fbpx
Home / frontsports / Top Ten Tuesday: NHL Seattle Potential Team Names
NHL Seattle

Top Ten Tuesday: NHL Seattle Potential Team Names

By Greg Smith

March 5, 2019


If you haven’t heard already, the NHL is coming to Seattle. There’s a lot to be done including branding and a lot of construction before the team debuts in 2021 as the NHL’s 32nd team, but the team name is one of the most important things for the ownership group to decide. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday goes over ten of the best name possibilities for Seattle’s NHL franchise. According to Clark Rasmussen of DetroitHockey.net, 13 names have been trademarked as potential possibilities, and those are marked with a star in the rankings below.

 

10. Seattle Pacifics

This name has dual meanings, as pacific basically means “peaceable” (though that might not fit with a tough hockey team), but it’s also for the Pacific Ocean, which is of course right off the west coast of Washington state.

 

9. Seattle Marmots

The Olympic marmot is the official endemic mammal for the state of Washington, so it’d be something the region can get behind for Seattle’s NHL team name. It’s low because I don’t think most people know what a marmot is (basically like a squirrel).

 

8. Seattle Evergreens*

Evergreens are stout trees that don’t lose their leaves during the year (hence the name ever-greens), so that toughness and resiliency translates well for an NHL team. A logo based around a tree could be simple yet powerful for The Evergreen State’s new franchise.

 

7. Seattle Emeralds*

While the Evergreens would be more Washington-focused, the Seattle Emeralds would be more focused on the city. Emerald City isn’t an extremely well-known nickname for Seattle, but it’s easy to imagine it quickly catching on, especially if the team is successful.

 

6. Seattle Owls

The owl population has declined in Washington over the years, so the Seattle Owls would be a solid name that would also bring attention to the decline of a cool animal. No professional sports team is named the owls yet, which is a bit of a surprise—there’s an opening for Seattle.

 

5. Seattle Seals*

The Seattle Seals is a definite fit, as it keeps the “Sea Sea” theme as is used with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. Seals appear to be pretty fun animals that most people like.

 

4. Seattle Sea Lions*

Sea Lions is very similar to Seals, but it’s a bit more regal as a name even if sea lions aren’t actually all that different than seals. This also keeps the “Sea Sea” for the city and nickname.

 

3. Seattle Kraken*

Naming your team after a mythical creature might be a stretch, but Seattle Kraken is intimidating—and the trademarking of the name indicates there’s a chance this happens. The franchise and the crowd would probably quickly conjure unique themes and cheers based on the name.

 

2. Seattle Snipers

The lone nickname not trademarked by ownership to make the top five is the Seattle Snipers. The nickname flows nicely, and snipers are most applicable to hockey and soccer when it comes to sports. No guns need to be involved in the logo, as it could focus on sniping in terms of hockey. And the No. 1 potential name shows ownership isn’t afraid to go with a name on the edge.

 

1. Seattle Renegades*

Seattle Renegades just feels right as a name for the 32nd NHL franchise. They might be the last expansion franchise we get in hockey or professional sports in a while, and they’ll be definite outsiders looking to repeat the early success the Las Vegas Golden Knights had in 2018.

33 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *