The Coyotes are going to be the first NHL team since the Oakland Seals became the California Golden Seals to change their locale name without relocation. This, thanks to a stipulation in the contract the city of Glendale signed to fund the arena for the next 20 years.
The Team Owner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to have the name of the Team changed to the “Arizona Coyotes” as soon as is commercially feasible.
Not a huge request for two reasons. One, the city/state name in the Coyotes identity package already almost seems like an over-site so the change should be slight and easy to make. Secondly its an extraordinarily reasonable, considering the team currently wears a city’s name that DIDN’T just commit $320 Million dollars over the next 20 years to keep the team from moving. The only wonder is why Glendale didn’t ask for their name to be featured.
The team had no immediate comment on the name change, largely, one assumes, due to the more pressing issues of purchase and ownership change.
As always, stay tuned here for an announcement when the new wordmark is released.
JR Francis is an actor, writer, director, graphic designer, UX guru, father, comedian, and craft beer snob. You can reach him at jrfrancis@sportslogos.net or on Twitter @JRFrancisSLN *One of several full-time uniform reporters this site has including its founder, Chris Creamer, who started his site in 1997
Jason
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:10Honestly not that surprising; while I'm against the idea of state name teams (except for Minnesota, which I completely understand due to the perceived slight to the other Twin City that would come with the "Minneapolis Timberwolves" or "Saint Paul Wild"), when a team doesn't play in a major city, they SHOULD do such things, especially when that major city doesn't help them with a stadium.
Rob S.
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 13:09Well said, Jason!
Dave
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 14:08I disagree. I do not want the San Francisco 49ers to change their name, ever. I'm always offended when a city steals... taxes, whatever, from the people to give to a sports franchise.
Jason
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 15:42That I understand, but if they leave San Francisco AND the city (is it Santa Clara?) pays for the stadium, they should change their city name.
Squizz
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 22:17At least they are in the same state, Unlike the JETS and Giants of New Jersey.
Doug
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 10:15The Jets and Giants represent New York City, not New York State. People who don't live in NY don't get that. So being 5 miles away from the city, they can still represent NYC. If we use your logic (or lack thereof), we should rename the following teams: Landover/Maryland Redskins Arlington Cowboys Santa Clara 49ers Teams are named for the market.
Aaron
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 08:24Not bloody likely. Did the Buffalo Bills change their name to the Orchard Park Bills? No! Are the Washington Redskins called the Landover Redskins? Survey says, negative!
ingmar66
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:23Arizona Coyotes looks and sounds more natural than Phoenix Coyotes, which I have always found to be sounding forced. I really hope they do not change the mascot or the logo font and the team colours, since they are nice and clean.
Harveyweez
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:25I'm one of many Coyote season ticket holders who much prefer Phoenix Coyotes to the generic sounding overly mellow Arizona Coyotes. As far as the logo....? It looks exactly like my little Welsh Corgi except the Coyote appears toothless. As for the crappy brick red also chosen by Gratzky, The Not Son Great One who paid himself eight million dollars to do a terrible job ruining the team when the average coach gets about a million, I much prefer the old 90's jersey. The boring brick red just reminds me of the Gretzky, Moyes regime where they raped the team in a feeding frenzy to line their pockets with I'll gotten gains.
Aaron
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:31You're right. Arizona Coyotes does sound more natural than Phoenix Coyotes. Even though they're in the wrong location, the logos and uniforms they have now look very classy. Only change I'd make, put the shoulder patch on both sides. Looks more complete. Along with striping on the bottom.
Harveyweez
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:37Not really.
Joseph
Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 22:26I love the 90s look. But at hte same time the new logo is more professional. The old one is something an AHL team would wear. As far as colors i like that hte Dbacks, Cards, and Coyotes all basically hvae the same colors now. Granted that being said i am not sure why the Dbacks and Yotes didnt stick with the purple etc since its part of the Suns uniform.
Bret Kenworthy
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:36They should change the colors back to the 90's. Always loved that design.
Harveyweez
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:34Totally agree, Bret. We still love that old jersey here in Phoenix and are hoping to see a variation on that theme to replace the old Gretzky chosen, crappy, boring, brick red with the toothless Coyote
Bret Kenworthy
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:36They should change the colors back to the 90's. Always loved that design.
Justin W. Siddons
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:41Interesting that this makes a difference. Hopefully they are willing to consider a new update to the team logo because it's definitely one of the worst in pro sports.
Harveyweez
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:36Agreed!
Jason
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:43This is why the Nets should have became the Newark Nets when the left the Meadowlands. Now, that would be a great way to break away from the state identity.
