Tuesday
Mar132012

Name Nominations: Hartford & Yellowknife

The time has come to start suggesting names for the IceHL's 2012 expansion franchises. Last week it was announced they were awarded to Hartford, Conn. and Yellowknife, NT.

To nominate team names for consideration, simply post them in a comment below. If you see someone before you has suggestd a name you like, say so in your comment. The more popular suggestions are more likely to be among the 25 selected for the voting process. I will base those 25 on whether they are creative, unique, and of course, popular.

Here is a list of locators you may use to precede your team nicknames:

  • Hartford
    Connecticut | New England
  • Yellowknife
    Northwest Territories | Northwest

You can be creative and suggest other names. The worst that could happen if they're not acceptable is they won't be included in the voting. But so as not to waste anyone's time, don't bother submitting Whalers. It won't be considered.

There are some other important don'ts. You may NOT use the name of any current or past IceHL, NHL or WHA team, nor any current ECHL, AHL, CHL, WHL, QMJHL or OHL team. You may NOT use the name (or any variation thereupon) of any current or past sports franchises in the market or geographical area. And if your suggestion is vulgar, obscene, or in any way inappropriate, it will not be considered.

Only names nominated in the comments of this post will be considered. Do not email or tweet your suggestions if you want them to be included in the voting process.

Submission period ends: Monday, March 26

Voting on eligible name nominees is scheduled to begin on April 6, following the end of the Pacific Division jersey voting. (That begins this Thursday, March 15. Submissions closed on Sunday night.) 

Some other upcoming IceHL events: Later this month, I'll start accepting jersey design submissions for the Southeast Division and then we'll hold a poll to determine how the IceHL will be realigned after it expands to 32 teams this year. In April, we'll vote on Southeast Division jerseys after we wrap up the Pacific. We'll also get to some other minor questions that I think the community should decide. Fun year ahead for the IceHL!

« IceHL Jersey Contest: Southeast | Main | IceHL Expands to Two Cities »

Reader Comments (103)

Hartford Harpoon, Northwest Knife

Mar 13 · 1:14 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterJames L

Hartford Harpooneers

Yellowknife Yetis

Mar 13 · 1:44 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterNelloz

Connecticut Blue Bloods

Northwest Snowmen

Mar 13 · 5:37 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterRyan (HJC)

Here are my suggestions:

Northwest Narwhals (the NT coat of arms features two narwhals)
Northwest Actic Fox
Northwest Caribou

Connecticut Steeds
Hartford Beacons

Mar 13 · 6:07 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterBen M.

Hartford Fire and Yellowknife Indians

Mar 13 · 6:57 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterZach

Yellowknife Blades

Mar 13 · 7:36 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterColin M.

I have two for Yellowknife:

Yellowknife Snowkings - derived from the Snowking Winter Festival

Yellowknife Long Johns - derived both from the clothing needed during the cold nights and the new winter festival The Long John Jamboree and of course, the pastry.

Mar 13 · 7:51 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterAndy P

Hartford Harpoons
Yellowknife Gold Rush

Mar 13 · 8:18 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterJakub

Yellowknife Aurora
Yellowknife Miners
Yellowknife Freeze

Mar 13 · 8:42 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterTim S

I have four names.

Two for Hartford:
New England Wild Dogs
Connecticut Sea Wolves
(Plenty of wild dogs in New England)

Two for Yellowknife
Yellowknife Chill
Northwest Terrtories Ice Titans
(I don't think I need to explain these two)

Mar 13 · 9:16 AM PDT | Unregistered Commentertheguy123

Yellowknife Inuksuit (plural of Inukshuk)
Yellowknife Huskies
Yellowknife Auroras

Hartford Atlantics
Hartford Sailors
Hartford Pilgrims

Mar 13 · 9:36 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterMayhem

I apologize. I had forgotten that the Alaska team was already named the Huskies. Instead, replace that with the Yellowknife Diamond Miners.

