What Vegas Fans Were Saying About the Utah Hockey Club

Down in Las Vegas this last Saturday night I had the pleasure of taking In a Golden Knights home game against the newest team in pro hockey, the Utah Hockey Club.

It was an unexpected beatdown as Utah scored 4 goals in the 1^st, 2 in the 2^nd and coasted to a 6-0 victory, giving themselves their first ever franchise shutout win and handing Vegas their worse ever home loss in their history.

So outside the chatter and noise from puzzled Knights fans who had rarely seen their team lose in such a fashion in the fortress, I made sure to make it a point to try and find out what fellow NHL teams had to say about the new kid in town.

Let me say, almost all talk centered on the Utah Hockey Club had to do not with the game, or the players, but the mascot, or more so lack of.

The only non mascot chatter I heard I regards to Utah was a Vegas fan mentioning how fun of a player Clayton Keller is to watch and that he could “skate so fast”.

It didn’t help that the Vegas Golden Knights PA announcer welcomed fans to the game by introducing the Utah…. Hockey Club?? in a puzzled quizzical tone as if to insinuate the oddity of an NHL team having a soccer nickname.

That got some good chuckles out of the crowd at T-Mobile Arena, and set the tone for conversations throughout the night.

One fan to the left of me said, “what is their logo?, Is that a Hockey Puck?” in reference to Utah's circular primary logo of Mountain Blue and Rock Black.

No, just become something is the same shape of something else does not make it the same thing.

The tires on my truck are not “hockey pucks”.

Maybe Utah was going for a puck look, but ultimately I think it’s just a circle, which is pretty common in sports logos, especially temporary ones.

Another fan down in front of me could be heard saying that the “Hockey Club” was such a lame name and that they could of least gone with the “Mountaineers”.

Which I give him credit for thinking of an original name, and one that was even on the ballot as an option for a small moment.

After all most people just go straight to making jokes about the state’s predominant religion, like the guy standing at the urinal who tried to start a “stormin mormons” chant.

Most fans not wearing Utah gear seemed very unaware that Utah may very well have a new identity come next year, as most assumed that Hockey Club was the name to be forever.

A handful of fans could be heard discussing the absolute insanity that was Utah not being able to pick a name in time for this season, after all how hard could it be right?

There’s no legal hoops to jump through and merchandising comes easily and quick, right?

Right?

No. Well ok maybe it makes sense.

Another common misconception out there is the bewilderment that Utah simply just didn't keep the “Coyotes” branding and likeness.

“Why not just stay the Coyotes, there are Coyotes in Utah” said the dude in front of me for a pretzel.

Cool idea, but it’s literally illegal, as Alex Meruelo, the previous owner of the Arizona Coyotes, was able to retain those rights such as name, logos and trademarks in case another franchise winds up in the Phoenix area.

Plus, Utah may have the Coyotes former roster and assets, but the NHL has dubbed them a brand new franchise rather than a relocated team with baggage.

A fresh start, means a fresh look, but like many Vegas fans made obvious this weekend, many still don’t know that Utah is likely set up to be more than just the “Hockey Club” down the road.

The biggest takeaway is that as soon as Utah can come out and say “this is who we are” the sooner fans outside of Utah can start to associate the players with how they play, rather than by what they are called.