They almost chose Wranglers, a few years before the Las Vegas Wranglers joined the ECHL, but settled on "Avalanche." There are often avalanches in the Rocky Mountains.Ĭolumbus Blue Jackets: Before Columbus joined the NHL before the 2000-01 season, a team naming contest with over 14,000 entries was held. This was shortened into a one-word team name, "Blackhawks," in the 1980s.Ĭolorado Avalanche: When the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995, they needed a new name - Colorado Nordiques just didn't make any sense. During World War I, the 86th Infantry Division, which McLaughlin was a member of, was referred to as the "Black Hawk division." To honor his division, as well as a Chicago restaurant he had opened with the same name (some extra advertising never hurt anyone), McLaughlin named his team the Black Hawks in 1926. Peter Karmanos Jr., the team owner, chose "Hurricanes" because of the many hurricanes that strike the North Carolina coast.Ĭhicago Blackhawks: Like Las Vegas's Bill Foley, the Blackhawks' original owner, Major Frederic McLaughlin, was a military man. The Calgary Flames, which kept the Atlanta Flames name, are the only NHL team whose name references another country's Civil War.Ĭarolina Hurricanes: When the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina in 1997, there was no team naming contest. Atlanta Flames was a Civil War reference to General Sherman's March to the Sea, during which much of the state of Georgia was set ablaze. The name comes from the Atlanta Flames, which joined the NHL in 1972 before relocating to Calgary in 1980.
"Sabres" won, despite not having any direct connection to Buffalo.Ĭalgary Flames: Flames have nothing to do with Calgary. Black and gold were the colors of Adams' supermarket chain, which made his hockey team's uniforms an opportune canvas to advertise on.īuffalo Sabres: Founded in 1970, the Buffalo Sabres were named by a team-naming contest. As inconsequential as that sounds, the Bruins' black and gold color scheme does have an interesting backstory that dates back to their original owner, a supermarket chain owner named Charles Adams. A Bruin is a ferocious animal and alliterative with Boston, so that was what Ross went with. Both Coyotes and Scorpions are inhabitants of the Arizona desert, and they wanted the team name to be an animal that was representative of the region.īoston Bruins: Their name doesn't have a clever origin - the original general manager, Art Ross, picked a name, himself, back in 1924. When Disney, which produced the movies and owned the NHL team, sold the team in 2005, the name was shortened to "Anaheim Ducks." Orange, which has become one of the team's primary colors, is in reference to Orange County, where Anaheim is located.Īrizona Coyotes: There was a team naming contest, with "Coyotes" beating out "Scorpions" amongst the finalists.
COLOR WAR TEAM NAME IDEAS MOVIE
And until 2005, the NHL team and the movie Mighty Ducks shared a logo and colors, too. We bet you didn't know that there are two teams whose name are drawn from World War I, two from the Civil War and another from the nickname of a 1920s bootlegger.īut alas, many NHL teams have names where there's more than meets the eye.Īnaheim Ducks: Founded in 1993, the then-called Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were directly named forThe Mighty Ducks movies. Now that we know our team will be named on November 22, have you ever wondered how the NHL's other 30 eams received their names? RELATED: Get tickets to see the Golden Knights Also, what with the logo be, what will the uniforms look like and what colors will the team wear?