Mississauga's OHL Team Renamed Steelheads; New Logo Unveiled

[Brian in Boston]

In the wake of Eugene Melnyk selling the Ontario Hockey League's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors to local businessman Elliott Kerr, the team will be rebranding itself as the Mississauga Steelheads.

Last week, Mr. Kerr's Landmark Sport Group launched a "Name The Team" contest. Fans were given the choice of three potential team names - Helmsmen, Lakers and Steelheads - along with the opportunity to submit a suggestion of their own.

Over 1,400 respondents cast their votes or made submissions, with 110 unique team name suggestions joining the three preselected finalists. Yesterday, Landmark Sport Group announced that Steelheads was the most popular selection amongst fans who took part in the contest. It bested the second-place finisher, Hurricanes - a write-in suggestion that was assumed to have been a tribute to 12-term Mississauga Mayor "Hurricane Hazel" McCallion.

The team's logo and team colors are expected to be revealed in the near future.

The St. Michael's Majors name and logos are property of St. Michael's College School. Mr. Melnyk is an alumnus of the school. As one of the conditions of the sale of the OHL franchise to Mr. Kerr, the St. Michael's Majors name and logos were to be returned to the school for use by the institution's much anticipated Division 1 hockey program. Additionally, Mr. Melnyk has announced that he is donating all St. Michael's Majors branded hockey equipment and jerseys to the school's hockey program.

[The_Admiral]

"Mississauga Hurricanes" has a really nice cadence to it and would've honored their mayor, whom even I've heard of, quite nicely. "Steelheads" sounds more like a Hamilton team. They screwed up.

[Stevenet]

wouldn't they have not been able to call them Hurricanes because the CHL does not allow two teams with the same name. I remember hearing about that when Montreal had the Rocket and were told Kelowna owned the 'Rockets' name for the CHL and Montreal decided on Rocket afterall since the team was to honor Maurice Richard and there was only one 'Rocket'. Another case is Victoriaville and Medicine Hat, one being the Tigres and the other Tigers, that's apparently alright.

[Braden]

Mississauga St. Michael's Majors of Anaheim no more.

Bummer.

[aci]

Steelheads is waaay too Hamilton. I'm guessing it gets changed again within a couple years, or the team gets moved. Their attendance has been unadulterated crap for a while now.

[The_Admiral]

I don't think the GTA needs as many teams as it has, especially when Mississauga and Brampton are down the street from each other. Might be better off giving it a go in more remote climes like North Bay. Those are the kinds of towns that do junior hockey. I mean, look at some of those Quebec cities like Val d'Or. Goodness.

[OMMF]

Additionally, Mr. Melnyk has announced that he is donating all St. Michael's Majors branded hockey equipment and jerseys to the school's hockey program.

That's the worst part. I was really hoping to get a game-worn jersey. They are hard to come by if you aren't in the area.

[Jer15]

Yup, I agree...very Hamilton-esk. I'm interested to see the logo now.

[sportstar1212]

Steelheads is waaay too Hamilton. I'm guessing it gets changed again within a couple years, or the team gets moved. Their attendance has been unadulterated crap for a while now.

I can vouch for that. I was at game 7 of last year's finals and it was about 70% Owen Sound fans. We were the away teams in our home rink. It was sad. I am a diehard Majors fan and it pains me to see an empty rink all the time.

Anywho, I hate the Steelheads name. Way too Hamilton esque. I don't think the logos and unis will be much better. Oh well.

[The_Admiral]

wouldn't they have not been able to call them Hurricanes because the CHL does not allow two teams with the same name. I remember hearing about that when Montreal had the Rocket and were told Kelowna owned the 'Rockets' name for the CHL and Montreal decided on Rocket afterall since the team was to honor Maurice Richard and there was only one 'Rocket'. Another case is Victoriaville and Medicine Hat, one being the Tigres and the other Tigers, that's apparently alright.

Interesting. I feel like the PEI Rocket should've been made to change their name because "PEI Rocket" sounds terrible. Call them the Gablers, I say.

[FrankCostanza]

Steelheads? Way too Hamilton, wouldn't it be something if they used these jerseys:

[waltere]

wouldn't they have not been able to call them Hurricanes because the CHL does not allow two teams with the same name. I remember hearing about that when Montreal had the Rocket and were told Kelowna owned the 'Rockets' name for the CHL and Montreal decided on Rocket afterall since the team was to honor Maurice Richard and there was only one 'Rocket'. Another case is Victoriaville and Medicine Hat, one being the Tigres and the other Tigers, that's apparently alright.

Interesting. I feel like the PEI Rocket should've been made to change their name because "PEI Rocket" sounds terrible. Call them the Gablers, I say.

Weirdly I was thinking about this earlier today (was starting up a new Be a Pro on NHL 12) and you're right. The CHL is hardly a bastion of great team names, but even by it's standards the PEI Rocket sounds really awkward and stupid.

On topic, Steelheads is really Hamilton-y.

Conspiracy theory: could this possibly be a foreshadowing to moving there in the near future perhaps?