Mar 13 · 9:52 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterMayhem

Hartford Harpoons (subtle Whale references aside, it's actually very well-alliterated and can make its own unique identity)
Hartford Flying Dutchmen (old nautical legend, as well as a subtle homage to the Dutch settlers which first inhabited Hartford)
Hartford Stags (reference to "The Hartford")
Hartford Steam (Hartford Steam Boiler)
Connecticut Charters (CT's the Constitution State)
Connecticut Rapids (the CT River's right within Hartford)
Connecticut Cannons (Hartford's home to US Fire Arms)
Connecticut Clippers (maritime history)
Connecticut Destroyers (more "bad-ass" maritime)
Connecticut Captains (who's in charge?)
New England Mutuals (insurance capital of the world)
New England Travelers (Travelers Group)
New England Brawlers (massacres and wars are much of New England's early history)
New England Diplomats (diplomacy is too)

Yellowknife Miners (Yellowknife's been a mining town its entire history-from gold to copper to uranium to silver to diamonds, they've mined it all! Currently with twelve mines-YELLOWKNIFE IS MINING.)
Yellowknife Jewels (the stuff that gets mined...just like gems are mined in the city, so the team can hopefully mine jewels for hockey)
Yellowknife Snow Kings (in honor of a winter festival in the city)
Yellowknife Rockstars (Folk on the Rocks music festival)
Northwest Territories Polar Bears (popular license plate)
Northwest Lights (the Aurora Borealis is visible from Yellowknife and the NWT)
Northwest Great Whites (it doesn't have to be the shark-this is the Great White North, so I'm sure creative ideas can be thought up for the mascot)
Northwest Frostbite (very common)
Northwest Walruses (I don't think any other sports team has that name)

Hope you like...

Mar 13 · 9:54 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterBurmy

Right off the bat, I'm looking at alliteration. Too bad there aren't a lot of "Y" nicknames.

YELLOWKNIFE YELLOW JACKETS is quite a mouthful.

YELLOWKNIFE YAKS is a little shorter.

In going with the "N" sound, I noticed the coat of arms for the Northwest Territories has two narwhals on it.

YELLOWKNIFE NARWHALS would get a lot of creative designs.

Lastly, the gold mining industry is history there. But diamond mining is a key operation.

YELLOWKNIFE MINERS
YELLOWKNIFE DIAMONDS
YELLOWKNIFE GEMS
YELLOWKNIFE PROSPECTORS.

Also, one of the oldest buildings and a heritage site is the Wildcat Cafe. So, in honor of it:

YELLOWKNIFE WILDCATS

Mar 13 · 9:55 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterJohnny Woods

Yellowknife Miners (since it's mainly known if their gold and diamond mines)

Mar 13 · 10:07 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterBlack[box]

Seeing lots of suggestions for Hartford Harpooners and the like. Just so you know, I'm leaning towards disallowing that name because it's basically just a clever way of getting around Whalers. This league is not going to be a rehash of the NHL. I've said it over and over and over. Be original if you want consideration.

Mar 13 · 10:34 AM PDT | Registered CommenterChris

Northwest Auroras

Yellowknife Freeze

Hartford Harpoons

Connecticut Cannons

Mar 13 · 11:05 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterMatt H

I would definitely have to agree with suggestions mentioned before; Wildcats and Snowkings because as a resident of Yellowknife, I can surely relate to those.
I would suggest YELLOWKNIFE ICE PILOTS in honour of the TV Show and also the actual ice pilots which are the lifeline to smaller communities around the Territories. Perhaps the NORTHMEN would also work as a name or the team, simply due to the geographical location, although, we are actually pretty far South in relation to the rest of the Artic.

Mar 13 · 11:14 AM PDT | Unregistered Commentergsl23

Yellowknife
Miners
Diamonds
Caribou

Hartford
Oaks - after the Charter Oak tree
Colts - He invented and manufactured the revolver there.
Revolvers
Schooners
Underwriters - not really :)

Mar 13 · 11:27 AM PDT | Unregistered CommenterMike

I had been thinking of a few names, but I see a few people already beat me to Yellowknife Miners and Connecticut Captains. So, here's my leftovers:

Yellowknife Rush
Northwest Trappers
Yellowknife Snow Caps

Hartford Foxes
Hartford Travelers
Hartford Fisherman
Hartford Riders

Mar 13 · 11:31 AM PDT | Registered CommenterJon W | California Wave
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