Week 4: Name Finalist Selections
Tuesday · May 7 · 2013 | 2:00 AM PDTI closed Name Nominations a day early due to the overwhelming response — more than 140 comments on that post! I can see you guys are definitely into this summer's IceHL revival. The 13 Weeks of R&R project continues now by narrowing down the many name submissions.
It was a difficult task, but I've counted up all the submissions and collected what I deem to be the top five options for each team (six for Detroit, Halifax and Philadelphia). But I'm sure some of you will be disappointed with my omissions. That's why every poll has an "other" box to enter a name you think I overlooked. (Feel free to start a write-in campaign in the comments if you really feel strongly about it.)
Some nominated names have been disqualified. I'm happy to explain why if anyone asks, but before you ask, Google search the name and that'll probably give you your answer.
These polls will remain open through Friday. Then on Saturday, each team's top three names (from these polls) will go into one last poll for Final Voting. By Tuesday, we should have our winning names for each team. After that, we choose color schemes before handing it off to our talented design community.
Enough talking. More voting!
Choose up to 3 names per team.
Original team name in ALL CAPS where available. Options displayed in random order.
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In cases where one option includes multiple names (ex. Brothers / Brotherhood), short run-off polls will be held if necessary to make a final determination.
NOTE: If "other" is one of the top three finalists, the most popular write-in candidate will move on to the Final Voting.
REMEMBER: These polls will not determine winning names. They are simply to help narrow down our many submissions into a manageable group of three. Results will remain visible so users can track voting progress.
Reader Comments (67)
How come Wranglers didn't make the poll for the Calgary team? I'm disappointed.
I didn't get a chance to vote in the previous poll, but I'd like to suggest Montreal's team be called the Rois (Kings) - a play on both the city's royal name and its idolisation of Patrick Roy. Vote 1!
Philadelphia Freedom? Is Elton John part of the ownership group? Great name!
Vancouver Riot!!
I know I saw that several times!!
Can't you hear the crowds: 'RIOT! RIOT! RIOT!"
Halifax Sea Kings is my vote. The Navy has a huge presence here and I've always thought that would be a cool hockey team name.
Sea Kings Halifax
I forgot to write this in my other but:
Philadelphia PHREEDOM
???
It seems that people do not like change very much considering when I voted most of the old names are winning.
i was raised in hamilton and live in vancouver. hamilton knights is weird. has nothing to do with the city.
those choices for vancouver are also pretty irrelevant. grizzlies would be good but theres the nba and then silvertips but then the whl. kermode bear was a favourite choice for an olympic mascot. theyre albino black bears with significance in native culture which is a popular motif around here. eagles, bears, salmon, wildlife, nature. same feel you'd give seattle. BIGFOOT! i've never seen lightning here. i think lumberjacks is overdone. look what won last time.
Let's not name the Philadelphia team the freedom. What is this the WNBA?! As much as I like freedom, teams should not be named after a singular noun. It just doesn't work. I have always hated it because then a player has to be referred to as "a member of the Philadelphia freedom" not "a patriot" or "a brother" (which I think is a genius team name) whatever.
Of all the great submissions for Halifax, I seriously can't believe those are the finalists. A couple of them are decent, that's all. And honestly, Freeze is a terrible name for them. Has zero to do with the city.
The Mountie is a trademarked symbol, just something to consider, since it is on a couple of lists but not leading. Wouldn't that complicate things if they won tho?
Pretty lame that you closed nomination a day early.
Guess I'm late to the naming party, but i guess ill post for write-ins.
Dallas Drillers (oil)
Detroit Metal/Steel
Hamilton Titans
Colin M: As I stated previously, existing pro hockey team names would not be allowed. The Las Vegas WRANGLERS play in the ECHL.
JL: You failed to mention any of the "great submissions" you would've preferred for Halifax.
Eric Stevenson: Can you provide some documentation. All I've been able to find is that RCMP is trademarked, but nothing on "Mounties" specifically. If what you're saying is true, I'll have to disqualify the name and swap it out. (Or perhaps change it to "Mountaineers" or something.)
DPH: We had more than 140 comments in two days. Was a third day really going to make that much of a difference? Were there still names that needed to be nominated? If so, feel free to mention them here to promote write-in votes. That's why I included that as an option.
Stephen G: Dallas Drillers is disqualified. (Google search will show you why.)
It would've been nice to see Vancouver lose the Lumberjacks name. It is terrible, but I'm not really feeling the alternatives offered either, and sorry, but no write-in will ever gain enough momentum to win this. I hope the Lumberjacks at least end up with a design that isn't derived from all the other real life Vancouver hockey clubs.
