Utah Hockey Team Names: Ranking The Tiers

by | May 10, 2024 | Utah Hockey News | 2 comments

Image used from the Qualtrics survey sponsored by Smith Entertainment Group and NHLinUtah.com.

It’s been just over 24 hours since the Utah hockey team released an online fan survey to help select a name. The list had 20 names and allowed fans to select up to 4 choices. If you haven’t voted yet, go and do it! Voting closes May 22.

The fan survey is being conducted by Qualtrics, and chances of the results being released to the public are zero. It will no doubt help guide Smith and company in selecting a name, but it’s doubtful this will be the ultimate say. If however you are interested in seeing rough results, KSL has a straw poll out where you can vote and the results are public.

For those curious, the top names there are Yeti, Outlaws, Mammoth, and Blizzard.

But you aren’t here to see the results of a straw poll. You want to know the inside scoop on these names. So of course, I’m going to give it to you.

Now this isn’t remotely scientific, is mostly meant to entertain, but will provide a little insight into this process and these options. And at the end, I’ll give you my opinion as to what the team name should be.

These tiers will be presented from least to most likely to get any votes, or least plausible to most possible. Without further ado, here are the ranking tiers.

The “How Did They Miss That” Tier

  • Utah Raptors: This had a lot of traction online, and made a lot of sense. I know the owners of the Toronto Raptors (NBA) are the same as the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and so maybe they didn’t want it or whatever…but still, it should have at least been on this list, even if they knew they weren’t picking it. Because looking it over, it is better than most of the options.
  • Utah Scorpions: Once the Venom trademark was discovered, people’s minds went a lot of places. Scorpions was one, and chatter online seemed to receive it well. I’m pretty surprised no venomous insect (scorpion, spider, etc.) was included.
  • Utah Rattlers: Like the Scorpions, snakes are common in the state, and very fierce and feared. They are also venomous. I saw Vipers get some mentions, and I genuinely thought some snake themed name would make the list.

The “Is This A Joke?” Tier

  • Utah HC: is this even a legitimate option? Hockey club is the most generic, bland, horrible name they could choose. I’m sure it’s a throwaway.
  • Utah Caribou: Honestly, I kind of like the name actually…if it didn’t have Utah in the front. There’s the small detail that caribou don’t actually live in Utah. This could just as easily have been the Utah Banana Slugs or Chupacabras and made the same amount of sense.
  • Utah Canyons: I’m sorry, cool reference to the local geography, but as a team name this doesn’t make any sense to me at all. Like, look around the league. This would be closest to Wild, but even then there is some sense of the name tied to an actual living thing. Canyons does not seem to be a sports team name to me, and I would think the branding agency would have recognized that.

The “We Read Some Gatorade Bottles” Tier

These don’t deserve their own lines, but you know the ones: Blast, Freeze, Glaciers, Ice, Frost…I’m pretty sure each of those is a Gatorade flavor. That doesn’t make the names bad per se, it makes them not so original. And c’mon, Utah Ice? For an ice hockey team? Is the soccer team the Utah Grass? The basketball team the Utah Wood?

The “I Definitely Used Chat GPT” Tier

This actually applies a lot to the previous tier, but I had to give Utah Powder it’s own tier for how bad it is. Since they took fan suggestions and those powered this survey, someone had to have prompted Chat GPT to give them words related to snow and skiing. I can see now other way you could arrive at Utah Powder and think that is a good name for a hockey team.

For those new to the league, there’s a bit of an open secret about cocaine usage among a few players, current and former, and powder opens us up to be the butt of many jokes. It’s also a synonym of snow, and just think about how dumb Utah Snow sounds for a team name. Again, this has to be a throwaway they aren’t taking seriously.

The “Meh” Tier

  • Utah Squall: Don’t love it, don’t totally hate it. To me this sounds way more like the name of the mascot than the name of the team. Think Squall the Yeti or something like that.
  • Utah Fury: Without context, not the worst name in the world but not strong. In context, you have to know that a romance novelist invented a fictitious NHL team in Utah and called it the Utah Fury. Given the history of BookTok controversy in the NHL, this is a connection that really ought to be avoided.
  • Utah Venom: This name is kind of edgy, which I like. But it just doesn’t do it for me. Between bees, insects, and snakes, there are a lot of ways to go with the mascot, so lots to figure out. I’d rather something more straightforward.
  • Utah Hive: I like the bee motif, but you call the team Venom or Swarm, and the team’s barn will get referred to as the Hive. I don’t love this as a name for the team itself.

