Possible NHL Expansion: Logo and Name Ideas

[Ricky_Roby]

Call me crazy, but "Las Vegas Aces" seems like the obvious choice to me.

A great name, haven't heard anything else that sounds as cool. Would be a great identity for the 3 or 4 season they would play before they'd be forced to fold or relocate!

[Timaa]

-Quebec Nordiques

.Tweak their original colors and logos, but, for the most part, go back to what worked.

-Toronto Golden Eagles

.The Golden Eagle is a part of Toronto's Coat of Arms. Ontario's colors are green and gold. Make gold the predominant color, to distinguish from the Wild and the NFL's Eagles.

-Seattle Dragonflies

.The dragonfly is Washington's state insect. They've got some interesting metallic colors going on on their bodies, so you could probably do some interesting things with that, like the other Seattle teams.

-Las Vegas Knights

.Yeah, it may be a lame pun, but I still kinda like it. Nevada is also The Silver State, so the predominant color can be silver.

[Luke_Groundrunner]

How about the Toronto Shamrocks? or Toronto Clover Leafs? to rival the Maple Leafs.

Quebec Nordiques - (any other name for Quebec is unacceptable IMO)

Seattle Titans

Seattle Huskies

Seattle Lions

Seattle Lynx

Seattle Mets (Metros, Metropolitans)

Seattle Kodiaks

Seattle Grizzlies

Seattle Spartans

Seattle Express

Seattle Crusaders

Seattle Wolves

Seattle Timberwolves

Seattle Wolverines

Seattle Tigers

Seattle Dragons

Seattle Pilots

Seattle Aviators

Seattle Ravens

Seattle Falcons

Seattle Spirits

Seattle Mustangs

Seattle Cougars

Seattle Knights

Seattle Bulldogs

Seattle Argos (Argonauts)

Seattle Zephyrs

Las Vegas Gamblers

Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas Vultures

Las Vegas Vipers

Las Vegas Mavericks

[SenatorJake]

The best ones I've heard so far are:

Seattle Metropolitains: A solid name with some history behind it. Would be especially cool if they came back in 1916-17 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Cup being won in Seattle. I could also live with Aviators or Navigators.

Toronto Shamrocks: Like the Seattle Metropolitains this would be another returning professional hockey club that would be a great addition to the league if it were done on the NHL's 100 year anniversary celebrations in 1917-18. The original team were first named the Tecumseh Hockey Club before being renamed the Toronto Ontarios in 1913, and renamed the Toronto Shamrocks in January 1915. Maple Leafs vs Shamrocks offers a neat dynamic as well.

Quebec Nordiques: Non-negotiable.

Las Vegas Black Aces: Classic hockey terminology. Ties in well with Vegas obviously. Otherwise I like Lions.

[MDGP]

Quebec Nordiques (I mean, there's no way this isn't the name of a new Quebec team)

Seattle Metros (obvious)

Seattle Pilots (Sure it's been used, but it allows for strong ties to both aeronautic and naval histories in the city)

Seattle Olympics (Ties into the Olympic Mountains in Washington and the Olympic Marmot, which could be a fun mascot)

Seattle Orcas (Because Whales are underused in sports)

Las Vegas... Not sure of a specific name, but I think something involving Mining would work well.

Toronto String Quartets... Because they're going to always be playing second fiddle to that other team in Toronto.

[TalktoChuck]

Are we sure the Avs own the Nords' IP or did the league take it back?

If I remember correctly, the League owns the rights to the name/logo but allows the Avs to produce and sell merchandise with it.

They sell shirts, hats, jerseys, and all that jazz at the Pepsi Center store. And it sells really well. I myself, own quite a bit of Nordiques merch.

[The_Admiral]

Las Vegas Black Aces: Classic hockey terminology.

Why would you name a whole team after healthy scratches? And I thought people would make fun of me for suggesting a tree.

[IceCap]

"Toronto Shamrocks" is a great way to be the St. Pats without infringing on the Leafs' history. I like it.

I also want to see a big four team use the name Knights. That could work in either Los Vegas or Toronto.

Are we sure the Avs own the Nords' IP or did the league take it back?

If I remember correctly, the League owns the rights to the name/logo but allows the Avs to produce and sell merchandise with it.

They sell shirts, hats, jerseys, and all that jazz at the Pepsi Center store. And it sells really well. I myself, own quite a bit of Nordiques merch.

I'm curious. How would you, as an Avs fan, feel about a new team in Quebec City using the Nordiques' name and logo? Would you feel like would be stealing part of your team's history or would you be ok with it?

[Still MIGHTY]

"Toronto Shamrocks" is a great way to be the St. Pats without infringing on the Leafs' history. I like it.

I also want to see a big four team use the name Knights. That could work in either Los Vegas or Toronto.

Mike, LAS Vegas. LAS Vegas.

Not LOS Angeles. LAS Vegas.

You do that every time and bug the crap out of me

[IceCap]

See I know that! It's just every time I go to type it my brain goes like "I see you're writing about a city in America's southwest with a Spanish name that starts with "L", would you like me to auto-fill that for you???"

It's like a have a half functional version of Clippy in my head!

[TalktoChuck]

"Toronto Shamrocks" is a great way to be the St. Pats without infringing on the Leafs' history. I like it.

I also want to see a big four team use the name Knights. That could work in either Los Vegas or Toronto.

Are we sure the Avs own the Nords' IP or did the league take it back?

