The National Hockey League announced in June that it would become the first of the four major pro sports in North America to have a team in Las Vegas. Less than two months later, the franchise is down to three potential names.
Thursday night, Bill Foley, owner of the Las Vegas NHL franchise, said he registered domain names for three possible names. The three names registered are the Red Hawks, Nighthawks, and Desert Hawks.
And here is our completely unofficial ranking and analysis of all three:
1. Nighthawks – All three are pretty bland, but this is the best of the trio. This name could also help lead to a military-based theme for the franchise. The Lockheed Nighthawk fighter jet made its debut flight in Nevada, giving this name some historical context as well.
2. Desert Hawks – Wait, you didn’t know Las Vegas is in the middle of the desert? If that’s what the team is going for with this one, then it’s pretty bland. Yes it’s nice to have your team’s name relate to where the team is located, but still this one is meh.
3. Red Hawks – This is the worst one. It’s boring, and sounds like a copout. After all, there is that Chicago NHL franchise that goes by, you know, the Blackhawks. Too close for comfort. The Red Sox and White Sox are two of the oldest franchises in baseball. The Blackhawks are an original six franchise, no need to have the 31st team copy them.
Foley has told reporters he’d like to unveil a nickname and logo in late September or early August. The owner would, as a result, also like to be selling merchandise around that time as well.
To make matters more confusing, when Foley announced those three names were under consideration, he did say he is close to registering two other names as well. However, the same Review-Journal piece went on to say the original list included 18 names, with the NHL set to approve only four. Now, there might be five potential names, according to Foley.
To make matters even more confusing and worse for Foley, the owner wanted to keep the final FOUR names secret until the official unveiling of the actual name. That doesn’t look like it will be the case anymore.
While we await what might be one or two more names, here are some potential options for the new NHL team in Las Vegas:
Las Vegas Mirages – This is pretty cheesy and would be nearly impossible to land because of the hotel by the same name. But think about it, a mirage can often been seen in the desert and plays tricks on your mind. Funny enough, that’s kind of what casinos can do too.
Las Vegas (something related to Herbert Hoover) – The Hoovers doesn’t work and neither do the Herberts, so this name would simply be something related to the President’s life. After all, Hoover Dam near Vegas is a major historical landmark.
Las Vegas 51s – This name would be tricky to acquire as it’s currently used by the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in town. However, Area 51 does play a big role in Nevada history and basing the name off the military base or rumors surrounding it would have some historical and local significance. The mascot would have to be an alien, obviously.
[Review Journal] [SportsLogos]
