Hockey names have the best backstories in sports. One came out of a rigged contest. One was suggested by a lawyer's mother at a barbecue during a thunderstorm. One honors a fossil found under a downtown skyscraper, and one was decided because a cooler company would not share a trademark. The oldest is older than the NHL itself.
So we went back to the start for all 32, using NHL.com's own name histories, the teams' archives, the Hockey Hall of Fame, newspaper archives and provincial and state historical sources. Where the famous story is shaky, we say so.
This is part four of our team-name history series, after How Every NFL Team Got Its Name, How Every MLB Team Got Its Name and How Every NBA Team Got Its Name.
Quick Facts: NHL Team Names
- Oldest name: the Canadiens, founded in 1909, eight years before the NHL existed.
- Newest name: the Utah Mammoth, unveiled May 7, 2025, after more than 850,000 fan votes.
- Named in fan contests: Sabres, Penguins, Kings, Flames, Capitals, Devils, Sharks, Blue Jackets, Wild, Predators and Mammoth.
- Fans' top pick overruled: the Capitals (fans wanted Comets) and the Sharks (fans wanted Blades).
- Contest held for show: the Flyers. The owner's sister had already named them.
- Moved and kept the name: the Flames (Atlanta to Calgary) and the Stars, who dropped "North" on the way to Dallas.
- Name brought back from a dead team: the Senators (gone 1934, back 1992) and the Jets (gone 1996, back 2011).
- Named after a movie: the Ducks, from Disney's The Mighty Ducks.
- Named after a song: the Blues, from W.C. Handy's 1914 "St. Louis Blues."
- Named after a fossil: the Predators and the Mammoth.
- Named after a war: the Maple Leafs (World War I), Blackhawks (World War I), Blue Jackets (Civil War) and Flames (Civil War).
- Named after weather: the Lightning and the Hurricanes.
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins
The NHL's first American team was named to match a grocery store. Grocery magnate Charles F. Adams was awarded the franchise in November 1924, and the team's own history says he wanted brown uniforms with yellow trim, the colors of his stores, and a name for "an untamed animal" in "the color brown category." Adams and his coach and GM, Art Ross, settled on Bruins, an old folk-tale name for the brown bear. The Boston Globe first reported it on Nov. 14, 1924, and Ross reportedly turned down "Browns" as "too much of kid stuff." Some accounts credit a secretary with the idea. The brown went away in the mid-1930s for black and gold, but the bear stayed. Boston Bruins uniform schedule 2026-27
Bruins marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo already had baseball's Bisons, the AHL Bisons and football's Bills, so brothers Seymour and Northrup Knox wanted no more buffalo when they landed an expansion team for 1970. Their name-the-team contest drew about 13,000 entries, including the Mugwumps, the Buzzing Bees and the Flying Zeppelins, according to the Buffalo News. Only a handful of fans suggested Sabres, and the Knoxes picked it. As NHL.com quotes the team's explanation, a sabre is "a clean, sharp, decisive and penetrating weapon on offense, as well as a strong parrying weapon on defense." The Sabres joined the league the same year as the Vancouver Canucks and have never changed their name. Buffalo Sabres uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 4.0
Detroit Red Wings
The most famous logo in Detroit came from a club in Montreal. Detroit's team started in 1926 as the Cougars and became the Falcons in 1930. During the Depression the club went into receivership, and grain millionaire James Norris took control in 1932. On Oct. 5, 1932, he renamed it the Red Wings. Norris had been a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, whose "Winged Wheelers" won the first Stanley Cup in 1893 under a winged-wheel emblem. He decided a red winged wheel was perfect for the Motor City. Not everyone loved the name at first. Then the Red Wings won the Cup in 1936 and 1937, and nobody asked again. Detroit Red Wings uniform schedule 2026-27
Falcons and Red Wings marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Florida Panthers
Blockbuster Video founder Wayne Huizenga was awarded an expansion team on Dec. 10, 1992, and announced the name on April 20, 1993. He named it for the Florida panther, the state animal and an endangered cat that lives in the Everglades region of South Florida. NHL.com says Huizenga picked it to put a spotlight on the panther, which numbered fewer than 100 in the wild in the early 1990s. The team played its first game that October. Florida Panthers uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens are older than the NHL. John Ambrose O'Brien founded the club on Dec. 4, 1909, as a team for Montreal's French-speaking fans. In 1917 it added the crest that is still on the sweater today: a C wrapped around an H, for the club's official name, Club de hockey Canadien. The H stands for hockey. The popular idea that it means "Habitants" is usually traced to a New York promoter in the 1920s. But the nickname itself is real and older than that story. Le Devoir called the team "les Habitants" on Feb. 9, 1914. The habitants were the farming settlers of New France, and that is where "Habs" comes from. Montreal Canadiens uniform schedule 2026-27
Canadiens marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Albert Dumas (1910). Public domain.
