Happy summer, sports fans!

We’re just 50 days away from the start of the 2019-2020 NHL season, and it’s been a while since the Tour entered its summer recess. I’ve got the writing itch sitting here on the back porch at the “Charlotte Studios”, and this post comes to us thanks to the great suggestion of Aunt Kathy, a special guest during the Philadelphia episode of the Tour way back in 2006.

Have you ever wondered how some of the NHL teams got their names? Well fret not, friends, because I’ve got you covered!

• Anaheim Ducks (Founded in 1993) – The NHL awarded Anaheim with a team in 1993, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Disney naturally capitalized on the success of the 1992 movie The Mighty Ducks and named the team the “Mighty Ducks of Anaheim”. When Disney sold the team to the Samueli family in 2005, the new owners simplified the nickname to just the Ducks. It worked – the Ducks won the 2007 Stanley Cup during their first season with their new name.

• Arizona Coyotes (1996) – After financial troubles in Winnipeg caused by salary inflation, the “old Jets” moved to Phoenix in 1996, and the fans voted to name the team the Coyotes over the runner-up name, the Scorpions.
• Boston Bruins (1924) – We can thank the legendary Art Ross for the Bruins nickname. The first general manager of the team, Ross was directed by ownership to come up with a team name that reflected speed and agility. Ross chose the Bruin (a brown bear), and 95 years later, the Bruins are still a speedy and agile force in the NHL.
• Buffalo Sabres (1970) – The Sabres also won a fan vote, with Buffalo owner Seymour Knox explaining that sabres (long swords with curved blades) represented his new team’s attacking strength. The buffalo in the logo is an homage to the city’s name and history of sports teams with similar names (the Bills, the Bisons, etc.).
• Calgary Flames (1980) – Bonus points if you remembered the Flames used to be the Atlanta Flames back in the 1970s! The team’s name comes from the American Civil War; in 1864, Union general William Tecumseh Sherman captured and burned Atlanta then famously Marched to the Sea. When Nelson Skalbania bought and moved the Flames to Calgary, he kept the Flames nickname to reflect the city’s role in Alberta’s oil industry.
• Carolina Hurricanes (1997) – The Canes were the brainchild of Peter Karmanos, who moved the team to North Carolina in 1997. Hurricanes are infrequent but still a way of life for those on the North Carolina coast, and the most recent major storm (Florence in September 2018) came uncomfortably close to our family’s home near Wilmington. But on the bright side, the idea for the Tour was at least partially inspired during that hurricane!
• Chicago Blackhawks (1926) – The team’s first owner, Frederic McLaughlin, was a member of the “Blackhawk Division” of the 86^th Infantry Division of the US Army in World War I. The division was named for Black Hawk, a Sauk tribe leader in Illinois in the early 1800’s. Before 1986, the team used the nickname in two words (Black Hawks); after original formation documents were discovered in 1986, the team changed its name back to one word: the Blackhawks.
• Colorado Avalanche (1995) – When the Quebec Nordiques (the French translation of “northerners” or “northmen”, by the way) moved to Denver in 1995, there was some confusion about the team’s new name. The ownership group originally copyrighted “Black Bears” and then announced the team name as “Rocky Mountain Extreme”. Fans did not take kindly to that name (thankfully), and the owners pivoted to Avalanche, an obvious nod to Colorado’s many Rocky Mountain ski resorts.
• Columbus Blue Jackets (2000) – I thought this was cool when I learned about it in October: the Blue Jackets were literally named after jackets. That were blue. Many of the “Blue Coats” used by the Union Army in the Civil War were manufactured in Columbus, and the name also pays tribute to the great patriotism and sacrifice of Ohioans during the War – more people from Ohio joined the Union Army than from any other state.

• Dallas Stars (1993) – When the Minnesota North Stars joined the NHL in 1967, the nickname (chosen by fans) referenced Minnesota’s state motto: L’Étoile du Nord (“The Star of the North”). Today, the Stars nickname refers to Texas’ state nickname: the Lone Star State!
• Detroit Red Wings (1926) – The Red Wings are actually Detroit’s third team name, following the Cougars (1926-1930) and the Falcons (1930-1932). Former Red Wings owner James Norris (of Norris Trophy fame) named the team after his former Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, whose sports program had a logo featuring a winged wheel. The logo still stands with the Red Wings today, and fittingly represents the Motor City.
• Edmonton Oilers (1972) – This one’s fairly simple: the Oilers are named for the large oil sand fields in northern Alberta. Edmonton is home to many oil and gas companies, and even before the Oilers came into existence, there was a junior hockey team named the Edmonton Oil Kings. The original Oil Kings disbanded in the 1970s, but returned to junior hockey in 2006, now co-occupying Rogers Place with the Oilers.
• Florida Panthers (1993) – Another winner in its respective fan vote, the Panthers nickname pays tribute to the Florida panther, a large cat native to the Everglades. The team even donated $50,000 to a conservation group to save the panthers, who were on the critically endangered species list in the 1990s; they were successfully de-classified as endangered in 2008.
• Los Angeles Kings (1967) – Kings founder and owner Jack Kent Cooke named his team the Kings as he wanted the club to display “an air of royalty” in the newly growing NHL.
• Minnesota Wild (2000) – Minnesota lost the North Stars in 1993, but it didn’t take long for the NHL to return to the State of Hockey. The Wild won a fan vote over finalist nicknames including the Freeze, the Northern Lights, and the White Bears. Wild, of course, refers to Minnesota’s vast forests and over ten thousand lakes; truly, it is a land of wilderness.
• Montreal Canadiens (1909) – I’ll let you guess this one. (But did you ever wonder why the Canadiens logo has an H in it? An informal nickname for the club is Les Habitants, a nod to early French settlers in Quebec.)
• Nashville Predators (1998) – The Predators were named after the saber-toothed cat that serves as their logo. In the 1970s, Nashville construction workers found a skeleton of a prehistoric saber-toothed cat during the construction of a skyscraper, which led to the nickname.
• New Jersey Devils (1982) – Legend has it that a devil haunts the Pine Barrens of South Jersey, which led to the nickname of the NHL’s Devils. Back in 1735, rumor has it that Mother Leeds learned of her soon-to-be 13^thbaby, and not having the financial resources to support another child, exclaimed “Let this one be the devil!” Well apparently the child was born normally and then transformed into a devilish creature that still haunts the Pine Barrens to this day. Well, eighteen years of driving down the Shore and I have yet to see this creature. Who knows?

