More Name Chaos: Hearing the Howl Again

With only eight days left in the second round of name voting, Deadspin's spin-off blog had their say on the Utah NHL team's name and mascot.

The Utah NHL team is getting ever closer to selecting their name, as the second round of voting is drawing to an end next Thursday.

With over 520,000 votes cast in the first round of voting, and more to come, Utah fans of all ages are showing their excitement across the Beehive State.

Five of the final six, as announced, are Mammoth, Outlaws, Utah HC, Venom, and Blizzard.

Of course, while Utah HC has been the most outlandish one (which I wrote about a week back), the name gaining some serious traction -- in case you haven't noticed -- is Yeti.

Defector Media, a spinoff of the former Deadspin, is now in on the Yeti craze, with a column about resurrecting the former Avalanche mascot Howler.

The article stated Howler has been a "fringe meme" in the NHL since Colorado's second Stanley Cup run in 2001, but talks were revived on the mascot known as the "friendliest Bigfoot in the NHL" when the Avs won the the Cup in 2022.

Even my colleague at KSL.com, Josh Furlong, wrote a name like the Yeti instills passion and fear, yet "cuddly and inviting" as a mascot.

Would Utah bring back Howler as a mascot?

That's up for the fans to decide.

I myself prefer the Mammoth as the name for the team, but one can only imagine the chaos if the fans pick Utah Hockey Club (shortened to Utah HC) in the end.

Add highlighter yellow and black into the mix, and we've got serious problems.