By Tim Binnall
To the disappointment of cryptozoology buffs hoping to see one of Bigfoot's abominable brethren represented in the world of professional hockey, 'Yeti' has been officially eliminated as a possible name for Utah's new NHL team. The unfortunate news was broken by the group on Wednesday when they announced a final vote featuring the three last remaining monikers: 'Utah Hockey Club,' which the team currently uses, 'Utah Mammoth,' and 'Utah Wasatch,' in recognition of a mountain range in the state. The exclusion of 'Yeti' left many fans scratching their heads as it had been widely assumed that the overwhelmingly popular name would ultimately wind up adopted by the team.
Alas, as was revealed earlier this month, uncertainty swirled around the monstrous moniker after the Utah organization saw their trademark application for 'Yeti' rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office due to concerns over marketplace confusion with the cooler company of the same name. While there had been hopes for a compromise between the two sides, team executive Mike Maughan told a local television station that they could not reach a deal. The cooler company, he explained, "made a determination that, for the sake of their brand, they didn't want to enter into a coexistence agreement," wherein both groups could produce similar merchandise using the Yeti name.
With fans, players, and even executives informally calling the team 'Yeti' for the past several months, one imagines it may take some time for the eventual official moniker to take hold in the minds of the public. As for the remaining possibilities, Maughan indicated that they conceived of and included 'Wasatch' among the finalists as something of an homage to the name that never came to be since the snow-topped mountain range is where one might imagine encountering the legendary creature. It is also somewhat similar to Sasquatch, which may allow for some clever merchandising that sidesteps the issues brought about by the 'Yeti' moniker.