The Manitoba Cossacks?

Far be it from me to tell anyone who owns a professional hockey team what to name their team, but the above name - Manitoba Cossacks - almost was a real thing. For those who may not be up to speed on their history, cossacks are "a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia" who were primarily partially-nomadic, but semi-militarized peoples. While there are a vast number of hockey players from that region of the world, I'm not certain the Manitoba IHL franchise wanted to tie itself to that history or that area of the world in 1996, but the team known as the IHL's Manitoba Moose had that name among those suggested by fans when it arrived in Winnipeg.

According to a May 2, 1996 article in the Winnipeg Free Press penned by Tim Campbell, the Moose officially became part of the IHL on May 1, 1996 as the franchise was transferred from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Winnipeg on that date. The sting of the Jets leaving the city for Phoenix would be somewhat tempered by the arrival of the Moose, but the die-hard Jets fans weren't about to lower their standards for IHL hockey. Nevertheless, the Moose thrived and survived in Winnipeg for a number of years until they and five other teams were absorbed by the AHL in the 2001 dissolution of IHL.

In 1996, though, the 19-team league was reshuffling struggling teams, and the Minnesota Moose were the first to go. The Atlanta Knights wouldn't be far behind them, relocating to Quebec City for the 1996-97 season to become the Rafales while the league was expanding into a new market with a franchise in Grand Rapids, Michigan - yes, that would be the Griffins. The Los Angeles Ice Dogs eventually would land in Long Beach, California, and the Peoria Rivermen annnounced they were leaving the league for greener pastures with a sale that saw them become the San Antonio Dragons while the Riverman name was resurrected in Peoria in the ECHL.

Yes, it was a league that was under great change during the mid-1990s, but the article written by Campbell contained the passage to the right that outlined a number of names considered by ownership as the Moose moved north. As Campbell wrote, the names in contention included "Cossacks, Minters, Snow Bears, Loons, Prairie Fire, Prairie Dogs, Sun Dogs, Ice Breakers, Blizzard, Terror, and Skeeters." Moose, however, won out over those names. Perhaps, thankfully.

The Winnipeg Snow Bears would have been interesting considering that "Manitoba Polar Bears" rolls off the tongue better, but it may also have killed any chance of the CEBL's Winnipeg Sea Bears taking their name. Skeeters and Prairie Dogs simply don't have the fear factor one would want in a name, and those mascots would likely have been very cartoonish. Loons would be a problem if it came to people referencing "crazy hockey games"; Prairie Fire can mean a wildfire which seems insensitive considering some of the emergencies seen nowadays; and, both Ice Breakers and Blizzard don't make me want to rise to my feet to cheer on the team.

The Manitoba Terror, however, could be very interesting considering the different forms of terror it could represent, but it feels kind of vague as it makes logos and mascots difficult to design. Of course, with Winnipeg being the murder capital of Canada at one point, it would seem to be in very poor taste to select that name, especially with Winnipeg's crime rate significantly higher than that of the rest of Canada in the mid-1990s. In short, the idea is good, but the reality of the name makes it a poor choice.

Frankly speaking, though, Moose is the best name of the ones that Campbell outlined in his article. It clearly has done well in Manitoba as it's still here and, despite an angrier Moose logo, the Moose name even came back when the St. John's Ice Caps relocated to Winnipeg in 2015-16. There have been some excellent players who have passed through Winnipeg thanks to the Moose's presence, and there was even an AHL affiliation with the Vancouver Canucks from 2001-2011 that allowed fans to see players like Ryan Kesler, Kevin Bieksa, and Corey Schneider find their way onto NHL rosters.

It's always fun to look back on what could have been had a name-the-team contest gone in a different direction, but the Manitoba Cossacks just doesn't seem like the kind of name that would guarantee longevity. When teams aim for popular names and fun mascots, Mick E. Moose certainly comes across better than Bohdan Khmelnytsky. I'd say Moose managing partner Mark Chipman made the right choice in keeping Moose when it came to his IHL team.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!