Which NHL franchise needs a new name?
It appears the cat, er, Mammoth is out of the bag, as Utah Hockey Club’s name was more or less leaked this week.
That news inspired the latest Roundtable question: Imagine you had the power to rename any NHL team right now. Which franchise nickname would you change, and what would you change it to?
MATT LARKIN: I’ll leave some of the better picks for you guys and get controversially nerdy with this one. Keeping in mind this is a fantasy universe in which I can change things with a magic wand, I’m going to hop in my DeLorean, alter history and rename the Toronto Maple Leafs to make them grammatically correct. Welcome, Toronto Maple Leaves. It just reads so stupid, I know. But it’s just as stupid that a team has been called a noun that does not exist for more than 100 years. Rise, Leaves Nation! (I can already hear the roar of angry readers over this one. CALM DOWN, it’s just for fun).
STEVEN ELLIS: Oh, I love this one. The MILB has had some fantastic alternate identities, such as the Akron Cheese Salads, Wisconsin Frozen Pizzas and the Lehigh Valley Tomato Pie. And that got me thinking – why don’t we have more food-related names? The Dallas Stars‘ name has bothered me for a while because you can’t really call their star players “stars.” So how about renaming them to the Texas Brisket? Everyone likes brisket. Think about the sponsorship ideas! And just think – the logo could be a killer cow. Sign me up.
PAUL PIDUTTI: This is a very fun idea, Matt. A quick scan of the NHL’s team names and you mostly see: 1. older franchise names that are so iconic they are hard to tinker with, and 2. solid choices intrinsically linked to that city. And then you have the Nashville Predators. While the city has embraced both the sport and the Preds handle from day one, the connection has always been a stretch. It’s one of the most unique and famous cities in the USA and your team is loosely named after a fossil of a saber-toothed cat found in the area decades earlier? Hindsight being 20/20, the possibilities are endless… Here’s a handful of options for our consideration: the Nashville Catfish, the Nashville Honky Tonk, the Nashville Twang, the Nashville Platinum, the Nashville Barbecue (Steven’s contributions made me hungry), and my personal favorite, the Nashville Vinyl.
SCOTT MAXWELL: What about the Nashville Hot Chickens! I was slightly tempted to already change Utah’s name, solely because I think they should stick with the tradition of Utah sports teams lazily keeping the team name from the team that relocated there despite it making no sense, so that the Utah Coyotes could join the Utah Jazz in that regard. Instead, I’ll just apply that to the Calgary Flames, who’s name is inspired by… the fires that torched Georgia during the Civil War. Instead of a name that applies to Atlanta historically, why not go for something that applies to what Calgary is better known for… the Stampede. Obviously “Stampeders” is taken by their CFL team, but something like the Calgary Rodeo, Calgary Mustangs, Calgary Cowboys, Calgary Broncos, anything like that would pay a better tribute to what Calgary is known for than the Flames.
ANTHONY DI MARCO: It may seem a bit unoriginal, but if Mammoth ends up being the name in Utah, it should be changed immediately. I understand the copyright issues with Yeti, but come on, it was too perfect as to not have it work out. Mammoth just seems like a rip off of Kraken and really doesn’t do it for me. I’m not saying that Yeti was easy to come by, but even if it wasn’t attainable there could’ve been a better option than something out of the movie Ice Age.
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