Brian Dolinar
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:44What a waste of money.
Jim Elek
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:47What a joke! They should move the whole team to someplace that actually has real ice!
Scheherazade
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 13:25*Facepalms* Wow.......just wow....
FJOJR
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 02:16I live in the south. We have real ice. It comes out of our fridge. It's made of water that is frozen. The eight ice rinks in my region also have real ice. They make it out of water too. We also have air conditioning that keeps the ice from melting. We also have a roof that means we can make it year round and not have the mean old sun and tilt of the earth make it go away. Love how some people complain the lockout will kill the game but they don't want the game to spread so they too are killing it.
diggerjohn111
Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 11:10Spreading the game killed it in the first place. They took the game away from hockey people and gave it to the greedy corporations who only want luxury boxes. No hockey south of snow! FOLD THE YOTES!
Chris McCabe
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:47Sounds like the work of a team of consultants.
Gabriel Serrano
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:48Quebec Nordiques sounds better.
Sean Walsh
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:51Wrong franchise...
David Pham
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:52Seems like a huge waste of money for a team that doesn't have long term plans to stay in the area.
IPGComic
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:53...yay...twenty more years of Coyote hockey...that's exciting...
Stephen Trinder
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:06"Quebec Nordiques" sounds better, so does "Seattle Totems" than "Arizona Coyotes".
Squatty McGee
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 20:20You know what would be even better? If the NHL was actually playing games. I really don't care what they call the Coyotes, as long as they are playing games on my TV! (I'm from NYC, so they're not really close by, but my point being: I wish they were playing NHL hockey!)
Stumack
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:24I think the New England/Hartford Whalers fall into this category. The name change wasn't done until after they had been admitted to the NHL in 1979, although they never played under the "New England" name in the NHL.
Aaron
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 22:38As mentioned before, would it really make sense to call them the New England Whalers now? Not as long as the Boston Bruins are still around.
Rob S.
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 13:06I usually don't like change, so Phoenix is fine w/ me,although I can understand why they would like to make a change.After all that has gone on,maybe Glendale should just use their name,they are paying for it. Arizona doesn't sound as good,plus it conflicts with the Arizona SunDogs(the only professional team actually playing this season) Just to also chime in ...The Current Jersey's are way cool,I disliked the ones from the 90's.The logo was alright,but hated the jersey.Now if we could only get rid of these stupid Reebok Edge uniforms..I still despise them!
Michael Jaworski
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 13:17Makes sense, but I don't like change. Fun team to watch though.
F19
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 14:07Makes sense considering where they play and the money involved. Now bring back the 90s look. It was way better than the current "yelping in pain" coyote head.
Scott Powers
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 14:50They should change the name to the Hamilton Coyotes or Milwaukee Coyotes. The NHL needs to take its teams out of Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, Tampa, and either San Jose or Anahiem. Hockey is a norhtern sport!
Damon Selman
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 15:38Sure, take a team out of sucessful markets like Dallas and San Jose. That comment is as silly move the Detroit Tigers to Orlando because is too cold, or mover the Michigan Wolverines to Dallas because the UIL HS football is better than MSHAA football. C'mon, all professional sports have problems in attendance in Miami, Atlanta, etc. If Stern was smart, the Heat would have the Supersonics last year.
Martin Champagne
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 14:51the lock-out will end when Quebec will have his team back !!!
Paul
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 16:04The NHL still would have to approve any name change. Not a guarantee it will happen. What this blog post doesn't state most accurately is that this is for OFFICIALLY MAKING THE **PROPOSAL** for the change. This does not automatically mean it will be approved. Even though we have not heard there was an official name change proposal on the table for the Islanders, it was later confirmed no name change at the NHL's insistence. So right now, I wouldn't be 100% sure it will happen. Until the NHL accepts such a proposal, they are still the Phoenix Coyotes. PS: For those of you that keep thinking the team will move, get over it. They're staying. Additionally, for those like Martin whom I saw post on the Icethetics Facebook page... undeniably there'll be no team back in Quebec City unless the NHL decides to have one there.
Aaron
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 16:45Not to mention that Greg Jamieson has to come up with the money for any of this whole staying in the desert schtick is legit. Although this would give Quebec City and Seattle ample time to get their arena situations solved.
