They Do Not Exist

As much as everyone wanted it to be true, there are no such things as Yetis. That's a fact both in life and in the NHL, it seems, as it was reported today that the Utah Hockey Club's attempt to secure the name "Yeti" or "Yetis" for the hockey club is now dead on the mountain. We already knew that there was a very good chance that the USPTO wouldn't approve the name due to the Yeti Coolers LLC having a solid claim to the trademark, but the Utah Hockey Club made it clear that Yetis was out of the running as the team name for the hockey club over the trademark confusion and/or controversy.

"We engaged deeply with Yeti Cooler Company and worked with them over a process to see if there was some coexistence agreement that we could engage with them on," Smith Entertainment Group's Mike Maughan said in the Utah Hockey Club's statement. "They have a unique and strong trademark on anything published Yeti or Yetis. We did not have a coexistence agreement with Yeti and therefore have decided to move on from that name."

And just like their counterparts in nature, the NHL Yetis have disappeared without anyone seeing them. The Utah Hockey Club will need to go back to the drawing board for another potential name, but they didn't waste a lot of time in that process as they already pushed forward by announcing that they'll be asking their fans to vote for one of three names at upcoming games. Those names include:

• UTAH HOCKEY CLUB: This one might be the hardest to explain since the USPTO already rejected it due to the team being unable to trademark the word "Utah". The "hockey club" name is so generic that it literally will be denied as an application by the USPTO due to every other hockey club using that phrase.
• UTAH MAMMOTH: The Mammoth could be a fun name for a hockey club given the size and strength of the animal, but there's this National Lacrosse franchise one state away who also has that name. They could challenge the trademark application made by the Utah franchise if this one is chosen.
• UTAH WASATCH: This is a reference to Utah's Wasatch mountain range. The idea is that the Wasatch would have a Yeti-like logo and mascot who would be the "mountain defender". Reportedly, this idea has already been bounced around internally with the Utah club.

Frankly, there's only one proper name and logo of those three that could be acceptable. "Hockey Club" and "Wasatch" are so bad that they shouldn't even be on the list for consideration. And what happened to Outlaws? That name could have worked well too, yet it seems to be gone from the finalist options. Someone better be looking into that oversight as I write this.

The first round of voting will happen tonight as the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Delta Centre, and there will be tablets set up around the arena concourse where fans can log their votes on which name they like best for their hockey team. Depending on voting and feedback on the names, there could be multiple rounds of voting done by the Utah Hockey Club to determine what path they'll take moving forward. From what Maughn indicated, voting on these three names will happen over the next few home games with further voting being determined by what is gathered during these games.

In short, we don't know what the Utah Hockey Club will be called at this point, but we do know that it won't be Yetis and that it could be one of "Hockey Club", "Mammoth", or "Wasatch". If there's any hope of a write-in vote on these tablets, feel free to add "Outlaws" to the list. With characters like Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, and the Wild Bunch calling Utah home for a considerable length of time, it would seem like the "Outlaws" would feel right at home!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!