SLC team picks 'Utah Hockey Club' as temp name

The NHL’s new team based in Salt Lake City will be known as Utah Hockey Club in its first season.

The Arizona Coyotes’ franchise was sold to Utah Jazz owners Smith Entertainment Group in April, with that sale finally closing on Thursday. While the Coyotes’ intellectual property remains with owner Alex Meruelo, Utah acquired the franchise, its players and its hockey operations department in the sale. It begins play next season.

“Today is a monumental day for the state of Utah as we officially close on the establishment of a new NHL franchise,” Ryan Smith, governor of Utah Hockey Club and chairman of Smith Entertainment Group, said. “The NHL has been incredible to work with throughout this process, providing us with invaluable guidance and support. We have a ton of work to do — training camp starts in less than 100 days — and could not be more excited about what’s to come.”

🪨Rock black🪨
◽Salt white◽
🩵Mountain blue🩵#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/xQW5grjJ1i

— UtahHockeyClub (@utahhockeyclub) June 13, 2024

A fan vote for the official team name and mascot is ongoing. The next round of voting closes on June 20, and there will be another round beyond that. The names that are still in contention are Mammoth, Yeti, Outlaws, Blizzard, Venom and Utah Hockey Club. A name will be chosen before the 2025-26 season.

“Utah Hockey Club” is a temporary name, but its color scheme will be the official one for the franchise going forward.

Utah Hockey Club will have jerseys that simply say “Utah” on the front during the 2024-25 season. The team colors are “rock black,” which “represents both the darkness of night in the mountains and the volcanic rock of Utah’s desert”; “salt white,” that illustrates “both the snow of Utah’s peaks and our famous salt flats”; and “mountain blue,” which represents the team’s winter sports history and its “clear skies for 230 days of the year.”

The team began trademarking names and logos related to Utah Hockey Club earlier this month.

The team’s home uniform will be rock black with “Utah” across the chest in stairstep lettering. It will feature salt white and mountain blue striping across each arm, the bottom of the jersey and on the socks. The team’s away uniform will be salt white with “Utah” across the chest in the same stairstep lettering.

Utah Hockey Club will intentionally have colors that are complementary to the new Utah jazz color palette that was recently released. The team worked with the design firm Doubleday & Cartwright on these jerseys and on the official branding going forward.

Official Utah Hockey Club merchandise will be available for sale at the team’s NHL draft party on June 28.