• New York Islanders (1972) – Another easy one: residents of Long Island refer to themselves as “Islanders”, and the team’s name pays tribute to its fervent fan base.
• New York Rangers (1926) – The Rangers are named for founder and old-Madison Square Garden operator George “Tex” Rickard, who was once the marshal of Henrietta, Texas (where he earned his nickname). The team was referred to as “Tex’s Rangers”.
• Ottawa Senators (1992) – The Sens are aptly named as Ottawa is the capital of Canada. The name is also a tribute to the original Ottawa Senators (1883-1954), who won 11 Stanley Cups, including 4 Cups in the early NHL days.
• Philadelphia Flyers (1967) – My beloved Flyers were named by late owner Ed Snider’s sister, Phyllis. Snider chose the name to reflect the speed of the sport. The Flyers were actually preceded in Philadelphia by the Quakers, who played one season (1930-31) in the NHL using the familiar black and orange colors and a nickname well-known to Pennsylvanians (after William Penn’s faith). The Quakers finished the season with a dismal 4-win and 36-loss record.

• Pittsburgh Penguins (1967) – The Penguins name was chosen in a fan contest, despite garnering only 700 votes out of 26,000. It was inspired by the old Civic Arena (or Mellon Arena), which resembled a large, white igloo (and was consequently nicknamed as such). I also heard that the eye of the penguin in the logo has an “h” shape as a tribute to the designer, whose last name started with “h”.
• San Jose Sharks (1991) – The Sharks ownership team decided not to pay tribute to the former California Golden Seals and put the name up to a fan vote. Although “Blades” won the vote, owners were concerned about the violent connotation of the name and chose Sharks instead to represent the large shark population of the North Pacific.
• Seattle TBD (2021) – Well, we’re still waiting to see what the NHL’s 32nd team will be named, but we know the ownership group has trademarked 13 potential names, including Emeralds, Firebirds, and the Kraken. I doubt the team will revert to the Metropolitans name their city’s team used from 1915-1924. But could their name be a bit fishy? Back in June, the team updated its website to a distinct pinkish color, which could lend some credence to the nickname Sockeyes, a type of salmon popular in the Pacific Northwest. Personally, I say “Release the kraken!!”

• St. Louis Blues (1967) – The Blues were names for the W.C. Handy song “Saint Louis Blues”, one of the first and most popular jazz standards of the Roaring Twenties. The Blues are named for a song and famously rallied behind another song (Laura Branigan’s “Gloria”) during their 2019 Cup run, all thanks to the fine folks at Jacks NYB in South Philly!
• Tampa Bay Lightning (1992) – The City of Tampa is nicknamed the “Lightning Capital of the World”, owing to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and often-electrical afternoon thunderstorms nearly every day. Also, the team shoots lightning bolts from the ceiling after every goal!
• Toronto Maple Leafs (1917) – Like the Red Wings, the Leafs nickname is actually the team’s third, after the Arenas (because the team didn’t have a nickname and was owned by the Arena Company) and the St. Pats (after the owners of the St. Patricks Hockey Club that bought the team in 1919). When Conn Smythe (hey, another trophy namesake!) bought the team in 1927, he renamed it after the national symbol of Canada as a matter of national pride.

• Vancouver Canucks (1970) – The word “Canuck” is a slang term used to describe Canadian people, especially Dutch and French settlers. The team’s logo incorporates an orca whale jumping out of the water, reflecting Vancouver’s location on the Pacific Ocean.
• Vegas Golden Knights (2017) – Vegas owner Bill Foley graduated from West Point and wished to name his new team the Black Knights to match Army’s sports teams. However, the U.S. government blocked Foley from doing so, so he settled on Golden Knights, with “golden” symbolizing Nevada’s significant gold mining industry. The Golden Knights share their name with the Army’s parachute demonstration squadron.
• Washington Capitals (1974) – I’ll let you guess this one, too.
• Winnipeg Jets (1972 & 2011) – In the 1970’s Jets owner Ben Hatskin named his new hockey team after the New York Jets, or at least that’s the rumor. The “old Jets” struggled financially and moved to Phoenix in 1996 to become the Coyotes; in 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers moved back to Winnipeg, and the new ownership group resurrected the Jets nickname to its former glory.