[vman]

It's quite obvious that Kerr had settled on the Steelheads name before the "contest" began. The other two names were so weak, they were obviously designed to give Steelheads an easy victory. Had he paid attention to any of the hockey message boards and newspaper comment sections, he would have seen that Hurricanes was far and away the consensus choice of the fans and Missy residents, but I guess the possibility of a logo with a skating granny mayor didn't really intrigue him. Now were going to have another team with a ridiculous fish logo, unless they can pull off something decent, like the Toledo Walleye, but something tells me were going to get another Victoria Salmon Kings stinker.

[The_Admiral]

The CHL is hardly a bastion of great team names, but even by it's standards the PEI Rocket sounds really awkward and stupid.

The Good

London Knights

Peterborough Petes

Ottawa 67s

Windsor Spitfires

Shawinigan Cataractes

Quebec Remparts

Drummondville Voltigeurs

Chicoutimi Saguenéens

Oshawa Generals

Kingston Frontenacs

Calgary Hitmen

Rimouski Océanic

The Bad

Brampton Battalion

Niagara IceDogs

Mississauga Steelheads

Plymouth Whalers

PEI Rocket

Kootenay Ice

Halifax Mooseheads

The lolwutpear

Owen Sound Attack

Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Sherbrooke Phoenix

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada Featuring Herman Menderchuk

On topic, Steelheads is really Hamilton-y.

Conspiracy theory: could this possibly be a foreshadowing to moving there in the near future perhaps?

YES

[Howie_16]

The CHL is hardly a bastion of great team names, but even by it's standards the PEI Rocket sounds really awkward and stupid.

The Good

London Knights

Peterborough Petes

Ottawa 67s

Windsor Spitfires

Shawinigan Cataractes

Quebec Remparts

Drummondville Voltigeurs

Chicoutimi Saguenéens

Oshawa Generals

Kingston Frontenacs

Calgary Hitmen

Rimouski Océanic

The Bad

Brampton Battalion

Niagara IceDogs

Mississauga Steelheads

Plymouth Whalers

PEI Rocket

Kootenay Ice

Halifax Mooseheads

The lolwutpear

Owen Sound Attack

Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Sherbrooke Phoenix

Blainville-Boisbriand Armada Featuring Herman Menderchuk

On topic, Steelheads is really Hamilton-y.

Conspiracy theory: could this possibly be a foreshadowing to moving there in the near future perhaps?

YES

I wouldn't include the Calgary Hitmen on the list of good team names. I get why they called them the Hitmen, but professional wrestling is stupid! So many better choices in our city's hockey history. Really wish they had gone with Calgary Wranglers, Calgary Cowboys or Calgary Chinooks. Hell, even calling them the Calgary Junior Flames would be a major improvement.

Other teams I would add to the list of good names, as you are really short on the 'Dub:

Brandon Wheat Kings

Saskatoon Blades

Seattle Thunderbirds

Everett Silvertips

Medicine Hat Tigers

Kamloops Blazers

[The_Admiral]

I was a big Bret Hart fan as a kid, so it's a good name. They should still be in black and hot pink.

Most Dub nicknames are pretty pedestrian to me. Wheat Kings is good, I'll give you that, but Tigers, Blazers, Thunderbirds could be anything anywhere (and are). As well as "Hurricanes" would fit Mississauga for non-weather reasons, I kinda doubt it's relevant to southern Alberta for any reason.

[IceCap]

I wouldn't include the Calgary Hitmen on the list of good team names. I get why they called them the Hitmen, but professional wrestling is stupid! So many better choices in our city's hockey history. Really wish they had gone with Calgary Wranglers, Calgary Cowboys or Calgary Chinooks. Hell, even calling them the Calgary Junior Flames would be a major improvement.

You think pro wrestling is stupid, plenty disagree.

Naming a team in Calgary something with a wild west theme like Cowboys or Wranglers would come across as pretty generic and predicable. Like something a movie that had a scene at a Calgary hockey game would use if they couldn't get permission to use NHL teams.

The Calgary Cowboys are a team that's just sort of there. The Calgary Hitmen are a team named after Bret Hart, and are therefore awesome.

Also "Calgary Chinooks" is pretty terrible. Naming a team after wind, not even destructive wind like a hurricane or tornado, sounds like a bad idea.

[GoodsOnSabres]

Not crazy on the name either. I agree, it seems very Hamilton like. I think adding steel to names generally just makes them worse. I wonder what way they go with the logos.

[Don]

I wouldn't include the Calgary Hitmen on the list of good team names. I get why they called them the Hitmen, but professional wrestling is stupid! So many better choices in our city's hockey history. Really wish they had gone with Calgary Wranglers, Calgary Cowboys or Calgary Chinooks. Hell, even calling them the Calgary Junior Flames would be a major improvement.

You think pro wrestling is stupid, plenty disagree.

Naming a team in Calgary something with a wild west theme like Cowboys or Wranglers would come across as pretty generic and predicable. Like something a movie that had a scene at a Calgary hockey game would use if they couldn't get permission to use NHL teams.

The Calgary Cowboys are a team that's just sort of there. The Calgary Hitmen are a team named after Bret Hart, and are therefore awesome.

Also "Calgary Chinooks" is pretty terrible. Naming a team after wind, not even destructive wind like a hurricane or tornado, sounds like a bad idea.

I think pro wrestling is stupid, but the Hitmen name is pretty damn awesome.

[Gothamite]

I don't like soap operas in any form, so not a big wrestling fan.

That having been said, I wouldn't object to naming a team after a local celebrity. If it wasn't a silly faux-tuff name.