Photo: Dominion Co., Spalding's Official Ice Hockey Guide (1914). Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Ottawa Senators
The Senators name was dead for 58 years. Ottawa's original club dates to 1883. Officially it was the Ottawa Hockey Club, it was the Silver Seven during its 1903-06 Stanley Cup run, and it was known as the Senators from around 1908, a fitting name for the capital city. The old Senators won 11 Stanley Cups and were a founding NHL team in 1917, but money trouble sent them to St. Louis in 1934, where they became the Eagles and folded a year later. Ottawa developer Bruce Firestone won a new expansion team on Dec. 6, 1990, the same day as Tampa Bay, and brought the old name back. The new Senators started play in 1992. Ottawa Senators uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: George Thomas Wadds (1914-15), Library and Archives Canada. Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Tampa Bay Lightning
A lawyer's mother named the Lightning at a barbecue. Phil Esposito tells it this way on the team's site: in July 1990, he was at the home of local lawyer Bennie Lazzara when a big thunderstorm rolled in, and Lazzara told him Tampa Bay was known as the lightning capital of North America. Lazzara's mother, then about 84, came out the back door and said, "You ought to name the team the Lightning." Esposito said, "That's it. That's the name of this team." He had already turned down Oceanics ("What are we, Jacques Cousteau?"), Pelicans and Gators ("That's football"). He also liked that it was "Lightning, no S." The team was awarded that December and started play in 1992. Tampa Bay Lightning uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 4.0
Toronto Maple Leafs
It is "Leafs," not "Leaves," and it is not a typo. Toronto's team started in 1917 as the Arenas and became the St. Patricks in 1919. In February 1927 a group led by Conn Smythe bought the struggling St. Pats, keeping the team from being sold to Philadelphia, and renamed it the Maple Leafs. Smythe, a World War I veteran, said the maple leaf was "the badge of courage, the badge that meant home" for Canadian soldiers. The green and white became blue and white. Historian Stephen Smith found that co-owner Charlie Querrie was already floating the name in December 1926, but Smythe's group made it official. As for the spelling, linguist J.K. Chambers says Maple Leaf is a proper noun, so "Leafs" is correct. Toronto Maple Leafs uniform schedule 2026-27
Maple Leafs marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Archives of Ontario, Conn Smythe fonds (c. 1931-32). Public domain.
Photo: All-Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes started as the Hartford Whalers. Software executive Peter Karmanos Jr. bought the Whalers in 1994, but Hartford was the NHL's smallest U.S. market with its smallest arena, and a push for 11,000 season tickets fell short. In spring 1997, Karmanos announced the move to North Carolina. With little time before the season, he picked the name himself instead of holding a contest. It came a year after Hurricanes Bertha and Fran hit the state in 1996. The Raleigh News & Observer reports Karmanos also considered "Ice Hogs," a nod to the state's pork industry, which is why the team's mascot, Stormy, is a pig. The team played its first two seasons in Greensboro while its Raleigh arena was built. Carolina Hurricanes uniform schedule 2026-27
Whalers and Hurricanes marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus ran its name-the-team contest with Wendy's, the Columbus-based burger chain, and drew about 14,000 entries. The team and the league cut it to two finalists: Blue Jackets and Justice. Owner John H. McConnell said of Justice, "we just didn't understand" it. Blue Jackets won, announced Nov. 11, 1997, and seven fans had suggested it. A drawing gave season tickets to Jared Berry, a 19-year-old Wright State student. The name honors Ohio in the Civil War. Per person, Ohio sent more men to the Union Army than any other state, and the team says many of the soldiers' blue coats were made in Columbus. The Blue Jackets first took the ice in 2000. Columbus Blue Jackets uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Liljenquist Family Collection, Library of Congress (1861-65). Public domain.