Chris: Here's some pages about Mounties being trademarked. A little history - in 1994, the RCMP had Disney manage the trademark, as they weren't well versed in it. In 1999, the contract expired, and the RCMP has operated the trademark since.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/1999/09/24/mounties990924.html
http://www.mountieshop.com/new/about_the_foundation.asp
http://trademark.markify.com/trademarks/uspto/mountie/74645158
Vancouver Grizzlies NBA team tried to call themselves the Mounties initially, and got grief from the RCMP for it.
There is already a current wtt team called the Philadelphia Freedom. I believe Elton John was kind of involved in the league or team.
Philadelphia Freedom... not entirely original. There's been at least 3 teams with that name, or something exactly like that. TWO of them are active. Yeah, they're not exactly big time teams or sports, but still...
http://freedomlaxx.com/
http://www.philadelphiafreedoms.com/teams/index.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Freedom_(soccer)
I think Brawlers sounds better than Boxers... Write that in folks!
I'm not sure if these count, but two of the singular names (Philadelphia Freedom and Boston Brave) that are included have been, pluralized, the names of actual teams (Boston Braves, which has been used by teamsin the NFL, AHL, MLB, and even rugby, and Philadelphia Freedoms, of World TeamTennis). I'm unsure if these were oversights or if the rules are simply not clear enough, but I figured these were both worth pointing out,
Also, I feel I should take this opportunity to attempt to launch write-in campaigns for Saskatchewan Samurai and Ours avec des Ailes de Montreal.
Chris, if you also look at some documentation about the Vancouver Grizzlies (I believe even Wikipedia has it), you'll see that the team was originally going to be named the Mounties, but the RCMP blocked the name, which is why they went with Grizzlies. Preliminary results don't look as if either Mounties choices will win, though, so it shouldn't end up being a problem.
Chris: the post is gone now, so it's hard to put together a comprehensive list, but there were about 10 good ones that aren't in the finalists. I just don't get why a generic name like "Halifax HC" would be a finalist when there were so many good nominations with local significance.
I was planning on posting today so definitely disappointed in the shortened, short period. A lot of good submissions so far, but I think the final day would allow for more submissions to recruit more "seconds" or endorsements.
Some names that I would have seconded or offered up:
CALGARY CRUSADERS (two thumbs up for this team that was part of my childhood made-up hockey league! logo was a double 'C' emblem on shield)
HALIFAX HIGHLANDERS/HYLANDERS (great name, does the fictitious movie team eliminate its use?)
HALIFAX COASTERS (merchant ships that sailed up and down the coast)
HALIFAX WHALERS (beloved team name that has been unused for too long)
HALIFAX BOOTLEGGERS
HALIFAX ICEBREAKERS
WASHINGTON GENERALS (this name disqualified? G-Men could be the nick for this formal name)
PHILADELPHIA FOUNDERS
BOSTON BRIGADIERS (a plural alternative to the BRIGADE)
HAMILTON BARONS
HAMILTON FORGE/FORGERS
DETROIT MUSTANGS (have to admit that CHARGERS is even better though)
DETROIT FORCE
DETROIT MUSCLE (think muscle car not steroid user)
VANCOUVER REIGN (Seattle Reign in my childhood league)
VANCOUVER VOYAGERS
I'll be writing some of these in during voting, but get the sense that write-ins don't have any chance of making the final 3 cut in the face of all the listed choices.
Any chance that write-ins that were previously submitted could be promoted to listed choices during this phase? Thanks for being diligent on providing feedback and explanations!
I'm pretty disappointed with the finalists for the team names, so much so that I voted to keep the original names for the majority of the teams.
Hate these names:
Philadelphia Freedom
Philadelphia Boxers
Philadelphia Keystones
Philadelphia Brothers / Brotherhood
Texas Lawmen sounds too cheesey to me, would've prefered something more like Dallas/Texas Enforcers
Big Texas HC
Dallas / Texas Armadillos
I hated all the options for Halifax so I voted for the original name ARSENAL
I also hated all the options for Saskatchewan and voted for SHARPSHOOTERS
Really disappointed none of my nominations for the Montreal team made it to the poll. Monarchs and Majestics. Also, I thought I had better name nominations for Vancouver than what made it as finalists IMO.
Let's not name the Philadelphia team the freedom. What is this the WNBA?! As much as I like freedom, teams should not be named after a singular noun. It just doesn't work. I have always hated it because then a player has to be referred to as "a member of the Philadelphia freedom" not "a patriot" or "a brother" (which I think is a genius team name) whatever.
