
A Case for Outlaws: Naming Utah’s New NHL Team
Well before the Arizona Coyotes were ever set to relocate to Salt Lake City, fans have been mocking up names, sweaters and full-blown aesthetics for a potential professional hockey team in Utah.
Now that the dream has become a reality, fans find themselves fully entrenched in the war that is naming the new NHL team.
The Smith Entertainment Group has listed the final three names after losing the copyright battle with Yeti coolers, making the usage of Yeti impossible.
Yeti was seemingly the clear front runner all the way up until the legality of it got in the way forcing the chase for a moniker to go in a new direction.
The three finalist, that fans can vote for at the Delta Center during the next three home games are as follows:
Utah Mammoth
Utah Hockey Club (with a revised logo featuring a Yeti type creature)
Utah Outlaws
Utah Wasatch was also on the table for approximately a day before the organization realized that fans in and outside of the state struggled to see how it would make a good team name.
Wasatch was replaced by the much more popular “Outlaws” name, giving two of the original fan favorite names (Mammoth, Outlaws) a real chance to claim the title.
Yet by default, some of these names have to be better than the others, and I am setting out to make a case for the seemingly more popular selections.
It’s easy to put a name down when you have a handpicked selected favorite, but in all reality any of the names could be justifiable in the eyes of a fan.
So be aware, this ISN'T my definite selection, but a positive spin on some of the names that could fit the newest NHL team to hit the ice.
Outlaws was the first real competitor to “Yeti” that I can recall when the original debates began to pick up steam.
The first challenger picked up followers in an absolute hurry and for good reason.
The idea of a person that is rotten, dirty and has few to no morals has worked well from a mascot standpoint through sports history.
No one wants to run into someone willing to steal, pillage, plunder or destroy.
Raiders, Vikings, Pirates and Buccaneers all carry a similar vibe in terms of utilizing brutality effectively as a threatening/relatable mascot to the sports world.
In sports you have to earn your keep, take what you can, be physical, be intimidating and create your own luck not unlike what an Outlaw would have to do to succeed or survive.
Although uncommon, there is no rule that says your team has to have a positive identity from a mascot morality standpoint.
Yes, you have a Los Angeles Angel but there’s also a New Jersey Devil, or how about a New Orleans Saint opposed to a UNLV/Ole Miss Rebel?
The moniker of “Outlaw” fits right into this category, but unlike a Pirate or Viking, tailors more to a Utah demographic due to its roots in the American old wild west.
Sure, it isn’t overly popular to name your team after things that can bring controversy, but that makes it unique, and for some unique equates to good.
Sports are better with villains and a team known as the Outlaws puts you well on pace to be entertaining to the home crowd and aggravating to the opposition.
With Outlaws comes a variety of workable resources in terms of looks, sounds, sights and vibes for your new hockey team.
Despite not being tied to ice/winter elements like a Yeti or Mammoth, Outlaws has plenty to offer in terms of being an immersive mascot name.
Wanted posters, train robberies, horses, bandannas, boots, spurs, cactus, tumbleweeds, wagons, saloon doors or longhorn cattle all would be viable options for team usage.
Think of your favorite western film, and picture any element as a usable visual for sweaters, hats, stickers and arena elements.
Utah would have an opportunity to right the wrongs of other franchises who have western branding but don’t necessarily fully play into it.
The Dallas Cowboys use a star as a logo, the San Antonio Spurs use a coyote as a mascot, and in the NHL world with the Coyotes branding going defunct, there is no west theme to be found in hockey.
There is so much more to give from western themed teams in the world of professional sports, the Utah Outlaws could rise to the occasion.
And I know the common rebuttal is “What’s so Outlaw about Utah?”
Many don’t pair the state and its religious history hand in hand with fugitives of the old west.
But in stark reality, Utah’s history like much of the west, was Outlaw Country.
The well-known Outlaw, Butch Cassidy, was born right around Circleville, Utah.
He, The Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch operated throughout Utah and had a well-documented hideout dubbed the “Robbers Roost” in Central, Utah.
The terrain and the difficulty to traverse made it an ideal spot to hole up.
History.com named Cassidy a top 5 “Legendary Wild West Outlaw.”
That alone makes Utah qualified to adopt the moniker as they see fit as History is on their side.
Even the religious aspects couldn’t keep Outlaws away from Utah’s history evident by Willard “The Mormon Kid” Christianson riding with the wild bunch.
Point being, you cannot fully paint the picture of the Wild West and Outlaws without including Utah.
If Outlaws emerges as a big winner you can bet most fans will take an instant liking.
They would however have to keep a keen eye out for those New York Rangers.
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