And then there were three.
Utah Hockey Club announced this week that a public contest to name the team has been narrowed down to the final three options including keeping the generic Utah Hockey Club name, Utah Mammoth and Utah Outlaws.
Fans who attend any of Utah’s next four home games will be able to participate in the next phase of a survey to vote on the team’s permanent name.
That included Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh, but also Friday vs. Columbus, Feb. 2 vs. St. Louis and Feb. 4 vs. Philadelphia.
The process to name the team began last spring with 20 potential names submitted. That was eventually narrowed down to six, with Utah Yeti emerging as the heavy favorite.
However, owners Ryan and Ashley Smith abandoned that name after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected a trademark application from the team because of the “likelihood of confusion” for consumers to other companies and brands that use the name.
Among those parties was Yeti Coolers LLC, which makes high-end drinkware, coolers and clothing.
Utah Hockey Club and Utah Mammoth were names included in the latest round of top six names.
Utah Wasatch, a new option created to honor the idea of a mythical snow creature with a Utah-centric approach inspired by the Wasatch Mountain range, was originally included as a final option but was replaced by Outlaws after fan feedback.
Utah’s color palette consists of rock black, representing the darkness of night in the mountains and the volcanic rock of Utah’s deserts; salt white, illustrating both the snow on Utah’s peaks and the famous salt flats; and mountain blue, a representation of Utah’s rich winter sports history and its clear skies for more than 230 days a year.
The team says it is on track to announce the permanent name before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season.
Utah is in its first season after the franchise replaced the Arizona Coyotes, which were sold to the Smiths for $1.2 billion. The Smiths also own the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
The NHL has expanded significantly in the last 25 years starting with the addition of the Nashville Predators in the 1998-99 season. For its 2000–01 season, the NHL added the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild to bring the league to thirty teams.
The Vegas Golden Knights joined the league in 2017-18 and the Seattle Kraken are in their fourth season in the NHL to put the number at 32 teams.
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