NHL
What makes a great sports team name? Which ones are iconic and beloved by fans?
And, conversely, which ones come up short and why?
Now that the Utah franchise has a name — the Mammoth — we put out the call for NHL subscribers to rate all 32 NHL team names last week. Nearly 10,000 of you voted in only a few days’ time, a really impressive turnout given we were in the middle of the second round of the playoffs.
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To round out the results, we’ve also added our own votes and averaged them with the fan responses. Curiously, we were harder markers, with our average score of NHL team names 2.73 compared to 3.41 for readers’ scores. Our votes were also often very different from fans’ choices, showing how subjective this whole exercise can be.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And maybe we can come up with some better names for the teams on the low end here.
The Athletic rating: 4.5 (1st)
Fan rating: 3.7 (8th)
McIndoe: This is a near-perfect modern sports name. It’s unique without trying too hard, simple without feeling simplistic, aggressive without feeling silly, and the alliteration is an added bonus. I named it the best team name in league history a few years ago, and while some of my opinions have evolved since then, I stand by this one.
Mirtle: Yeah, this was one of the few names almost everyone agreed on, with 60 percent of fans giving it four or five stars. I remember when this team came out, and everyone wanted their gear, even though no one in western Canada knew much about San Jose. A lot of ’90s teams went too goofy, but this one has stood the test of time.
The Athletic rating: 4.0 (2nd)
Fan rating: 4.2 (2nd)
McIndoe: Very nice. Does it completely make sense when you think about it? Not necessarily, but it’s almost a century old, so you don’t have to.
Mirtle: I’m not sure you can even explain why this one works exactly, but it just does. Better than Sox anyway?
The Athletic rating: 4.0 (2nd)
Fan rating: 4.1 (3rd)
McIndoe: This is the first (but not last) of the Original Six examples in which I think the readers are just giving out high marks to the most familiar names. The “Montreal Canadiens” has obviously come to represent something beyond a mere name. Purely as a name, though, it’s cool that it’s French but otherwise isn’t all that creative.
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Mirtle: Having a name that sounds good and is tied to the region scores high marks with me. This name is about local identity; it’s more than just a team.
The Athletic rating: 4.0 (2nd)
Fan rating: 4.0 (4th)
McIndoe: How old were you when you found out a bruin was a bear? I was older than I’d probably want to admit, but that’s OK, because I’m not smart. I do know that bears are scary and cool, though, and this name has that creative twist that improves it without feeling kitschy.
Mirtle: Boston Bears sounds a bit silly. Bruins? Old school and alliteration and we all learn something new? That’s a lot of wins.
The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th)
Fan rating: 3.7 (7th)
McIndoe: Penguins are adorable, nonthreatening and almost completely harmless. I’m not sure that makes a great sports team name, but at least the whole ice connection works.
Mirtle: Penguins are also sleek, fast and opportunistic! I wish they kept the Igloo name and design with the new rink, even though it wasn’t practical, because Pittsburgh was really nailing the motif.
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 4.2 (1st)
McIndoe: It’s cooler if you know the history, assuming the version of the history you believe is “heroic military unit” and not “blatantly stolen from a more popular local baseball team.” If you don’t know the history, you’re confused by both the grammar and why you’d name your team after something incredibly fragile that’s known for falling helplessly when the going gets tough.
Mirtle: The fan vote went bonkers for the Leafs, which is probably a combination of Toronto fans showing up due to how engaged they are right now, people voting up Original Six names in general, and the fact the name has just come to represent hockey and Canadiana in some fundamental way. But it’s definitely a little weird.
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The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th)
Fan rating: 3.6 (12th)
McIndoe: Kind of silly, but it works in that 1970s kind of way.
Mirtle: My grandfather played briefly for the ’40s version of the Canucks and my Dad remains a die-hard so I’m not going after this one! Like the Bruins, it introduces a term to a wider audience — and the concept of Johnny Canuck if you do your research.
The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th)
Fan rating: 3.5 (13th)
McIndoe: Swords are cool. And they even chose to spell it the Canadian way. You’re all wrong on this one, Mirtle especially.
Mirtle: I thought this one was fine. But Sean voted it one of the greatest team names in professional sports history, elevating Buffalo’s score. The fans are with me here. At least it’s nice for the Sabres to not be at the bottom of something for once.
