Running NHL 2023-24 regular season thread

That was fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

 

The NHL ought to send them on a two-year mission.

 

What about the Utes? It’s right there.

 

What is a Yoot?

 

That's been taken.

 

I wish they wouldn't do this, as the PWHL not having team names yet annoys the bejeezus out of me. But I think the issue here is not soliciting fan assent, it's getting legal clearances, trademarks and then the uniform suppliers being able to design, test and manufacture it. The last time a major North American pro team relocated with an entirely different brand from the one they left with no trace of a previous identity was the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2007, and really before that, you'd have to go back to the Carolina Hurricanes (1998). Not enough time.

 

Sounds like, according to Bettman, the whole thing started to come together over the last few months. A team nickname was likely way down on the "to do" list.

 

Fanatics to take over as NHL jersey maker starting in 2024

"Design and test" what? It's not like this team is going to be inventing brand new categories of hockey uniforms. Whatever uniforms they wear, Fanatics already makes versions of them.

Uniforms can be ordered in the span of a couple weeks if you really need them and are willing to pay.

They'll settle on a team name, colors, logos, etc etc, pretty quickly, so they can start selling merch.

Yes yes they'll have to do due diligence to make sure trademark and copyrights are clear. That shouldn't take too long; they've got plenty of lawyers who can all use Google.

They will probably go through the obligatory kabuki show of a fan contest to select the name, but probably their best move would be to select a name already previously used by some previous team in some sport, find out (through appropriate legal process) who owns the trademark rights, and buy them outright, for a nominal (significant but not extravagant) fee, and settle the whole mess at the get-go.

 

UPDATE:

 

I've read differing reports as to whether there has been some agreement by the Coyotes management to leave the nickname, colors and trademarks in Arizona.

If not, "Utah Coyotes" wouldn't be the worst nickname in the world. In fact it would make a hell of a lot more sense than "Utah Jazz." And it saves them all the trademark headaches.

 

Good God have they not been paying attention to the absolute flustercluck Fanatics handling of MLB uniforms has been?