Elliotte Friedman makes his feelings known on Utah HC NHL team's next name

Utah HC, otherwise known as the Utah Hockey Club, is just a placeholder name for now. The newest hockey franchise doesn't yet have a mascot like the Vancouver Canucks or the Florida Panthers. The team is reportedly set to vote on three options for its future name.

Ownership wants fans to be involved in the selection process, but hockey insider Elliotte Friedman is starting to like the Hockey Club idea. In his Sportsnet article on Wednesday, Friedman wrote:

"The 'Hockey Club' idea is growing on me, although I might be in the minority (podcast listeners were displeased with my take on this one). But we’ll see how the Utahns feel. Their team, their vote."

Hockey Club is one of the options that fans can vote for. The other two are the Utah Mammoth and the Utah Wasatch. Ownership revealed that it attempted to get Utah Yeti or Utah Yetis by partnering with Yeti Cooler, but the brand is very particular and has copyright over "Yeti" or "Yetis" branding. The two sides couldn't find a way to coexist there.

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Utah HC to hold in-person voting for new name

If local Utah fans want to vote for the next name of the Utah HC, they can. Fans can vote at iPad stations inside the Delta Center for four games, a stretch that started with Wednesday night's 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Utah HC are having a vote for their new name (Imagn)

Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said via NHL:

“The voting at this stage of the process will only be done in-arena. We’re doing that because this time we’re including names and potential logos with them. … Because of the logos, we’re doing this only in-arena and not showing those publicly so that we can protect those images.”

It's important to Ryan and Ashley Smith, the owners who bought the contracts and everything for the Arizona Coyotes, to involve the fans. Maughan added:

“[The Smiths] view this as a really exciting opportunity to do something that has never been done in the history of professional sports, which is involve fans to this level and go with them through this entire process as we seek to name a team together. That’s what we’re very excited about.

“They are very community-focused and community-oriented people, and we’re excited to be able to announce this next stage of the process where we’ll be working with everybody on the naming of the team.”

They have already confirmed that the Utah HC name will be revealed at a date after this season. There are unconfirmed rumors that they'll announce it alongside their first-round draft pick next offseason.