Now that the Coyotes’ move to Utah is official, the question on everyone’s mind is what the new team name will be.
The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale and relocation of the team to Jazz owner Ryan Smith on Wednesday.
Exactly what the new team will be called when it takes the ice next season remains a mystery, even to Smith himself.
“We’ll start with Utah on the jersey and we’ll find out the logo and everything else and what we are,” Smith told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We’ll be Utah anyway.” We have the first part of the name. We don’t have the last one.
Advertising agency Doubleday & Cartwright has already been hired to help with the rebranding efforts, the AP reported, and Smith indicated that a placeholder name could be used for the team’s first season in Salt Lake City.
Still, there appear to be some clues as to what the team might ultimately be called.
Trademark applications were submitted Tuesday to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and appear to be possible names for the Utah franchise.
The filings, which were first reported by Clark Rasmussen of DetroitHockey.net and viewed by The Post, included trademarks for Utah Blizzard, Utah Venom, Utah Fury, Utah HC and l Utah Hockey Club.
“It’s obviously going to be something for Utah,” Smith said. “It’s really important that we don’t say, ‘Hey, this has to be ready by the fall,’ especially when it’s going to be a Utah thing. I think the league feels better and we feel better just running the process and then we’ll abandon it when we abandon it.
Smith purchased the assets of the Coyotes’ hockey operations for $1.2 billion, and former Yotes owner Alex Meruelo will retain the Coyotes name, intellectual property and historical records.
New York Post
