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NHL Team Name Origins


charger77

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Thanks. I feel like I knew most of those already, but it was still fun to read.

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"You could put an empty orange helmet on the 50-yard line at Cleveland Browns Stadium and 50,000 fans would show up to stare at it."

-Terry Pluto

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The Coyotes originally started out in Winnipeg, where the owner decided to call them the Jets based largely on the fact that he was friends with the owner of football?s New York Jets

Actually, it was because they couldn't find a jersey supplier, so the owner (Ben Hatskin) bought up all of the equipment, including uniforms, of a local junior club called the Jets.

The more you know.

Welcome to DrunjFlix

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Yeah, some of these are a little suspect:

Calgary Flames ? The Flames name goes back to the organization?s beginnings in Atlanta, referring to the city being burned to the ground by General William T. Sherman during the Civil War. So, why did they keep the name upon moving to Calgary? Some say since the team relocated in May of 1980 and with training camp starting in September, there simply wasn?t time to change and still market the new team. So, the flaming ?A? was simply replaced by a ?C? on the team?s logo and jersey.

The team moved in May, and didn't have enough time to rebrand before September? Bah. The Seattle Pilots re-branded themselves as the Brewers six days before the start of the regular season.

Calgary is also known for oil production, and it's not like flames have nothing to do with the industry....

istockphoto_1013368_offshore_oil_rig_and_flame_tower.jpg

This is one of those cases where a relocated team's name is equally appropriate as it was for the original location, but for a different reason.

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Calgary is also known for oil production, and it's not like flames have nothing to do with the industry....

This is one of those cases where a relocated team's name is equally appropriate as it was for the original location, but for a different reason.

Calgary is not known for oil production (see Edmonton ^_^), but it does house many of big oil companies stationed in Alberta.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...l_Sands_map.png

I saw, I came, I left.

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silly observation, but as a kid I used to question why the Washington CAPITALS had all lowercase letters on their unis. Of course someone later informed me what the specific meaning of the word that was being used in the moniker.....but somewhat indicative of a young child's very literal thought process.

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Nice read. I like how the Sabres don't want to be identified with traditional Buffalo references, but use a Buffalo as their primary marking.

I'm glad the Jackets didn't go with Justice. Justice sounds like some 80s 'rassler saying that "justice will be served on Monday night" or something.

If the Flyers came in the league about a decade later and ran a fan naming contest, there's no doubt in my mind that the population of Philly would have called them the Rocky Balboas.

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Wow, says in there that the two other names being played around with for the Blues were Apollo and Mercury. WTF? Glad they stuck to the Blues.

Little known fact..The St. Louis organization actually released the logo for the team name Apollo...

apollo_creed.jpg

Wow...too easy....

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"Buffalo Sabres ? When the city of Buffalo was awarded a franchise, the owners, brothers Seymour and Northrup Knox, had a few criteria for what they wanted in a name. They were looking for one that was not in use by any other professional franchise, could be easily used in their marketing campaigns and stayed away from the traditional Buffalo references like Bills, Bison or Braves. A contest was held and from over 13,000 entries, only four offered Sabres. But, the name was exactly what the team wanted."

Yet every primary logo they've EVER had features a ****ing Buffalo in it. What a crock of ****.

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Yet every primary logo they've EVER had features a ****ing Buffalo in it. What a crock of ****.

I know...they aren't the "Buffalo Buffaloes". Just what does "Bills" mean? Reference to the old wild-west, cowboy show guy, Buffalo Bill? Shouldn't he be on the helmet? Just kidding.

Love the Sabres throwbacks. While they did have a Buffalo on it, they featured sabres, actual swords! Imagine that.

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Pittsburgh Penguins ? Other than a fondness for the cold and ice, the penguin has no real connection to hockey and definitely none to this western Pennsylvania city, other than perhaps the local zoo. But like their cross-state rival in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh was also given an NHL franchise in 1967, and they held a name-the-team contest as well. From that, the offering of Penguins caught the eye of the search committee, mainly because they too, liked how the word sounded after their city?s name.

