The Yeti is dead: Utah NHL team vote down to 3 names — Mammoth, Hockey Club and Wasatch

The next step to finding the Utah Hockey Club's permanent name will begin Wednesday night at the Delta Center with a fan survey between the final three names: Utah Hockey Club, Utah Mammoth and … Utah Wasatch. Yep, a new name (Wasatch) has emerged as things reach the top three — along with a pretty glaring omission. The perceived favorite Utah Yeti(s) is out as an option; though, not necessarily by the team's choice. "At the end of the day, (Yeti coolers) have a trademark that allows them to print Yeti or Yetis on clothing and other licensed merchandise, and without a coexistence agreement, we would not be able to print that," Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said. A coexistence agreement is a deal struck by the two companies, allowing each to use the name. But both sides would have had to say yes to such a deal, and the cooler company declined. "They made a determination that, for the sake of their brand, they didn't want to enter into a coexistence agreement," Maughan said. But that wasn't for a lack of trying on SEG's part. Maughan said the team engaged with Yeti "extensively," and the NHL (a Yeti partner) even tried to help tip the scales. But Yeti ultimately wanted to protect its own trademarks. "At the end of the day, they have a trademark that allows them to print Yeti or Yetis on clothing and other licensed merchandise, and without a coexistence agreement, we would not be able to print that," Maughan said. So with that, the team had to move on from the name that has topped many lists since SEG announced it was picking the name via a fan vote last spring. "We went through a great process," Maughan said. "The name came from fans, we talked with them at length, the NHL weighed in. At the end of the day, it was their decision." But the team still wanted to honor the Yeti name for the next round of voting — and that's where Wasatch came into play. Maughan said the new name allows the team to honor the idea of the "mythical snow creature" (he seemed careful not to use the Y word) and give it a Utah feel. "We have the Wasatch Mountains, we have the Wasatch Front, we have so many different iterations or ways that we could do it, so we wanted to honor the sentiment of one of those top names while also including a Utah-centric version of it," he said. So the Yeti is dead, long live Wasatch? The fans will now decide if that's good enough to stick with a Yeti theme for the name. A fan attending the next four home games (beginning with Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh), will have a chance to vote on not just the name but also get a sneak peek of the potential new look of the team. There will be iPad stations located throughout the arena where fans can vote on the name and give ratings for logos and ice rink designs. Voting will be ready as soon as doors open and will continue throughout each game. No pictures of the designs will be allowed. "We'll have people at every level of the arena in each of the different clubs and suites and levels so that anyone who wants to be able to take it will have the opportunity to do that," Maughan said. And if you liked the name Yeti, you probably won't be too upset about the proposed logos. The Wasatch and Utah Hockey Club logos feature a similar "mythical snow creature." The Mammoth logo is, as you may expect, a stylized mammoth. The black, blue and white color palette the team has used this season will continue as part of the permanent brand. But the team's current logo — even if Utah Hockey Club ends up the winner — will be changed. Maughan said there's a chance this will be the final vote before settling on a permanent name. "We'll see how the results come in and make a determination from there as to whether there will be one more, or whether this is the final great question," he said. And while the Yeti hiccup has changed some things — like adding Wasatch to the mix — it hasn't delayed the final steps of the process. Maughan said everything is still on track for a name and brand to be announced ahead of the 2025-26 season. "We always anticipated that there would be another iteration where we were able to include names and logos, so we're exactly where we thought we would be," Maughan said.