : VANGUARD (2) : a line of battle (3) : a zone of conflict between armies (6) b : a position of leadership or superiority” (Merriam-Webster)

    I totally get that this wouldn’t really work. But slightly cool idea. Utah Arches gets my vote

    A few name ideas (and logos): the Utah Peaks (towering mountains)… the Utah Demons (a shadowy figure)… or the Utah Nighthawks (a bird).

    I’m putting my money on Utah Blizzard. It’s got the two z’s. Not my favorite but better than the other trademarked names.

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