If I remember correctly, the League owns the rights to the name/logo but allows the Avs to produce and sell merchandise with it.

They sell shirts, hats, jerseys, and all that jazz at the Pepsi Center store. And it sells really well. I myself, own quite a bit of Nordiques merch.

I'm curious. How would you, as an Avs fan, feel about a new team in Quebec City using the Nordiques' name and logo? Would you feel like would be stealing part of your team's history or would you be ok with it?

I would have no problem with it, in fact I would welcome it. Mainly because I think it's a great identity that should be used if given the chance. I might be in the minority when it comes to that opinion, though.

Plus, the Avs basically treat themselves as an expansion franchise anyway. While the Avs do sell Nordiques merchandise, they have pretty much cut off all ties with the Nordiques history. The franchise makes no mention of the Nordiques outside of merchandise. There's no banners, no video clips, no historical stats mentioned, no past players returning, literally no mention of ever being the Nordiques outside of the merchandise.

[IceCap]

I could have sworn they had some Nords banners up? Guess I was mistaken.

[TalktoChuck]

I could have sworn they had some Nords banners up? Guess I was mistaken.

They might have at some point, but not anymore.

[SenatorJake]

Las Vegas Black Aces: Classic hockey terminology.

Why would you name a whole team after healthy scratches? And I thought people would make fun of me for suggesting a tree.

• It conjures up the optimism of the young rookie call-up. The underdog, if you will. (not that big of a stretch)
• It also works because Las Vegas is somewhat of an unknown quantity as far as sports markets are concerned, much like those proverbial Black Aces can sometimes be unknown quantities themselves. (somewhat of a stretch)
• The term 'an ace up the sleeve' also applies as far as the NHL selecting this unanticipated location for one of its franchises and getting quite the expansion fee for it. (a friggin' quantum leap)

[DoubleStraps]

Now, Nordiques is an obvious choice for Quebec. But here's an identity from the AHL that I absolutely loved (the colors, the jerseys, the primary and secondary logos, everything):

Quebec Citadelles

[TaylorMade]

Seattle Orcas (Because Whales are underused in sports)

[MDGP]

Seattle Orcas (Because Whales are underused in sports)

Oh, right... I guess this means that I subconsciously want the Canucks to move away from the Orca logo.

[Buster]

Seattle Icehawks! Joking but Metropolitans could be an option to bring back and just go ahead and match the NFL team's color scheme.

Nordiques is a lock for sure.

I'm not sure a gambling-related name will fly for a pro team rhough, so maybe Las Vegas Velocity (flaming/fying puck logo), even though I hate non-plural team names.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Navigators

Aviators

Pilots

Lumberjacks

Steelheads

Metros- the only problem I have with this is that people will be calling them the Mets

Seattle Sasquatch would be cool too but I hate singular names.

[seattlesonicsofsacramento]

Since I haven't found any of the Seattle or Las Vegas suggestions truly satisfactory so far (Quebec City is a lock and Toronto II...who knows/cares), I decided to contribute a few:

With everyone wanting to capitalize on the Seattle Metropolitans being the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup, how about we name the new team the Seattle Americans? You even get an instantly manufactured rivalry with the Canadiens.

The funny thing is, this was actually a real WHL team from 1955-58, which turned into the Totems afterward:

And speaking of the Totems, I didn't realize that they were involved in the purchase of an approved 1976-77 Seattle NHL expansion team, which ultimately fell through. I think as a result of that we should boycott naming them the Totems (along the lines of "they had their chance") and because the Canucks shares in the Totems were part of the prohibitive cost, that should only stoke that future rivalry.

Next, here's another name to consider for Seattle. In keeping with the emergent tradition of major championship winning-Seattle teams having a name that starts with an S and is two syllables (if you want to get picky with the SuperSonics, instead of just calling them the Sonics, then that's two names that start with S and are two syllables), I propose this team be named the Seattle Sirens. Their colors can be emerald (The Emerald City) and white (neutral), and maybe their logo would look something like this:

Now that we have two solid Seattle entries, what about Las Vegas? I really really doubt that they will have any gambling-related name, but if they are somehow allowed to, then this is the one case in major sports that I hope the ownership group would just use their existing brand for the name, so that we'd have the Las Vegas Caesars, Las Vegas Pyramids, or Las Vegas Circus Circus.

For a more realistic suggestion, Las Vegas could go with one of their most popular non-gambling cultural artifacts and name themselves the Las Vegas Fear and Loathing (alternatively the Nevada Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Ralph Steadman's still alive and so he could hopefully be paid enough to provide the an ink blot-esque primary logo, and the secondary logo could be a bat, serving as the rallying point for an ultras fan base whose chant is "This is bat country!" They even have a song ready for them to play during introductions.

(In all seriousness, I really hope that the fans of this Las Vegas franchise embrace the bat country thing.)

EDIT: For those who are steadfast on Seattle Metropolitans happening, especially if the keep the green and red 90s Sonics Christmas colors, I suggest they adopt an alternate uniform, maybe for the Winter Classic (or even the Heritage Classic) paying tribute to the Toronto Blueshirts, 1914 Stanley Cup winners from whom Seattle sort of expansion drafted 5 high-caliber players, paving the way for that 1917 Stanley Cup. This way the team could fit in with all the other Seattle teams wearing blue now. (By the way, nobody's mentioning the 1919 Stanley Cup between the Metropolitans and the Canadiens that was cancelled at 2-2-1 because of the Spanish flu, which would further support a Seattle-Canadiens rivalry.)