Photo: All-Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0
New Jersey Devils
The Devils are on their third city. The franchise started as the Kansas City Scouts in 1974, moved to Denver as the Colorado Rockies in 1976, and was moved to New Jersey by owner John McMullen in 1982. "Scouts and Rockies were losers; we were looking for something fresh," goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch recalled for the team. A statewide newspaper vote drew about 10,000 ballots, and Devils won. The name comes from the Jersey Devil, the winged, hoofed creature said to haunt the Pine Barrens. In the legend, a Mother Leeds cursed her 13th child: "Let this one be a devil." Not everyone loved a team named after a devil, but the name stuck. New Jersey Devils uniform schedule 2026-27
Illustration: Philadelphia newspaper (1909). Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
New York Islanders
The NHL gave Long Island a team in November 1971, awarding it to clothing manufacturer Roy Boe, who also owned the ABA's New York Nets. The league moved fast in part to keep the rival World Hockey Association out of the new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The name, unveiled in early 1972, is simple: Islanders, the people of Long Island. We could not find a team or newspaper account of who picked it or why. One fun twist: "Islanders" was one of the names New York baseball fans floated for their new team in 1961. They went with the Mets. Local papers soon shortened the hockey name to "Isles," and the Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983. New York Islanders uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: The Kip / CC BY-SA 4.0
New York Rangers
The Rangers name is a pun. Madison Square Garden president George "Tex" Rickard got an NHL team for 1926-27 to compete with the Garden's other tenant, the New York Americans. New York sportswriters started calling the new club "Tex's Rangers," a play on the famous Texas Rangers lawmen, and Rickard kept it. The team history says he put "Rangers" diagonally across the blue jerseys so they would not look like the Americans' straight lettering, and the diagonal wordmark is still there 100 years later. A team official later put it simply: "The newspaper boys called us Tex's Rangers, and the name stuck." The Rangers have never changed their name or their city. New York Rangers uniform schedule 2026-27
Rangers marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Bain News Service (1924), Library of Congress. Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers' name-the-team contest was mostly for show. In summer 1966, on the drive home from a Broadway show, owner Ed Snider, his sister Phyllis and their spouses stopped at a Howard Johnson's on the New Jersey Turnpike and talked names. "I was thinking of people skating and sliding around the ice," Phyllis told the Philadelphia Inquirer, and "Flyers" popped into her head. Everyone loved it. The team still ran a 10-day contest that drew more than 11,000 entries, including the Liberty Bells, the Quakers and the Scars and Stripes. The winner was a 9-year-old from Narberth who spelled it "Fliers." The team kept Phyllis's "y," and she also helped come up with the winged P logo. Philadelphia Flyers uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Pittsburgh Penguins
Penguins on ice, in a building called the Igloo. Pittsburgh's 1967 expansion team was named through a contest run by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the club and Mellon National Bank. Fans sent in 26,400 entries with 356 different names, and 716 of them said Penguins. Selection committee member Pete Block explained: "The penguin lives on ice; hockey players make their living on ice." The Civic Arena, with its famous dome, was already nicknamed the Big Igloo. Rejected names included the Pussycats, Pipers and Golden Triangles. Some fans complained that a bird that can't fly didn't fit a tough sport. Team lore, per ESPN, also credits owner Jack McGregor's wife, Carol, who liked how Penguins sounded next to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh Penguins uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Ian D'Andrea / CC BY-SA 4.0
Washington Capitals
Fans wanted the Comets. Owner Abe Pollin, who was building the Capital Centre in suburban Maryland, ran a "Name the Team" contest in January 1974 that drew more than 11,000 entries, and Comets topped the list. Pollin reportedly felt it sounded too much like the cleaning powder. He read entries on a flight to the NBA All-Star Game and decided with his wife, Irene. "It wasn't until 11:30 last night that my wife and I came up with the final name," he told the press. "It was unanimous." The Capitals were unveiled Jan. 21, 1974, a name for the nation's capital and for his new arena. Pandas, Domes and Cyclones were also in the running. Washington Capitals uniform schedule 2026-27
Capitals marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: All-Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Coffee businessman Frederic McLaughlin brought Chicago into the NHL in 1926 and named the team after his World War I unit. McLaughlin served with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the Army's 86th Infantry Division, which was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division." The division was named for Black Hawk, the Sauk war leader born in 1767 near today's Rock Island, Illinois. McLaughlin's wife, the dancer Irene Castle, is credited with designing the first logo. For 60 years the team was spelled "Black Hawks," two words. In 1986 it officially became one word, Blackhawks, the way the division was spelled. Sources disagree on exactly why the change came then. Chicago Blackhawks uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Colorado Avalanche
They were almost the Rocky Mountain Extreme. The Avalanche are the old Quebec Nordiques, bought by communications company COMSAT and moved to Denver in May 1995. "Rockies" was taken twice over: Denver's earlier NHL team had left in 1982 to become the Devils, and the baseball team now owned the name. The new owners' first idea was Rocky Mountain Extreme, a nod to the extreme-sports craze. Adrian Dater, the Denver Post writer who broke the story, says the public reaction ran something like 98-2 against it. The team then put eight names to a fan poll, including Black Bears, Cougars, Outlaws and Wranglers, and went with Avalanche. Colorado won the Stanley Cup in its first season. Colorado Avalanche uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Dallas Stars
The Stars just dropped a word. The team started in 1967 as the Minnesota North Stars, a name taken from Minnesota's state motto, "L'Etoile du Nord," French for "The Star of the North." Owner Norm Green announced on March 10, 1993, in the middle of the season, that the team would move to Dallas after he failed to get a better arena in Minnesota. When the club arrived for 1993-94, "North" was gone and "Stars" stayed. In Texas, the Lone Star State, the shorter name fit right away. The Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999, and the green that came from Minnesota is still the team's color today. Dallas Stars uniform schedule 2026-27
North Stars and Stars marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota fans wanted the North Stars back. They couldn't have it. When the league awarded Minnesota a new team on June 25, 1997, the North Stars name belonged to the Dallas franchise's history, and NHL.com says a trademark issue ruled it out. A contest drew more than 13,000 submissions. The team picked Wild over Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs and White Bears, as a nod to how much Minnesotans love the outdoors. The name was revealed Jan. 22, 1998, and the team started play in 2000. "We liked the marketing potential of Wild, so we went with it," team executive Matt Majka said years later. Minnesota Wild uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Nashville Predators
In summer 1971, crews digging the foundation for the First American Center, now UBS Tower, in downtown Nashville hit a cave holding part of a saber-toothed cat skeleton, including one long fang, according to Nashville public radio station WPLN. When Nashville was awarded an NHL team in June 1997, the owners unveiled a saber-toothed cat logo before they even had a name. Fans then voted between Ice Tigers, Fury, Attack and Predators, and Predators won. It became official Nov. 13, 1997. One detail to get right: it is a saber-toothed cat, Smilodon, not a saber-toothed tiger. It isn't related to tigers. And the original fossil fang has since gone missing. Nashville Predators uniform schedule 2026-27
Painting: Charles R. Knight (1903), American Museum of Natural History. Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
St. Louis Blues
The Blues are named after a song. Insurance executive Sid Salomon Jr. and his son won St. Louis's expansion team in 1966, and Salomon said there was only one possible name. As NHL.com tells it, he said: "The name of the team has to be the Blues. It's part of the city where W.C. Handy composed his famed song." Handy published "St. Louis Blues" in 1914. The team's logo is still a winged blue note. The Blues started play in 1967, reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of their first three seasons and finally won the Cup in 2019. St. Louis Blues uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Carl Van Vechten (1941), Library of Congress. Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Utah Mammoth
The Yeti lost to a cooler company. Ryan and Ashley Smith's Smith Entertainment Group bought the Arizona Coyotes' hockey assets in 2024 and moved the team to Salt Lake City, where it played its first season under a placeholder name, Utah Hockey Club. Fans voted in round after round, more than 850,000 votes over 13 months, according to the AP. Yeti was a top contender until the cooler company of that name could not reach a trademark agreement with the team. In the end it came down to Mammoth or keeping Utah Hockey Club, and "Mammoth just started running away with it," Ryan Smith said. The name was unveiled May 7, 2025. Mammoth fossils have been dug up all over Utah, including a well-preserved Columbian mammoth found in central Utah in 1988. Utah Mammoth uniform schedule 2026-27
Painting: Charles R. Knight (1909). Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Winnipeg Jets
The Jets name came back 15 years after it left. Ben Hatskin, a former Winnipeg Blue Bombers football player, owned a junior team called the Winnipeg Jets in 1967, and he made the Jets a founding team in the World Hockey Association in 1972. He was reportedly a fan of the NFL's New York Jets. The WHA Jets joined the NHL in 1979 and moved to Phoenix in 1996 to become the Coyotes. In 2011, True North Sports & Entertainment bought the Atlanta Thrashers and moved them to Winnipeg. Fans wanted the old name over options like the Manitoba Moose, and co-owner Mark Chipman announced "Jets" from the floor of the NHL Draft on June 24, 2011, right before the team's first pick. Winnipeg Jets uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks were named after a movie. Disney won an expansion team in December 1992, and in March 1993 chairman Michael Eisner announced the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, straight from Disney's 1992 hit about a struggling kids' hockey team. The team played in an arena nicknamed "The Pond." Not everyone was charmed. A sports historian writing that same week accused Eisner of having "degraded hockey." Disney sold the team in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, and on Jan. 27, 2006, the team announced it would drop "Mighty" and become the Anaheim Ducks. A season-ticket-holder survey found nearly two-thirds wanted a change, ESPN reported. Anaheim Ducks uniform schedule 2026-27
Ducks marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Calgary Flames
A Canadian team is named for a U.S. Civil War fire. The Flames were born in Atlanta. Real estate developer Tom Cousins ran a public name-the-team contest in 1971 that drew about 10,000 entries, and Flames won even though only 198 ballots suggested it, according to hockey writer Stephen Laroche. The name recalls the burning of Atlanta in 1864, when Union troops under General William Tecumseh Sherman set fires that destroyed much of the city. The Atlanta Flames played from 1972 to 1980. Then a group of Canadian businessmen led by Nelson Skalbania bought the team and moved it to Calgary. They kept the name, and in oil country it still fit. Calgary Flames uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Unknown photographer, U.S. National Archives (1864). Public domain.
Photo: XR228 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Edmonton Oilers
For one season the Oilers were supposed to belong to all of Alberta. They were founding members of the World Hockey Association in 1972, led by Bill "Wild Bill" Hunter, who already owned Edmonton's junior team, the Oil Kings. Hunter first called the club the Alberta Oilers, because the plan was to split home games between Edmonton and Calgary. The planned Calgary WHA team moved to Cleveland before the league ever played, so that plan went away. The name was a nod to Alberta's oil industry and to Hunter's Oil Kings. The team became the Edmonton Oilers in 1973 and kept the name when it joined the NHL in 1979, with a teenage Wayne Gretzky already on the roster. Edmonton Oilers uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Provincial Archives of Alberta (1947). No known copyright restrictions.
Photo: All-Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0
Los Angeles Kings
Jack Kent Cooke announced a name-the-team contest for his 1967 expansion team on April 14, 1966. The deadline passed with no name, and Cooke cited "copyright problems" with some choices. Eight names, including some "beautiful sounding Spanish names," got strong consideration and were dropped. The team finally chose Kings. Of 7,649 entries, 31 suggested it, and Harry J. Mullen won a color TV, a radio and two season tickets because his entry had the earliest postmark. "We're starting out as the Kings of the NHL and we intend to live up to that," Cooke said. The Kings debuted in gold and a royal purple the team called "Forum Blue." Los Angeles Kings uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
San Jose Sharks
Fans voted for the Blades. The team said no. When George and Gordon Gund won an expansion team for San Jose in 1990, the club held a contest that drew thousands of entries, from as far away as Maine, Florida and Italy, with joke ideas like the Rubber Puckies and the Screaming Squids. Blades actually won, but team marketing chief Matt Levine later told San Jose Hockey Now that feedback tied the name to gangs, adding, "Also, it's pretty boring." The team picked Sharks instead. San Jose sits next to the "Red Triangle," a stretch of Pacific coast where seven shark species live, including the great white. Levine called sharks "relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright, and fearless." San Jose Sharks uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Seattle Kraken
The fans named the Kraken before the team did. Seattle was awarded the NHL's 32nd team in December 2018, and fans started pushing for the Kraken, the giant sea monster of Scandinavian folklore, almost right away. After a long process, delayed in part by COVID-19, the team announced the name on July 23, 2020. "The Kraken is a name born of the fans. It was suggested and championed by the fans," CEO Tod Leiweke told the AP. Seattle passed on Sockeyes, Evergreens, Thunderbirds and Metropolitans, the last a nod to the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. The Kraken's S logo honors that club. Seattle Kraken uniform schedule 2026-27
Engraving: Pierre Denys de Montfort / Étienne Claude Voysard (1801). Public domain.
