The new NHL team in Utah is coming into focus, even if it’s waiting for a permanent name.
Utah sports magnate Ryan Smith officially closed on his purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, an occasion the team used to confirm its new, temporary name and jerseys, as well as the team’s permanent colors.
The Utah Hockey Club will take the ice this fall, wearing sweaters featuring the word “Utah” and little else. Never say the Washington Football Team wasn’t a trend-setter.
Some will call them clean, some will call them plain, some will call them the most boring jerseys in the NHL.
The Utah Hockey Club is currently in the process of having fans vote to determine the name the team will use for the long term. It entered its second round of voting last week, with six options available: the now-incumbent Utah Hockey Club, the Utah Blizzard, the Utah Mammoth, the Utah Outlaws, the Utah Venom and the Utah Yeti.
Whichever name is selected will use the following colors, seen below with the Hockey Club’s initial logos: rock black, salt white and mountain blue.
Obviously, some of the names will work better with those colors than others (can a woolly mammoth be blue). The second round of fan voting will run through June 20 until 11:59 p.m. MT.
The NHL’s Board of Governors approved the $1.2 billion sale of the Coyotes to Smith in April, adding an NHL team to a personal sports empire that already included the NBA’s Utah Jazz, MLS’s Real Salt Lake, NWSL’s Utah Royals, G League’s Salt Lake City Stars, minor league baseball’s Salt Lake Bees and MLS Next Pro’s Real Monarchs.
As part of the sale agreement, if former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo can secure a new arena in Arizona within five years, he can pay back the $1.2 billion and will be awarded an expansion franchise.
Source Agencies