The Athletic rating: 4.0 (2nd)
Fan rating: 2.9 (27th)
McIndoe: I liked it then, and I like it now. Color modifiers can be hit and miss, but it works here. I get why it would be a bit too clever for some tastes, but I think the low fan vote is more about people being sick of these guys than actually thinking this is somehow a worse name than “Senators.”
Mirtle: There’s a large contingent of the more traditional fans who just don’t like anything Vegas, it seems. But when you go to a game there, you see how well it suits the market as something completely different. Would it be goofy anywhere else? Probably. Way better than if they went with some gambling theme or something kitschy.
The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th)
Fan rating: 3.3 (21st)
McIndoe: You can’t touch a Flames when it’s red hot! I mean, you can — that’s actually the only time you can touch one — but a nice, simple monosyllabic plural can still be a great name.
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Mirtle: I thought maybe this would get voted down more, given it was one of those weird “relocated team keeps its name in a new market” ones. But fire is cool, so that helps. And when it blasts out after a goal at the Saddledome, you know they chose right.
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.7 (9th)
McIndoe: Potentially problematic for many of the same reasons the logo comes under fire, but also a name with tons of history that’s hard to ignore. I’m not sure quite how to grade them, aside from pointing out that Chicago once went 60 years spelling their own name wrong.
Mirtle: I thought the fan vote would be lower given the controversy, but the pull of hockey tradition is strong.
The Athletic rating: 3.5 (6th)
Fan rating: 3.2 (24th)
McIndoe: Not many marks for creativity, with Florida sharing the same team name as roughly 90 percent of American high schools. But sometimes a name is a classic for a reason, and “Panthers” has earned its status as an all-timer in the sports world.
Mirtle: It seemed a bit cheesy in the ’90s, but it’s grown on hockey fans and just fits now, especially since it highlights the endangered Florida panther.
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.5 (14th)
McIndoe: Everyone who gave this a good mark is going to hell. Which is most of the appeal here, if we’re being honest.
Mirtle:
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.5 (15th)
McIndoe: It was reasonably cool, if a little plain, back in the 1970s. By the 2010s, it felt drab. But they kept it anyway, and it was absolutely the right call, because this is still a way better name than the Winnipeg Winter Moose or whatever some marketing consultant would have pushed for back in 2011.
Mirtle: I do believe they were named after the New York Jets originally, which is unfortunate. But yes, it was better, given the history, than the alternatives.
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The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.4 (18th)
McIndoe: I still like it, but I get why some people don’t. (They hate whimsy and fun.)
Mirtle: Not nearly as good as what Vegas came up with. It gives me Toronto Raptors vibes. It’s too bad they couldn’t have been the Supersonics or some variation. I always liked the Seattle Thunderbirds get-up, too, so something along those lines could have been fun.
The Athletic rating: 2.5 (19th)
Fan rating: 3.8 (5th)
McIndoe: A little bit of pandering to local industry isn’t the worst marketing strategy, especially when you’re coming in as part of a rebel league that might not survive more than a few seasons, but you wish they’d reached a little higher way back when.
Mirtle: We’re definitely getting hate mail for this one, DGB. This was where we were the most out of step with fans, who somehow voted it a top five name in the league.
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.3 (22nd)
McIndoe: This is the team responsible for bringing singular names into the NHL. The name itself isn’t awful, but actions have consequences.
Mirtle: Bah, I like it. Did you want them to be the Lightnings?
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.2 (23rd)
McIndoe: This is a nice, simple name that looks you in the eye when it shakes your hand.
Mirtle: And then you fall asleep.
The Athletic rating: 3.0 (11th)
Fan rating: 3.1 (26th)
McIndoe: It’s OK, and a huge step forward from Hockey Club. I might have considered a 4 if they’d gone plural.
Mirtle: Nineteenth is higher than I was expecting for a brand-new name, but a lot of that is our votes propping it up. Maybe it’ll grow on fans once their mascot starts impaling people with its tusks?
The Athletic rating: 2.5 (19th)
Fan rating: 3.4 (16th)
McIndoe: So what do you guys do?
“We, uh, fly.”
So, like, you’re a bird? An airplane? A projectile of some sort?
“Look, you’ve already put more thought into this than we clearly did.”
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Mirtle: Points for alliteration, but what is a Flyer? Shouldn’t it be spelled Phlyers? I looked up where it came from, and it was part of a naming contest. They were almost called the Sabers so Sean could have had two best favorites.
The Athletic rating: 2.5 (19th)
Fan rating: 3.4 (20th)
McIndoe: I realize this is hardly just a Carolina thing, but I’ve never fully understood the appeal of naming your team after a local recurring tragedy that kills people.
