If you’re even remotely a hockey fan, there’s a good chance you know the Salt Lake City is getting an NHL team. Owner of the Utah Jazz Ryan Smith purchased the Arizona Coyotes from former owner Alex Meruelo for $1.2 billion and began the relocation process to SLC immediately, with the team set to play in the Jazz’s Delta Center beginning in the 2024/25 season.
That purchase did not include the name or branding surrounding the Coyotes so, despite ownership confirming that the new hockey team will simply be labeled as “Utah” on their jerseys for the 24/25 season, the search for a new name has already begun. The Utah hockey team is asking fans to vote on a set of twenty pre-selected team names, and, being that they’re based in Salt Lake City, some of them are pretty heavily ski related.
Of the twenty options, nine can be pretty easily connected to Utah’s ski industry and winter weather in general. The most notable are probably the Black Diamonds, Powder, Mountaineers, and Blizzard. They also include the Squall, Glaciers, Freeze, Ice, and Frost.
Round one of the voting bracket is open until May 22nd, so get your votes in soon if you want to be a part of it!
Obviously it’s not up to just me, but I’m kind of anti-snow related team names, given that we already have the Colorado Avalanche. I’m also anti-people as the mascot, so I’m not for the Mountaineers. Personally I think the Yeti or Outlaws are the two best, but again, that’s just my opinion.
The full list of twenty is as follows:
- Venom
- Squall
- Swarm
- Caribou
- Blizzard
- Mammoth
- Yeti
- Canyons
- Fury
- Glaciers
- Hive
- Outlaws
- Mountaineers
- Freeze
- Ice
- Black Diamonds
- Utah HC
- Powder
- Frost
- Blast
Related: An NHL Team Is Relocating To Salt Lake City
Featured Image Credit: Brent Pace on Unsplash