One of the more popular posts on SSC has been our question to our visitors asking, “What Should The New Seattle NHL Team be Named?”
The poll logged over 1,300 votes and from the three choices offered, the Thunderbirds won while receiving over 41% of the votes.
What was surprising was that the comments section became extremely popular with hundreds of suggestions coming in with some unique and some not-so-unique possibilities for Seattle NHL hockey team names.
Of the four major sports leagues in America – MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA – the NHL is the only league to not have a team reside in the city of Seattle.
We all know the recent news that the Sonics may be coming back and that Chris Hansen has come to an agreement for the Sacramento Kings franchise to move to Seattle. Hansen and the city of Seattle have also agreed to build a new arena next to downtown’s CenturyLink and Safeco Field. The new arena, concept images of which can be seen here, would be built with the expectation to host both an NBA franchise and an NHL hockey team.
The NHL currently owns and operates the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes average under 12,000 fans per home game. That’s more than 1,500 less than the next-to-last team. Even opposing hockey fans come out to see the Coyotes less than any other NHL team – almost 800 less fans per away game than the 29th worst team in the league. With their attendance the worst in the league it’s likely the NHL will sell sooner than later, even if they can’t find a buyer willing to keep the team in the Phoenix market.
Geoff Baker, the Times’ Mariners writer offered his take on why Seattle isn’t likely to be first in line for the Coyotes.
This is where Seattle comes in. The city has buzzed with NHL rumors for the past decade and with the new arena situation and prospective buyers wanting to bring a hockey team to Seattle, plus the Coyotes being a financial burden to the other NHL owners it seems we have a perfect storm of sorts for Seattle to join the slim list of cities with four major professional league teams.
One of the biggest questions and one the new owners would likely ask Seattle residents is, “what do we call the new hockey team?” It’d be very unlikely that any NHL team in Seattle continue to use the name “Coyotes.”
Fan suggestions for Seattle NHL Hockey Team Names:
- Freeze
- Sockeyes
- Rain (Reign)
- Sasquatches
- Cascades
- Emeralds
- Chinooks
- Shadow
- Sealions
- Pilots
- Orcas
- Breakers
- Bombers
- Metropolitans
- Flight
- Storm
- Steelheads
- Pacifics
- Pioneers
- Merchants
- Jetliners
- Olympics
- Salmons
- Sting
- Ice Dogs
- Red Hooks
- Grays
- Argonauts
- Kraken
- Phantoms
- Ice Breakers
- Samurai
- Tritons
- Blades
- Seals
- Trackers
- Tomahawks
- Greenwaves
- Ice Hawks
- Admirals
- Lumberjacks
- Stealth
- Blizzard
- Glaciers
- Thunderhawks
- Axemen
- Seawolves
- Soundwaves
- Sound
- Grizzlys
Select your top 3 choices and the winners will advance to the next round to see which name is Seattle’s favorite.
There are many solid options to choose from and it’s clear that many of the suggestions came with the intent on incorporating the cities geographic and business history into the new hockey identity.
As you can see in the gallery below, many fans have already created logos and uniforms for their favorite choices.
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Paul Novak
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