Utah Yetis. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
Hockey fans have been spitballing names for Utah’s NHL team ever since the Arizona Coyotes moved there last year. The team decided to go by the generic “Utah Hockey Club” moniker for this season, giving it ample time to nail down the perfect name and logo for year two.
The consensus seemed to be “Yeti” or “Yetis,” with Utah centre Clayton Keller confirming that was what he was hearing back in September.
Just one problem: the name is taken.
@YETICoolers/X
The YETI company, which makes coolers, drinkware, and bags, is well established.
The “Utah Yetis” trademark has been reportedly refused by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It won’t allow “Utah Yeti” either.
The team can try to fight the ruling, but it certainly seems likely that they’ll now need to move on to Plan B.
In addition to “Utah Yeti” and “Utah Hockey Club,” four other names were listed as finalists by the team last June:
- Utah Outlaws
- Utah Blizzard
- Utah Venom
- Utah Mammoth
Two of these four names also had trademark issues, as applications for Utah Blizzard and Utah Venom were reportedly refused.
That leaves the Utah Outlaws and Utah Mammoth as the two options remaining for the NHL club.
Utah currently ranks last in NHL average attendance, drawing 11,131 fans per game, though that’s more than twice the size of crowds they could draw in Arizona.
Utah’s attendance figures aren’t as bad as they appear, given the team plays out of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, which is the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz and wasn’t designed for hockey. There are thousands of seats in the arena that don’t have a full view of the ice — something that is going to be rectified in the future.
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