Aaron
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 17:00Oh yeah, as far as naming teams after states or regions, it depends on the team name itself or where they're actually located. If we're talking about the Minnesota or New York/New Jersey/Washington DC teams, go with it. BC Lions and Saskatchwan Roughriders are the exception. And I guess the New England Patriots,( although I wouldn't mind Boston Patriots) considering the fact they're the only football in those states or regions. But it doesn't make sense for the Anaheim Angels to be called the California Angels does it? I'll give a pass to the Carolina Panthers and Hurricanes, but the Florida Panthers should maybe consider renaming themselves the Miami Panthers so they don't conflict with the ECHL's Florida Everblades. If the Whalers were still in the NHL, naming them New England would make even less sense.
48erhater
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 20:33Florida Panthers is alright because it's named after the Florida Panther.
Bryan Smalley
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 17:12I don't know about you guys, but I'm a big fan of the "Phoenix Trololololers" instead of the "Phoenix Coyotes" or "Arizona Coyotes".
Jed
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 23:41It makes all the sense in the world to change the name. Look, Jamison is a total Bettman tool and he and Bettman are doing everything they can, despite the lockout and doing stuff behind the scenes, to get this deal done once and for all. They haven't played in Phoenix since the arena opened almost 10 years ago and Glendale Coyotes wouldn't make sense, so the best name for the team is the Arizona Coyotes, just like what the Cardinals did after they got out of Tempe. They could also change the logo a little bit as well, but glad they're doing the change in name...long overdue.
Ben Foster
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 00:26To those who want the Coyotes to relocate... IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!
Bazooka Joe
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 06:44Whatever the name, sand still sand I personally prefer the Arizona Mickey Mouse Hockey Club next name will be Seattle ...
Doug
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 10:17This makes sense since they don't actually play in Phoenix but why name them the "Glendale Coyotes". The Arizona Cardinals were called the Phoenix Cardinals for a few years before changing as well.
Bill A
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 10:30All due respect to you Chris, but as of this moment - 12/4/2012 10:30 am EST - I have yet to see any announcement on NHL.com regarding the name change.
Aaron
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 12:03If Jamieson for some bizzare reason doesn't come up with the money, anyone of the following cities would be more than happy to take the Coyotes... Hamilton Saskatoon Houston Milwaukee Kansas City Quebec City Hamilton would be more ideal, but then the NHL won't allow it because of the Sabres/Leafs territorial rights distance issue. In fact, to make sense out of the whole thing, here is yet another NHL realignment idea with potential ECHL and AHL affiliations without any territorial infringements... Smythe Los Angeles/Manchester/Ontario Anaheim/Phoenix/San Diego San Jose/Worcester/San Francisco Vancouver/Abbottsford/Stockton Seattle/Springfield/Bakersfield Colorado/Hershey/Colorado Edmonton/Oklahoma City/Tulsa Calgary/San Antonio/Utah Norris Detroit/Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo Chicago/Rockford/Indianapolis St. Louis/Peoria/Idaho Minnesota/Houston/Fort Wayne Winnipeg/St. John's/Wichita Nashville/Kansas City/Memphis Milwaukee/Chicago/Evansville Adams Toronto/Toronto/Toledo Buffalo/Rochester/Elmira Montreal/Hamilton/Laval Quebec/Portland/Atlanta Ottawa/Binghampton/Gwinnett Boston/Providence/Lowell Carolina/Charlotte/South Carolina Columbus/Lake Erie/Cinciannati Patrick Pittsburgh/SWB/Wheeling Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley/Reading Washington/Norfolk/Baltimore NYR/Connecticut/Alaska NYI/Bridgeport/Greenville New Jersey/Albany/Trenton Florida/Adirondack/Florida Tampa Bay/Syracuse/Orlando
Niel
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 14:01Just move the team already.
Ben Foster
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 15:59No.
Bayne86
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 18:20Arizona Coyotes doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...
Joel Scott
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at 17:08@Bryan: I don't think the NHL would approve of any team as the "Trololololers."
Jason
Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 13:49I think this is stupid. It's like saying that all of Manitoba won't support the Winnipeg Jets. This tactic is not going to work. Now what's going to happen is that the NHL won't go to the local city council for financial support instead now they will go to the state for financial support. This is more than likely what they are going for since the local council turned them down. Now your just going to have the whole state mad at the NHL instead of the local city in where it is hosted because the team will only be able to survive on financial aid. The NHL will never be self sufficient in Arizona, it will never happen. Saskatchewan doesn't even have an NHL team but yet Saskatchewan supports the NHL more than all of Arizona together. The viewers of the NHL in Phoenix equals that of a small town and it is an absolute phenomenon that the Phoenix Coyotes have an sponsors at all never mind the local bakery and local pizza joint. This joke just has to end period. It's embarrassing as an NHL fan.
RCP
Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 20:32Keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. Arizona Coyotes is not a good fit