A lot of issues are coming up with a lot of these names being too close to other existing or defunct teams that have existed (Boston Brave(s)), Philadelphia Freedom, etc.) in professional hockey. If we won't allow Wranglers because they are an ECHL team, then I don't think it's fair to have other names like these to be eligible. The Seattle Totems (mentioned by someone who submitted it) used to be a professional hockey team, so why is it not disqualified? Same goes for the Lynx, which is a defunct ECHL name. I believe another reader a while back mentioned the Portland Pioneers being a name in an NHL Hitz game. In that same video game the Hamilton Hounds are a team as well. I just think there is a lot of inconsistency
We don't have Wolverines in Vancouver! Who thought THAT one up?!
Detroit Turbo
DETROIT TURBO
Detroit Turbo
DETROIT TURBO
LETS GO TUR-BO
LETS GO TUR-BO
LETS GO TUR-BO
Hi,
Most of the semi-finalists names are ok, though only a few are great ;-)
As for Montreal. I'm a Montrealer and a native french-speaker and seriously, none of the six names would ever be acccepted by the people here.
First, you definitely need some French in this name (check the Quebec Armada, this is a super cool IceHl franchise).
Second, the official bird of Quebec is the Snow Owl, not any kind of owl. Les Hiboux de Montreal really doesnt sound too scary.
Royale with a -e is for female. Unless you decide the city is a female?
Red. Er. This is Quebec. Blue.
I guess Legacy and Athletique are the most acceptable suggestions.¸
But how cool was VOYAGEURS !! (bilingual, sounds fine, carries the city history...)
Monarques - Monarchs was also a really acceptable proposition.
I loved my own Flying Frenchmen submission, but it looks like people didn't back it :-)
Hey Chris, I am slightly confused about the rules regarding team names. I notice that there are names like Chargers, Patriots and Revolution. I thought that the IceHL doesn't allow names that are already used. Can you please explain it to me.
There is a junior team in Seattle named the Totems. How big is the encompassing area for team names?
Volt and lightning (tampa bay anyone?) have nothing to do with Vancouver.
Vancouver Spirits ( Kermode Bear "Spirit Bear" I second Sean Cox on this name) It was mentioned twice during nominations.
Halifax Highlanders or Destroyers were mentioned more than Freeze and Beacon.
Why are people voting for the original names? Icethetic designers have a lot more creativity than this and wouldn't you rather design something completely new than follow suit. my two cents.
philadelphia freedom is just awful. if you want a good philly name, go wit something like "hoagies". But I do like Keystones. Keith stone could be their mascot, lol
Just a thought but, did anyone ever point out that the Washington Sentinels were the main team in the movie The Replacements? Would that disqualify it at all or are you just concerning yourself with names used by actual teams?
i'd just drop anything having to do with the rcmp. you might as well call the team the hell's angels motorcycle club. don't think that ANYTHING is too small for them to take exception to.
JL: The original nominations post is not gone. I don't delete blog posts. They just get archived. The link is at the bottom of this post. So again, feel free to make your case about other names. But personally, I think Halifax HC would be a great name! The city itself has such a great name that it could totally stand alone. And we could use a little something outside the box in this league.
Chris Rosinski: I get where you're coming from, but I doubt it would do any good to add new names to the polls after so many votes have already been cast. But I think the fact that the write-ins are doing so poorly is that the vast majority of voters feel there are plenty of good options already available.
Matt Marczel: Sorry to hear you're disappointed. I'll be as honest as you were. I think Enforcers is far cheesier than Lawmen and a classic cliché for made-up hockey teams. That doesn't mean I wouldn't welcome it into the league if voters wanted it, but I'd rather put my weight behind something a little different. (That and I liked the idea of Outlaws becoming Lawmen.) As for your Montreal suggestions, Monarchs is the name of an AHL team and Majestics was actually thisclose to making it onto the poll. But I wanted to limit us to 7 options per team (including write-in).
Mikey H: The standard for allowable names is very simple in my mind. I guess the problem is you guys aren't in my mind. I don't know anything about video games with made up teams so I'm not even going to go there. No point. How much are we going to limit ourselves? We're not talking about having any team called the Seattle Totems or that would be disqualified. We're talking about Vancouver. They may be interchangeable cities in your mind, but I assure you they aren't.
To everyone else asking about why some names are allowed and some aren't, again I encourage you to do a Google search. It really doesn't take long. I'm not allowing any existing pro hockey team names, but defunct ones are permitted — so long as they aren't representing the same city. As for other sports franchises, again it's about the location. I'm fine with the IceHL's Philadelphia team being named the Patriots, but obviously that would be banned for Boston.
