As our colleague Frank Seravalli reported throughout the week, big things are afoot in the desert, with the Arizona Coyotes on the verge of being sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and relocated to Salt Lake City.
While nothing is done yet, let’s play out the hypothetical. What would your suggested name for the Utah/Salt Lake City franchise be? Keeping in mind that there’s a potential agreement allowing the Coyotes to be ‘revived’ at a later date as an expansion club, which makes it all but certain that Utah would adopt a full rebrand.
MATT LARKIN: Utah is known to some as the ‘Beehive State,’ with the hive symbolizing hard work, co-operation and industry. Sounds a lot like the type of values a coach would want to preach to a hockey team. So I introduce to you The Utah Swarm, featuring a bee logo. The branding potential — and opportunity to build a fun fan identity — would be huge. You could even nickname the Delta Center The Hive!
SCOTT MAXWELL: What about the Salt Lake Peppers? No? I like Matt’s idea of running with the bee theme, so Swarm or even Stingers could be a good option. I also thought of going with something based on how they produce some quality beer, and even though taking names from other sports teams not in your league isn’t uncommon, I feel like going with Brewers wouldn’t be all that creative. So, for the sake of being different, I’ll go with a slightly more left field option: the Utah Dynamite. Why? Well, Napoleon Dynamite creators Jared and Jerusha Hess went to Brigham Young University’s film school in Utah, and that’s where they began to create the iconic film.
Mike: I have my doubts about an NHL team working in Salt Lake City, but given the choice, I think I’d call them the Utah Scorpions. It has a good ring to it, there are plenty of scorpions in Utah, and it would give them the opportunity to adopt a pretty striking and unique colour scheme (perhaps including burnt orange and green).
STEVEN ELLIS: See, if I had my name, we’d have a funny team name like the Utah Pickles. But how do we not have more Dragon-themed names? Like, it’s the most menacing monster around but there’s almost nothing across the board for North American pro sports. Give me the Utah Dragons with a purple and yellow color scheme with a dragon breathing fire every time players hit the ice and a bada-- mascot.
FRANK SERAVALLI: I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’d absolutely love to see Ryan Smith contact the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL and purchase their trademarks, name and logo. It’s perfect. Great logo. Pretty cool color scheme. You have fans in the market that already own merch. And it’s a solid name. If that isn’t a possibility, I think I’m on-board with the idea of the Utah Yeti. Here’s the thing: it has to be Yeti, not Yetis. And yes, there is some brand confusion potentially with the cooler and drinkware company, but they could mutually benefit. There’s all sorts of logo and graphic options for the Yeti and it sounds mean and awesome.
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