The “Longshot But Maybe” Tier

  • Utah Mountaineers: I kind of dig this. It sounds like a compromise of people who wanted something pioneer or wild west related and people who wanted something mountain related. It’s pretty unique, and if it weren’t for the straw poll showing it lagging a bit in support, I might rate it higher. But it really is a long shot.
  • Utah Black Diamonds: Definitely a unique one. I see the allure. Utah has “the greatest snow on earth” and all that. It’s a very Utah name. There is some traction online at least, and it’s doing ok in the poll. I’m not in love with it, but it could grow on me. Still think it’s more of a longshot though.

The “Contenders” Tier

  • Utah Yeti: This is the runaway favorite at the moment. Lots of vocal supporters online, its top of the straw poll, and it feels kind of safe, like it would be one of the least hated names if chosen. There’s the nagging issue that Utah has no ties to the mythological yeti of the Himalayas, but I don’t think that’s a big deal. The other issue is that the Colorado Avalanche used a yeti as their mascot for several years. Do we want a hand me down? That doesn’t trouble a lot of people, so as of now, this is the leading contender.
  • Utah Outlaws: This is in second to Yeti in the straw poll, and online it has a lot of traction. The idea of bandits, renegades, wild west and all that is very appealing from a branding perspective. The primary concerns I’ve encountered are that it doesn’t come off as “family friendly” which, if you’ve spent any time in Utah, you’ll know that’s very important to a large segment of residents. There’s also the potential negative association with the founding of Utah (then a territory called Deseret) by Mormon pioneers who were viewed at the time as outlaws due to their practice of plural marriage. I personally don’t think many minds will go there, so I like this name and would be excited if they choose it.
  • Utah Blizzard: For me this belongs in the Gatorade tier, or the Chat GPT snow-centric tier. I don’t get it…the Colorado Avalanche are right there. Why are we so intent on copying them? Without that context, it’s kind of cool, and the reason I think people gravitate toward it is the double z mirroring the Jazz. I wouldn’t be disappointed with this pick, it just doesn’t seem original to me, nor is it particularly unique to Utah. I guess the mascot could be a Yeti and get both the names in there, but then how much are we going to rip off the neighboring team?
  • Utah Mammoth: I’m a little perplexed, as are many online, as to why this is singular and not plural. The Colorado lacrosse team is the Mammoth, so to avoid outright copying, Mammoths plural makes more sense to me. At any rate, I love the name and concept. Very brandable, very unique. And there are Utah connections here. I can definitely get behind this one, and there’s a reason it is polling so high. This will no doubt be a finalist.

The “Don’t Overthink This Obvious Pick” Tier

And now, drumroll please…my pick for the team name. Like the tier says, don’t overthink this. It is obvious, staring us all in the face.

Utah Swarm

First off, it is very Utah. We are the Beehive State after all. The beehive is on our state flag (past and present). And it’s more clever than saying “Utah Bees” and being so literal.

As far as the NHL goes, only the Columbus Blue Jackets are associated with a bee (it is their mascot). Blue Jackets refers to their Civil War history of course, and the mascot is a play on the yellow jacket. But hey, how many teams use bears? Or the color blue? Sure it’s cool that San Jose has a singular color (teal) and mascot (shark) that isn’t shared at all. Utah can do that too with Yeti and a shade of purple perhaps, but I don’t mind a little overlap.

Now think of the branding. Obviously the hexagon motif would appear in a lot of designs. Bees are striped, and if you look at hockey jerseys, they all have striping of sorts on the sleeves. So this lends itself well to a unique jersey design. The Delta Center’s nickname would obviously become the Hive. Before a power play fans could start a buzzing frenzy. Concessions could have a signature drink or snack that is honey based.

As far as the name itself, there is a pro lacrosse team called the Georgia Swarm, but that’s it. None of the big pro sports have a Swarm, or any affinity to bees. Georgia Tech is the Yellow Jackets, and that’s about all there is in major sports. It’s also edgy and fierce.

I don’t hate the contenders. I’d be fine with any of them. But to me the team name is obvious and staring us all in the face. Swarm is so Utah. There’s so much to build on there. It’s fun and unique. And while I realize there are haters, every name has haters. It’s unavoidable. Someone will complain no matter what.

Feel free to disagree with me on this one, that’s all right. But in my mind, that’s the best choice. I envision incorporating more Utah elements in the colors and their names: mountain indigo as the primary, powder blue as the secondary. Then for accents, hearkening to our Olympic past and future, I’d use gold, silver and bronze/copper stripes.

Ultimately we have to wait a year to see how this turns out. I think we’re supposed to get the name by the start of the season, but colors, mascot and jersey design will be next summer. At any rate, if you want some input, be sure to go and vote!

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Trekker
Trekker
5 months ago

k good point on Canyons, and yes, Caribou would be so cool if only they were native to the state!