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Determining An Identity for Toronto's Second NHL Team


IceCap

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So if the reports are to be believed the NHL is considering expanding by two teams (LOL), with one of those teams being a second team in the Greater Toronto Area (uggggg).

We have plenty of threads to discuss the NHL's averse relationship with common sense. I started this thread to discuss what the second Toronto team could be called, what colours they could wear, and even what their uniforms could look like.

There was an aborted plan a few years ago to set up a second Toronto team, and that proposal floated the name "Toronto Legacy" and proposed a red, black, and grey colour scheme.

Toronto, prior to the establishment of the team that would become the Maple Leafs, had two other pro teams. The Toronto Tecumsehs and the Toronto Blue Shirts.

The Blue Shirts, like the Leafs, were blue and white while the Tecumsehs were red and white.

So what does everyone think? Are any of these names/colour schemes viable? If not what other names could they use?

An idea I came up with was the Toronto Celtics (pronounced keltics). They could go with a green and white scheme that calls back to the St. Pats without pretending to be the St. Pats.

I understand that there are teams across sports that share a common nickname, but I think most of those occurances in pro sports happened before the modern era of branding and the explosion of sports merchandising.

Calling another team Celtics (no matter how you pronounce it) would not fly, in my opinion. In particular, you would be effectively co-opting the name of one of the most famous teams in pro sports history. It would be like starting up a new team and calling them the Yankees or the Packers. Doesn't seem right to me, there are an infinite amount of names available, any new team should be able to do better than using the name of another pro team, especially one as storied as the Celtics.

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The reasoning for my suggestion of Mongrels is that Toronto is a high ethnically diverse city. The United Nations designated Toronto as the world's most ethnically diverse urban center. Only Miami is more ethnically diverse than Toronto, and if you, or anyone else has visited Toronto, you would clearly understand this.

I have family in Toronto. I'm well aware of the city's ethnically diverse makeup. I've visited it plenty. I still think Mongrels is a dumb name. Sorry.

However you want to spin it you can't make Mongrels work. While the culturally diverse nature of the city is to be celebrated "mongrel" is only ever used in a negative manner. When it's applied to people it's usually used by xenophobes to describe people of mixed race or ethnicity.

Toronto's diversity is part of what makes the city great, but I don't think this particular aspect of the city lends itself to naming a sports team. What else could you use? Toronto Melting Pots? It just doesn't work.

Further I don't think Toronto's diverse nature means a name with ties to one ethnic community should not be considered. While Toronto's a better place because of its diverse nature there's no denying that certain groups have contributed to the city's history in significant ways. I don't see how honouring, say, the city's Irish community with a name like Shamrocks could be construed as disrespecting the city's other ethnic communities. I'm sure non-Irish Bostonians still root for the Celtics.

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Strangely enough York and North York are two different places. York Region is the area north of the city of Toronto that extends all the way up to Newmarket and includes cities like Markham and Vaughn. North York is the northernmost part of the city of Toronto (ironically it is just south of York Region).

It's not ironic at all. One is a region, the other is a city. The actual "City of York" is south of York Region, and south west of North York, hence where the "north" distinction comes from (all of this is of course moot cause neither city technically exists any more). Personally I don't think the general public would confuse them with New York, but they may very well be oblivious to York's whereabouts to begin with. Considering no one has issues with teams like the Golden State Warriors, it shouldn't be a big deal (Heck, we can always go the ridiculous Angels route and call them the York ___________ of Toronto).

What if they took on the name Tigers as a homage to Hamilton in a attempt to also appeal to that community. It'd also enable an easy relocation rebrand if things weren't going accordingly in Toronto,

There's no way a Toronto team would be called the Tigers. There's too big a rivalry with the Ti-Cats for sports fans to warm to the name. It would be like Montreal naming their second team the Leaves. Not gonna happen.

As for some others mentioned, Mongrels simply has too negative a connotation to be considered, regardless of the text book definition. No one hears the word and thinks of "mutts" (the fact that it doesn't sound appealing in any way doesn't help it either).

While Dragons would be ideal considering Markham/York Regions large Asian population, to me it's just too childish to be taken seriously. Just cause the Ducks, etc have done it in the past doesn't make it right. The Raptors have been shying away from their kid focused image after the initial novelty wore off. That would happen just as quickly with the Dragons.

Toros is just a non starter for me. It sounds not even minor league, but beer league. I'm aware of the history of the name, I even had a friend who played for one of the offshoots of the team that played under the monicker after the WHA days, but I just can't take it seriously.

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There will never be a 2nd NHL. team in Toronto because Markham is just way to close to Toronto \ the ACC. & MLSE. has lot clout within the NHL. to make sure a 2nd NHL. never takes root in Toronto & if that means alowing Hamilton to have NHL. team to do it they will because if MLSE. can not have a monopoly in southern Ontario they want to at least keep there monopoly in the GTA. .

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There will never be a 2nd NHL. team in Toronto because Markham is just way to close to Toronto \ the ACC. & MLSE. has lot clout within the NHL. to make sure a 2nd NHL. never takes root in Toronto & if that means alowing Hamilton to have NHL. team to do it they will because if MLSE. can not have a monopoly in southern Ontario they want to at least keep there monopoly in the GTA. .

