Earlier this year, we learned the Utah Hockey Club trimmed down to six finalists regarding their future nickname that will take effect in 2025-26. Now, if you’ve been keeping track of unearthing some clues regarding Utah’s pending nickname, general manager Bill Armstrong could have already unveiled it.
But then again, in professional sports, you always have to be aware of potential smokescreens, so perhaps that’s what Armstrong was unleashing. Whether that’s the nickname or not, I’ll have some fun and unveil my own personal rankings for what the moniker should be and why.
6 - Utah Hockey Club
This name will surely grow onto fans, and it’s something different, as no team in the North American pro sports leagues uses a soccer-esque moniker as a permanent one. But it’s bland, boring, and overall, an actual nickname other than Name of Sport Club is what distinguishes most North American sports.
That’s been the case for a while now, so if it’s not broken, why try to be unique and fix it? Rolling with the name Utah Hockey Club is great for a year since it prevents ownership from “rushing” a poorly chosen nickname and uniform combo onto the ice, but if they keep it longer than a year (two tops), it’ll be migraine-inducing.
5 - Yeti
Maybe the most popular choice regarding many rankings that I read when conducting research for this article. But the Colorado Avalanche have already taken the name Yeti in a de facto way thanks to one of their secondary logos in the past, so there’s no way I would use the name based on those grounds alone.
Yeti may sound intimidating to some, and if I were to guess, this will be the nickname starting in 2025-26. But looking at the other names on this list, there are far better options.
4 - Blizzard
I get that there are blizzards in Utah, but there are also blizzards all over the world, so this doesn’t quite make sense in terms of uniqueness. As far as the NHL goes, you could call a strong contingent of teams the Blizzard and they would “work”, so there’s no real sense of unique identity here, and it’s something a new team needs.
It’s why some of my favorite names among the NHL’s most recent expansion teams were Blue Jackets and Thrashers (before they went to Winnipeg). Both names were unique to their city, state, and region, and Blizzard just doesn’t cut it.
3 - Mammoth
Mammoth carries an intimidating ring, and Utah could forge an even more intimidating logo for this one. Overall, I would like it, and it also pertains to an intriguing animal that roamed North America thousands of years ago.
It only places third in the rankings, however, because, at least in my subjective opinion, Utah Mammoth just doesn’t sound right rolling off the tongue. This is one of those good, but not great names, much like the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. Both of them could have done a better job with their name selection, and yes, I was rooting for the name Metropolitans for the latter.
2 - Venom
Utah is the “Beehive State,” and bees carry venom, so need I say more? There is nothing cooler than having a nickname that identifies with the region itself, or is named because of something unique to the state. While you get bees everywhere just like you do blizzards, Venom brings uniqueness because the state of Utah’s nickname is unique - much like Buckeyes if we’re talking about college sports since buckeye trees aren’t exclusively in Ohio.
Just look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, if you’d like confirmation, or the Montreal Canadiens. Okay, okay, I get it; they’re Original Six teams and would organically have large fanbases. But look at the Columbus Blue Jackets, arguably the most hopeless organization in hockey.
That said, although the Blue Jackets aren’t my favorite team, I’m still an Ohioan and have taken a strong liking to them simply because of their nickname and logo. For Utah, the name Venom will do just that, and if they win early and often, they just gained a lot of new fans.
1 - Outlaws
Some will find this name generic, but the name would strike a chord with quite a few hockey fans who also like Westerns, one of the more popular genres in TV, literature, and fiction. In other words, there’s a good chance Utah would rapidly expand its fanbase with this name, even if it meant fans abandoning their current teams just so they could root for the Outlaws.
Just look at the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys if you want any confirmation, a team that, well, wasn’t very good during their inaugural season. Then the rest is history as they became and still are “America’s Team,” something that will never change. That said, if I’m Ryan Smith, there’s no way I’m passing on the name Outlaws.