When the internet puts its mind to something, the results can be, well, interesting. That’s what NHL commissioner Gary Bettman learned when a fan vote landed John Scott (whose career high in points was four) a spot in the 2016 all-star game.
So when NHL Utah owner Ryan Smith told Bettman of his intention to hold a series of fan votes to name the team, Bettman was rightly skeptical.
A certain amount of team control prevented the goofy names from appearing on any ballots, though many were submitted when the first round of voting asked for write-in submissions.
After four rounds and 850,000 responses, the team ended up as the “Utah Mammoth,” which the team says was the clear favorite.
But as unique as some made this process out to be, Smith was not the first NHL owner to ask for fans’ input on the naming of the team.
In fact, nearly half of the league’s current teams got their branding from similar processes.
Here’s a rundown of every NHL team to choose its name through a fan vote, in chronological order.
Boston Bruins, 1924
Fan votes in the NHL go back at least as far as 1924, when Boston’s team held a fan vote.
The rules were simple: Team owner Charles Adams wanted it to “relate to an untamed animal embodied with size, strength, agility, ferocity and cunning, while also in the color brown category.”
Adams wasn’t drawn toward any of the responses, so he ultimately went with a suggestion from his secretary: the Boston Bruins.
Los Angeles Kings, 1966
The Los Angeles franchise owners opened voting to the public through write-in submissions. After months of deliberation and trademark issues, they finally announced that they’d be the “Kings” of the NHL, as they planned to be perennial Stanley Cup champions.
They didn’t win the Cup until 2012.
Of the 7,649 ballots received, 31 suggested that name. Harry Mullen was selected as the winner because his had the earliest postmark. Mullen’s prize was a TV set, a pair of season tickets and an AM/FM radio.
Philadelphia Flyers, 1966
Back in the original round of NHL expansion, Philadelphia held a fan vote through a local grocery store chain.
They credited a nine-year-old boy, Alex Stockard, with the win — though it has since been revealed that Phyllis Snider, the former owner’s sister, came up with the name and they just searched the 11,000 fan entries until they found one that matched it.
Stockard’s submission was spelled “Fliers,” but the team switched it to “Flyers.”
As a prize, Stockard received a color television set and two season tickets to every 1967 Flyers home game.
Pittsburgh Penguins, 1967
Pittsburgh’s NHL franchise announced its name in February 1967 after approximately 700 of the 26,000 submissions requested the name.
It’s believed, though, that Carol McGregor, wife of then-team owner Jack McGregor, had the original idea for the team name. She liked the alliteration and the icy theme.
Buffalo Sabres, 1969
Buffalo ownership didn’t want anything that related to bison, as several other sports teams in the area had already been there and done that. They did, however, opt for a logo boasting a bison at the center of it — and to this day, all of their primary logos have done the same.
Robert Sonnelitter Jr. was among the four contestants who voted for “Sabres” and was crowned the winner via a draw. He won a pair of season tickets for his work.
Washington Capitals, 1974
Neither of the two most popular suggestions in Washington’s team name vote, “Comets” and “Pandas,” fit the bill that the squad’s first owner had.
The third-most popular was “Capitals,” which was ultimately chosen as the winner.
Ruth Stolarick received the grand prize, having been selected at random from among the 88 people who submitted that name. She walked away with a pair of inaugural season tickets.
In total, approximately 12,000 people voted in the Capitals’ name vote.
New Jersey Devils, 1982
New Jersey received more than 10,000 votes in its contest, which eventually landed on the name “Devils” in reference to the legend of the “New Jersey Devil.”
The New York Times reported at the time that many fans objected to the name on religious grounds, but nothing changed.
San Jose Sharks, 1990
The fan vote in San Jose yielded 2,300 responses from the United States, Canada and Italy. The most commonly suggested name was “Blades,” but they eventually decided to call the team the Sharks.
As a grand prize, the Sharks awarded a pair of tickets to the 1991 All-Star Game in Chicago. Additional smaller prizes were awarded to 200 contestants.
Tampa Bay Lightning, 1991
“Oceanics,” “Pelicans” and “Gators” were among the most popular names in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s fan vote, though ownership had “Lightning” picked out five months before they even landed the franchise.
A 1990 barbecue hosting then-team owner Phil Esposito and business associate Bennie Lazzara was interrupted by a thunder storm, at which point Lazzara informed Esposito that Tampa was the lightning capital of North America.
Lazzara’s mother, who was also in attendance, suggested it as a team name and Esposito loved it.
Decades later, Esposito revealed that two or three fans had submitted the same name, but its true penman was Mrs. Lazzaro.
Florida Panthers, 1993
The Florida ownership group stayed true to the results of the fan vote: “Panthers” was the most popular choice among the 6,400 submissions.
Fun fact: The Panthers’ original owner, Wayne Huizenga, founded Blockbuster, the video rental company. He heavily considered naming the team the “Block Busters,” but ultimately decided against it.
Colorado Avalanche, 1995
After negative reactions to the name “Rocky Mountain Extreme” surfaced following the Denver Post’s article revealing the name in 1995, the team switched gears and held a fan vote.
The team proposed eight options: Avalanche, Black Bears, Cougars, Outlaws, Rapids, Renegades, Storm and Wranglers.
Fan input totaled 10,000 responses, with “Avalanche” coming in slightly above “Black Bears” and “Cougars.”
“Avalanche” was engraved on the Stanley Cup the following summer, so there was no going back after that.
Phoenix Coyotes, 1996
The Winnipeg Jets’ move to Phoenix prompted a fan vote, which ultimately landed on “Coyotes” as the name.
Two fans who voted for the name were given tickets to the club’s last game of the season, while 17-year-old Brett Thornton received lifetime season tickets.
Columbus Blue Jackets, 1997
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ name came from a 13,000-vote survey in 1997.
It has a double-meaning, playing off the yellow jacket insect and nodding to Ohio’s Civil War history.
Jared Berry got the credit — and the season tickets as a prize — after his name was drawn from the seven individuals who submitted the name.
Minnesota Wild, 1998
The Minnesota Wild launched its name vote in 1998, a full two years before playing their first season.
They received about 13,000 submissions, many of which stuck with the wilderness theme that began with the state’s first team, the Minnesota North Stars.
Atlanta Thrashers, 1999
A fan vote for Atlanta’s second NHL team yielded an unusable result: the “Flames.”
The Atlanta Flames were the city’s first team, but when they moved to Calgary in 1980, they kept the name.
The second-most popular option was the “Thrashers,” which was what former owner Ted Turner decided upon.
Seattle Kraken, 2019
Seattle’s ownership never held a full-on fan vote, but they did launch a website through which the public could make suggestions regarding the name, colors, music, goal horn and food options.