According to what I read in "Tales From the Pittsburgh Penguins" by Joe Starkey, long time pens writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the true origin of the name is somewhat unknown, (it was suggested a few times in the name-the-team contest - partly aso because even back then the Civic Arena was called the Igloo) but one of the more well known theories also is that it was suggested by the wife of an investor of the team, who liked the idea of purely black and white jerseys.

oBIgzrL.png

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even back then the Civic Arena was called the Igloo)

Which still makes no sense, since igloos are found in the north, while Penguins come from Antarctica, in the south.

Anyone watching the CBC feed understand what Don Cherry was going on about when he was referencing the Pittsburgh Hornets?

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even back then the Civic Arena was called the Igloo)

Which still makes no sense, since igloos are found in the north, while Penguins come from Antarctica, in the south.

Well, the arena looks like an igloo...why people made (make) that connection could be because they think of cold (where both can be found), rather than location (different for both). Make sense? no, but it supposedley helped result in a unique moniker nonetheless.

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There's another explanation for the name of the Black Hawks.

"The original owner, Major McLaughlin, chose the name Blackhawks for his team. There are a couple of different stories about why he chose that name. The first one says that during World War I, McLaughlin had served as commander of the 333rd Machine-Gun Battalion of the 85th (Blackhawk) division of the U.S. Army. The division's nickname commemorated Black Hawk, a prominent Indian of the early 1800's, so McLaughlin chose the Blackhawks for the team's name in honor of his military unit. The second story says that the Major had a restaurant in Chicago called The Blackhawk and he named the team the Blackhawks to get a little free advertising for his restaurant. There's probably a little truth to both stories."

And there's a minor mis-statement in the Maple Leafs entry. It says Conn Smythe may have been partly inspired by Canada's flag "which prominently features a Maple Leaf" when he renamed the team. The maple leaf was a prominent Canadian symbol, however, the familiar red and white flag wasn't introduced until 1965. In Smyth's time Canada did not have an official flag, it used the red ensign which encorporated small maple leaves on a crest.

1868RedEnsign.jpg

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Just what does "Bills" mean? Reference to the old wild-west, cowboy show guy, Buffalo Bill? Shouldn't he be on the helmet? Just kidding.

Yes, actually. As far as I know, it is a reference to the old wild-west cowboy show guy. I suspect that he's not on the helmet, at least in part, because there's already a cowboy team in the league.

indians4.png

"You could put an empty orange helmet on the 50-yard line at Cleveland Browns Stadium and 50,000 fans would show up to stare at it."

-Terry Pluto

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Pittsburgh Penguins ? Other than a fondness for the cold and ice, the penguin has no real connection to hockey and definitely none to this western Pennsylvania city, other than perhaps the local zoo. But like their cross-state rival in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh was also given an NHL franchise in 1967, and they held a name-the-team contest as well. From that, the offering of Penguins caught the eye of the search committee, mainly because they too, liked how the word sounded after their city?s name.

According to what I read in "Tales From the Pittsburgh Penguins" by Joe Starkey, long time pens writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the true origin of the name is somewhat unknown, (it was suggested a few times in the name-the-team contest - partly aso because even back then the Civic Arena was called the Igloo) but one of the more well known theories also is that it was suggested by the wife of an investor of the team, who liked the idea of purely black and white jerseys.

My grandfather and a few other people sent in the name Penguins to that contest. I even have the papers saying that his entry and a few others won and that Penguins was selected.

No one will probaly believe me but it's the truth.

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And there's a minor mis-statement in the Maple Leafs entry. It says Conn Smythe may have been partly inspired by Canada's flag "which prominently features a Maple Leaf" when he renamed the team. The maple leaf was a prominent Canadian symbol, however, the familiar red and white flag wasn't introduced until 1965. In Smyth's time Canada did not have an official flag, it used the red ensign which encorporated small maple leaves on a crest.

1868RedEnsign.jpg

Wow. Would this be, what do the kids say, PWNED? :P

Who wrote this thing? It's a mish-match of rumor, hearsay and invention hedged with the word "may."

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Just what does "Bills" mean? Reference to the old wild-west, cowboy show guy, Buffalo Bill? Shouldn't he be on the helmet? Just kidding.

Yes, actually. As far as I know, it is a reference to the old wild-west cowboy show guy. I suspect that he's not on the helmet, at least in part, because there's already a cowboy team in the league.

...which uses a nondescript star for a logo.

Welcome to DrunjFlix

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