Mirtle: Too bad there wasn’t a way to keep the Whalers name and logo.
The Athletic rating: 2.0 (22nd)
Fan rating: 3.8 (6th)
McIndoe: The same as I just wrote for the Hurricanes, only this one’s also singular.
Mirtle: I remember hating when we went from Nordiques to this, but it’s grown on me a little. Points for the ice theme. Points deducted for sounding like a roller hockey team, though.
The Athletic rating: 2.0 (22nd)
Fan rating: 3.6 (10th)
McIndoe: Another name that some of you are overrating based on familiarity, but as old-school names go, it’s perfectly fine.
Mirtle: They’re sort of named after the Texas Rangers, which is just weird. But then again, most of the old names are strange.
The Athletic rating: 2.0 (22nd)
Fan rating: 3.6 (10th)
McIndoe: You’d never pick this name today, but I don’t mind that. The plural color is one of the oldest naming conventions in sports, and the musical connotation adds another layer. It’s perfectly fine.
Mirtle: I’d give it a higher rating if they’d bring back the musical jersey Mike Keenan wanted to burn. This was another one the fans liked a lot more than us, voting it 10th.
The Athletic rating: 1.5 (27th)
Fan rating: 3.4 (16th)
McIndoe: So what do you guys do?
“We, uh, island.”
That doesn’t even make sense.
“Shut up, this will make total sense as long as we never temporarily move to Brooklyn.”
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Mirtle: Yeah, negative points for creativity here. I think we’re getting more hate mail now, though. Readers were bigger fans of it than we cynics, for what it’s worth.
The Athletic rating: 2.0 (22nd)
Fan rating: 2.8 (29th)
McIndoe: I like where they were going, but this is just a little bit too generic for my tastes.
Mirtle: The double meaning of being a predator isn’t doing them any favors either. Of the other options they were looking at, including Attack and Fury, Ice Tigers might have worked better?
The Athletic rating: 1.5 (27th)
Fan rating: 3.1 (25th)
McIndoe: I liked that the Jets kept their old name when the market was resurrected, but that was a 15-year gap and this was over 50. I love history as much as the next guy, but not enough to name my pro sports team after an old rich guy with connections who never actually does anything.
Mirtle: Yeah, there are classic names and just plain dated ones, and this is the latter. Although who doesn’t enjoy cheering for their local senator to review and refine legislation?
The Athletic rating: 2.0 (22nd)
Fan rating: 2.5 (32nd)
McIndoe: I want to like it. If you catch me on the right day, I kind of do. But most fans don’t get it, and unfortunately, Columbus rarely gives them much reason to want to figure it out.
Mirtle: This one received the lowest scores out of all 32 teams in the fan vote — by quite a bit. I don’t think that’s entirely fair, as they deserve some points for originality, but something about it hasn’t worked. I wonder if they’d have been more successful it would have caught on more?
The Athletic rating: 1.0 (31st)
Fan rating: 3.4 (19th)
McIndoe: Yes, you’re the capital city, very clever. I kind of like the three-three syllabic flow here, but I would have said the same thing for Washington Dunderheads.
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Mirtle: I’m a bit baffled why this one received such high marks from fans. Maybe someone can explain it in the comments for us, as we both gave this the lowest grade. Perhaps we’re the dunderheads?
The Athletic rating: 1.5 (27th)
Fan rating: 2.8 (29th)
McIndoe: It’s an improvement on Mighty Ducks, in the same way that a fracture is an improvement over a compound fracture.
Mirtle: But now they’re just ducks. And they don’t even do the quack attack late in games.
The Athletic rating: 1.5 (27th)
Fan rating: 2.7 (31st)
McIndoe: OK, without any other context at all, “Stars” is fine. Bland and uncreative, but also simple. We could live with it. But we know the context — the Stars were previously the North Stars, which was a way better name. They moved to Dallas and watered it down, partly so they could piggyback on the Cowboys brand. And yes, Lone Stars would have been better.
Mirtle: And now we’re robbed of getting the North Stars back, which led to …
The Athletic rating: 1.0 (31st)
Fan rating: 2.8 (28th)
McIndoe: Awful.
Mirtle: It’s telling that we had tons of votes from our many Minnesotan/Russo readers and even they aren’t defending it. Can we let them just have their old name back?
(Top photo: Tyler Tate / Getty Images)
