The Utah Hockey Club has finally hit the home stretch of this name and logo marathon they started running almost one year ago.
Via a release posted by the team, the NHL team announced they had narrowed their initial list of finalists down from twenty to just three names: the Utah Mammoth, the Utah Hockey Club, and the Utah Wasatch.
Followers of this series may note that only two of those three finalists were from the original list of twenty, and one of the two is simply keeping their current not-a-name name. It’s okay, kids, everything’s going great!
One notable omission from the three finalists is Utah Yeti, which had appeared to be the front-runner and fan favourite throughout the process. But, as DetroitHockey.Net, the Internet’s top hockey trademark watchdog, first noted a few weeks ago, the team was having all sorts of issues getting that one past the overseers at the USPTO, which the team confirmed in their announcement.
“As fans will see, one name is not on the list: Yeti, which was also one of the top six names included in the most recent survey round,” read the release. “An SEG executive shared that it explored every avenue to make Yeti work but that YETI Coolers, LLC was ultimately unwilling to agree to a co-existence agreement. SEG has confirmed it is no longer pursuing Yeti as a potential name for the team.”
That’s right, friends. An NHL team cannot be named after a beverage container, but a beverage container can be named after the NHL’s top prize—a big ole shrug.
Looking at the three finalists…
Utah Mammoth: A prehistoric, woolly, elephant-like creature (not unlike Mr. Snuffleupagus) that went extinct thousands of years ago. One potential hitch in this plan would be the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth, that’s been using that name for over twenty years; this is a team owned by Stan Kroenke, who you may also know as the owner of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Eeep. Judging by the early exit polls on social media, this name appears to be the favourite of the three.
Utah Hockey Club: Imagine spending over a year choosing a name, soliciting feedback from fans, going through a list of 20 finalists, then six finalists, and now three finalists, only to end up not choosing a name. It’s precisely the sort of thing I could see this team doing. Or, as one member of our message boards noted, perhaps choosing no name combined with a Yeti-like logo could entice the fans to “unofficially” refer to the team as the Yeti, stepping around that nasty trademark dispute.
Utah Wasatch: This would be a nod to the local Wasatch Mountain Range that looms over Salt Lake City, offering some of the best skiing in the world and a natural backdrop for just about every postcard shot of the region. It’s got a good local connection, but it’s a bit of a clunky name for a sports team. Naming a team after local mountains has been done before in the NHL. Remember the Colorado Rockies? We also have the Tacoma Rainiers and Knoxville Smokies in Minor League Baseball.
Fans will have an opportunity to share their feedback on the three finalist names, as well as two logos (because when one of your names is no name, just about any old logo will do) in person at the Delta Center at the following Utah Hockey Club games: January 29th against Pittsburgh, the 31st versus Columbus, February 2nd vs. St. Louis, and the last chance on February 4th vs. Philadelphia.
“The commitment SEG has to involve the fans and community in the naming process is unique in the history of professional sports,” read the release from the team. “SEG said they are on track to announce the permanent team name before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season.”
LINK: Utah Hockey Club logos and uniform history
As for the logos, fans got their first look at them last night — no images have surfaced yet (I’m assuming there’s a strict “no photos” policy), but X user @JStudman0143 claims to have seen them and shared the following descriptions:
On the potential Utah Mammoth logo: “Side profile looking right. Very round shape. Distinct, sharp lines in the back to show fur. Tusks curls very far under the head. Trunk a little shorter. Black logo, white outline, then blue outline. Looks decently fierce with smaller eyes.”
And the possible Wasatch logo: “Same colour pattern as Mammoth. Same shape and side profile. Back and top of it are mountains that bleed into the face of the Sasquatch. It has a much fiercer look showing teeth. Looks like it’s hunting something.”
Yup, they sound like logos, alright.
That Wasatch logo description sounds like it was created with the name Yeti in mind; the fact that they’re keeping it around despite the issues with the trademark makes me believe it’s a logo they really like. Frankly, I’m surprised we’re this close to the new season, and the team still hasn’t settled on a name or logo yet.
What’s my gut telling me? Despite the team saying it was “up” high on their list back in May, with a possible trademark issue over in Colorado, the name “Mammoth” isn’t going to happen. I think they wanted to be called the Yeti but couldn’t make it work. I think they’re floating Utah Wasatch as a trademark-friendly alternative to the Yeti and gauging whether the fans will accept the unusual name via this vote. If they don’t, then it’s the Utah Hockey Club forevermore.
Nevertheless, we’ll keep an eye out, and I’m sure DetroitHockey.Net will continue monitoring the trademarks to see if anything sticks out.
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