Nick: Lightning is clearly not an option for any IceHL team. Volt/Voltage is quite different even if the words are conceptually related. But if I started banning words related to other words in use as pro team names, we wouldn't have much of a project going here.
Will: In this case, the Sentinels were one of our original teams in 2008. This movie was never brought to my attention, but it sounds like it was about football. I have no problem with overlapping team names from movies except where hockey is involved. Hence, the Halifax Highlanders are disqualified.
...and back to Nick again: That's why Highlanders was left off. Destroyers... we already have so many nautical-themed franchises. Would the logo be a ship? Probably. That's Armada territory.
If you guys have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.
Washington Continentals: named after the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.
Thanks for the link.
I'm biased because I'm from the East Coast, but here are the names I liked better, all with local significance...
Schooners
Celtics
Tartans
Pipers
Breakers
Explosion
Loyalists
Bluenosers
Merchants
Sailors
Convoy
Novas
Icebreakers
Oh well, hopefully Acadians wins.
correct me, if i'm wrong, but wasn't one of the initial motives for the big rebranding of some teams the elimination of pairings with similar semantics? wasn't the goal to get rid of either outlaws or renegades, sentinels or guradians and the steel cats because of the hell cats? now, the renegades, outlaws, steelcats and sentinels are among the top 3 for the respective teams and there is the probability to end up with exactly the same names, we tried to get rid off during the rebranding. shouldn't the commissioner use his right to a veto?
Vlad: I did say that part of my goal was to clear out some perceived duplicates. However, I don't want to simply substitute my judgment for that of the voters. If folks are that attached to the old names, I suppose I shouldn't stand in their way.
But there is a limit. I did say at the beginning that the Outlaws and Renegades would not continue to coexist. Remember that these polls above will NOT determine our winner. They're just slimming down the nominations. That said, only one of those two names will move on to Final Voting this weekend.
If both are selected in their teams' top three, the one with the lower percentage will be disqualified and the fourth will move on. So looking at early results, Outlaws would be an option for Dallas but Renegades would for Philly.
Where are my write-in suggestions?
What exactly are you screening for? There were no profanities or derogatory statements.
American Revolutionary War ended in 1783.
Washington DC was founded in 1791.
Save the Revolutionary War references for Boston and Philadelphia, two cities that are actually relevant to that war.
I vote Calgary Horsepower!
Just some thoughts from a Halifax native here;
Personally I hope Arsenal sticks around for Halifax. It ties in perfectly with our naval history. Freeze really has nothing to do with Halifax, we are one of the warmer cities in Canada, things only freeze around here for about 4 months of the year. Acadians has more to do with the history of Nova Scotia, I just can't think of a decent logo or mascot for hockey using that name. I actually like Halifax HC. It would be one of the few names that would allow designers to literally do whatever they want for a logo. Scotsmen would be a great name, Nova Scotia is actually latin for "New Scotland", and in fact the Mooseheads already use a lot of scottish themes at their games. Beacons is approppriate for Halifax, but, like Acadians, it's hard to think of a way to express it as a hockey logo.
DALLAS/ TEXAS GIANTS! C'mon Folks, make it happen!!
Write in vote of the decade, blows the other Dallas/Texas options out of the water!!
Everything is Bigger in Texas. GIANTS!
*Titans could also work!
I'm surprised a lot of the existing names are winning, i would have thought there would have been more wanting for change.
i'm glad the Mounties are not winning, it is a trademark, and being Canadian would feel awkward seeing it sports branded, even fictional. The Halifax FC arguments are starting to win me over even tho i didn't vote for it and couldn't go back and change my votes, too bad it's losing. I'd like to see a Calgary Stallions branding that doesn't feel similar to the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, it was to late to go back and input it but the Calgary Sunset has i nice ring to it.
My 2cents
Halifax Citadels, anyone??
The old names seem to be garnering a majority of votes because of disappointment in the other choices in a lot of cases. I wrote my favorites in, but I imagine, like voting in politics, that most people don't bother because it appears to be a waste of time or vote. What if the top write-in for each team gets elevated to the final vote? I realize it was hard to cut down all the submissions to 6 per team so including the top write-ins would be an insurance policy against overlooking a popular choice that never got a chance.
FMI: Was Calgary Crusaders disqualified? Searching shows that it's used by a paintball team, but is paintballing a professional sport now???
Since all the Vancouver names suck- IMHO, I say we start a write in campaign for a different name. I vote Timbers or 58ers (for the Fraiser Gold Rush of 1858)