Utah’s NHL team apparently is closer to getting a name.
Owner Ryan Smith revealed Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that Smith Entertainment Group is down to four names among a list of 20 floated in an online survey earlier this month.
“We’ve got our four. I think Mammoth’s up there. I think Yeti’s up there. I think a couple other ones are up there. I think it should be good,” Smith said.
Smith, who owns the Utah Jazz, bought the struggling Arizona Coyotes and moved the team to Salt Lake City. The team will play its first season in Utah starting this fall.
SEG launched the survey May 8 as part of a multiphase process to find a team name and encouraged fans to pick up to four of their favorites. The list of 20 was compiled via a Qualtrics survey Smith posted online a few days before reports surfaced that the Coyotes could relocate to Utah. Voting closed May 22. While fans have some say in the name, the survey included this disclaimer: “The final name of the team remains in SEG’s sole discretion at all times.”
Smith has also talked about having fan voting in a bracket-style competition with the final names.
Stanley Cup aspirations
McAfee randomly called Smith during his show Wednesday to show him the Stanley Cup sitting in his studio.
“I’m standing with something that you can only dream of, pal,” McAfee said, holding his cell phone camera up to the silver trophy. “What’s that? You know what that is?”
Smith replied, “Bro, that’s the cup. … We’re going to fill that full of diet Mountain Dew and all sorts of stuff.”
The Coyotes failed to make the playoffs this season for the fourth year in a row. The club has stockpiled 20 picks in the first three rounds of the next three NHL drafts. General manager Bill Armstrong told reporters in April that Utah is a young but talented team that is in the fourth year of a rebuild. He said it’s not a perfect team and won’t be among the Stanley Cup favorites next season. But players and coaches believe the team is on the verge of making the playoffs.
“What fans are going to get from this team is an exciting young team that can score goals,” Armstrong said. “When you’re that young, there’s consistency where you can’t be great every night. But the fans are going to love the fact that we have talented players … that give first and second efforts.”
Four-time NHL All-Star forward Clayton Keller told reporters in April that it takes time to learn how to win in the NHL. “When everyone buys in, I think that’s when you can take some steps and reach that next level,” he said.
Left winger Lawson Crouse said the team looks forward to building something special in Utah and “making history.”
Possible Utah hockey team names
In a statement earlier this month, Smith said Utah’s NHL team is a community asset and should have a say in its name.
“Utah has shown up for this team from the moment the NHL awarded us the franchise less than three weeks ago, and it is only fitting that our fans get the rare opportunity to help name the team they’ll be cheering for,” he said.
The 20 names on the survey were:
- Utah Glaciers.
- Utah Mammoth.
- Utah Caribou.
- Utah Powder.
- Utah Squall.
- Utah Ice.
- Utah HC.
- Utah Freeze.
- Utah Frost.
- Utah Hive.
- Utah Swarm.
- Utah Mountaineers
- Utah Venom.
- Utah Canyons.
- Utah Yeti.
- Utah Black Diamonds.
- Utah Outlaws.
- Utah Fury.
- Utah Blast.
- Utah Blizzard.