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks name is 25 years older than the NHL team. According to the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Coley Hall won the rights to a Vancouver franchise in a poker game in summer 1945, and his bookie, Arthur Rennison, suggested "Canucks" after Johnny Canuck, a Canadian comic-book hero. Johnny Canuck goes back to an 1869 cartoon, where he was drawn as a younger Canadian cousin of Uncle Sam and John Bull, and he came back in 1942 as a hero fighting the Nazis. The minor-league Canucks played from 1945 until Vancouver joined the NHL with Buffalo in 1970. The new team kept the name. Vancouver Canucks uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: Jenn G / CC BY-SA 2.0
Vegas Golden Knights
Bill Foley, a 1967 West Point graduate, strongly considered calling his team the Black Knights, the name of Army's sports teams. He kept the knight and changed the color to gold. Silver Knights (Nevada is the Silver State) and Desert Knights were also in the running, and he liked Nighthawks and Sidewinders too. He dropped "Las" because locals just say "Vegas." Foley and Commissioner Gary Bettman unveiled the name on Nov. 22, 2016, in front of about 5,000 fans. The Army, whose parachute team has been the Golden Knights since 1962, challenged the trademark. The two sides settled on July 19, 2018, and now share the name. Vegas Golden Knights uniform schedule 2026-27
Photo: The Kip / CC BY-SA 4.0
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oldest NHL team name?
The Montreal Canadiens, founded Dec. 4, 1909, eight years before the NHL started. The oldest name used by an American team is the Bruins, from 1924.
What does the H on the Canadiens logo stand for?
Hockey. The crest is a C around an H for Club de hockey Canadien, the team's official name. The "Habs" nickname does come from "les Habitants," the settlers of New France, but the H on the logo is not short for it.
Why are the Maple Leafs not the Maple Leaves?
Maple Leaf is a proper noun, the name of the emblem Canadian soldiers wore in World War I, so the plural is Maple Leafs. Conn Smythe's group renamed the team in 1927.
Why are the Calgary Flames called the Flames?
The team started in Atlanta in 1972, and the name recalls the burning of Atlanta in the Civil War. When the team moved to Calgary in 1980, the new owners kept it.
Why are the Nashville Predators called the Predators?
In 1971, workers digging a foundation in downtown Nashville found part of a saber-toothed cat skeleton. The team made the cat its logo first, and fans then voted for the name Predators.
Why didn't Utah pick Yeti?
Yeti was a top contender in the fan vote, but the Yeti cooler company could not reach a trademark agreement with the team. Fans then chose Mammoth, unveiled May 7, 2025.
Which NHL team is named after a movie?
The Anaheim Ducks, originally the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, named by Disney after its 1992 film The Mighty Ducks. The team dropped "Mighty" in 2006.
Why are the Rangers called the Rangers?
The team's founder was Madison Square Garden boss George "Tex" Rickard, and New York sportswriters called the club "Tex's Rangers," a pun on the Texas Rangers lawmen. Rickard kept it.
The Bottom Line
Hockey's names are stubborn. Ottawa and Winnipeg wanted their old names back badly enough to bring them back from the dead. Calgary kept a name about a fire in Georgia. Toronto kept a spelling that looks wrong and isn't. And the newest team in the league went to 850,000 votes before it found its name. Every one of those names is on a sweater this season.
More NHL Coverage
- NHL uniform schedule 2026-27: what every team is wearing
- How every NBA team got its name
- How every MLB team got its name
- How every NFL team got its name
Team-name histories via NHL.com, the teams' own histories, the Hockey Hall of Fame, newspaper archives and provincial and state historical sources. Photos credited under each image.