We know very well that it may not actually happen. Infact nobody thinks the NHL should expand except for the NHL itself. This thread exists to speculate on an identity for a second GTA area team, IF one appears in the future.

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PotD: 24/08/2017

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I understand that there are teams across sports that share a common nickname, but I think most of those occurances in pro sports happened before the modern era of branding and the explosion of sports merchandising.

... which reminds me, what is the back-story behind the Florida Panthers and Carolina Panthers expansion franchises? How did the two teams approve their nicknames when they were started so close together?

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I understand that there are teams across sports that share a common nickname, but I think most of those occurances in pro sports happened before the modern era of branding and the explosion of sports merchandising.

... which reminds me, what is the back-story behind the Florida Panthers and Carolina Panthers expansion franchises? How did the two teams approve their nicknames when they were started so close together?

Councidence I think. I know the Florida panther is an actual species of big cat, which is why the hockey team went with it. I think the football team went with it just because it sounded cool. The Jaguars even considered the Panthers name, if I remember correctly.

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What about animals like:

Beavers

Muskrats

[River] Otters

Fishers

Martens

It's odd that for being Canada - nearly 95% complete wilderness of some sort- none of it's teams have animal nicknames. Just a random thought.

You see it more at a junior level.

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Toronto Blades: Just a cool hockey name for a team in the cradle of the sport.

Toronto Lakers: Not the most original but it works geographically.

Toronto Legends: I think this might have been proposed for a second GTA team but I always liked the ring of it.

Toronto Mounties: Self-explanatory.

Toronto Saints: St. Clair Ave. is one of the main drags, and it's a name that hasn't been used much.

Toronto Towers: CN Tower, of course, and the team could be a tower of strength.

Ontario Tigers: If the team isn't playing in Toronto proper, it could use the provincial name to honor the dear-departed Hamilton Tigers. And it sounds cool.

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Toronto Blades: Just a cool hockey name for a team in the cradle of the sport.

Toronto Lakers: Not the most original but it works geographically.

Toronto Legends: I think this might have been proposed for a second GTA team but I always liked the ring of it.

Toronto Mounties: Self-explanatory.

Toronto Saints: St. Clair Ave. is one of the main drags, and it's a name that hasn't been used much.

Toronto Towers: CN Tower, of course, and the team could be a tower of strength.

Ontario Tigers: If the team isn't playing in Toronto proper, it could use the provincial name to honor the dear-departed Hamilton Tigers. And it sounds cool.

Lakers, Mounties and Saints would be the best possible ones out of this list....

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I thought of the Lakers too, but it's probably too unoriginal and associated with LA to be considered. Saints might work, not only because of St. Claire, but all the other streets and subway stations named after a whole slew of them (Andrew, George, Patrick, etc), but it's really a stretch to think that would be enough to justify the name (I'm sure most larger cities have similar street names). The Mounties is really more of an Ottawa or general Canadian name. They have next to no presence in Toronto outside of ceremonial roles at events. They're mostly stuck in parts of the country that don't have their own local police forces, so it's not something particularly tied to Toronto either.

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Toronto Blades: Just a cool hockey name for a team in the cradle of the sport.

Toronto Lakers: Not the most original but it works geographically.

Toronto Legends: I think this might have been proposed for a second GTA team but I always liked the ring of it.

Toronto Mounties: Self-explanatory.

Toronto Saints: St. Clair Ave. is one of the main drags, and it's a name that hasn't been used much.

Toronto Towers: CN Tower, of course, and the team could be a tower of strength.

Ontario Tigers: If the team isn't playing in Toronto proper, it could use the provincial name to honor the dear-departed Hamilton Tigers. And it sounds cool.

Lakers, Mounties and Saints would be the best possible ones out of this list....

I love it. We have proposed Celtics and Lakers so far. Anyone good with the Bulls or Knicks next :-)

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I understand that there are teams across sports that share a common nickname, but I think most of those occurances in pro sports happened before the modern era of branding and the explosion of sports merchandising.

... which reminds me, what is the back-story behind the Florida Panthers and Carolina Panthers expansion franchises? How did the two teams approve their nicknames when they were started so close together?

Councidence I think. I know the Florida panther is an actual species of big cat, which is why the hockey team went with it. I think the football team went with it just because it sounded cool. The Jaguars even considered the Panthers name, if I remember correctly.

I don't have any inside info or anything on the creation of those, but I believe you'll find that because "panthers" is so generic no team can lay claim to the name alone. Hence, you will never see product with either "panthers" alone, it always says "Carolina" or "Florida" with it.

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Toronto Blades: Just a cool hockey name for a team in the cradle of the sport.

Toronto Lakers: Not the most original but it works geographically.

Toronto Legends: I think this might have been proposed for a second GTA team but I always liked the ring of it.

Toronto Mounties: Self-explanatory.

Toronto Saints: St. Clair Ave. is one of the main drags, and it's a name that hasn't been used much.

Toronto Towers: CN Tower, of course, and the team could be a tower of strength.

Ontario Tigers: If the team isn't playing in Toronto proper, it could use the provincial name to honor the dear-departed Hamilton Tigers. And it sounds cool.

Lakers, Mounties and Saints would be the best possible ones out of this list....

Mounties won't fly. The Vancouver NBA team wanted to go with Mounties but the RCMP shot it down.

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