Utah’s NHL franchise will be called the Blizzard, Hockey Club, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom or Yeti, according to the team.
Following the first round of fan voting that ended on May 22, the Utah NHL (formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes) revealed the list of six team names which was reduced from the original 20.
More than 520,000 votes were cast during the first phase of voting. The second round of fan voting will run until June 20th at 11:59 pm MT.
The team said the final steps of the voting process will be announced “in the coming months.”
Once the team’s official nickname is selected, the team will “work diligently over the next year” on designing a logo, mascot and colors. When NHL Utah takes the ice in the 2024-25 season, they will wear jerseys with their chosen colors but no nickname. Only UTAH will appear on the jerseys in its first season.
The nickname and other branding will be revealed ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season.
But if any recent excavation Utah Jazz beat writer Ryan Miller Any indication, blue, black and white will be part of the color scheme.
Trademark applications have been filed for eight Utah Hockey Club logos (including the one that circulated last week).
It looks like the inaugural season brand is coming together. pic.twitter.com/tGqNAObAqp
-Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) June 3, 2024
In April, the NHL Board of Governors approved the $1.2 billion sale of the Arizona Coyotes to Smith, a billionaire who co-founded Qualtrics and also owns the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake. The Coyotes were originally transferred from Winnipeg in 1996.
As part of the sale agreement, if former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is able to secure a new arena in Arizona within five years, he will be able to return the $1.2 billion and will receive an expansion franchise.
