Ryan Smith Says Utah NHL Team's Name Will Be Determined WIth A Bracket

Everyone wants to know what the new Utah NHL franchise will be called. While there's a chance they begin play next season with a temporary name, owner Ryan Smith has revealed how the new name will be selected. 

They're using everyone's favorite method of group decision-making: a bracket.

"The goal is we want it to be by Utah, for Utah, and let our fans and our people and our players take part in creating that," Smith said on Sportsnet's 32 Thoughts podcast.

I love this idea, but if there's one thing we learned as a society from the infamous Boaty McBoatface debacle, it's that the public can't be trusted to name things.

You've got to figure the March Madness-style bracket will be comprised of team names that have been signed off on by the organization and the league. That's especially true when a quick flip through social media will tell you that everyone wants the team to be called the "Utah Soakers" or "Utah Stormin' Mormons."

Both are great names… for a beer league or fantasy team. The NHL will give those the axe immediately (although they'd probably have to look "Soakers" up on Urban Dictionary).

Still, that's a cool way to get fans involved, and as we've seen from the NHL's latest successes with the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken, that goes a long way in building a fan base.

Ryan Smith said there could be some crossover between the Utah Jazz and the new NHL team as far as colors or design elements are concerned. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Expect the Jazz And The Yet-To-Be-Named NHL Team To Share Some Colors Or Design Elements

Smith also talked about what kinds of colors and uniforms we can expect with the new team, and he said he envisions they'll share some characteristics with the team's arena mates the Utah Jazz, which he and his wife, Ashley, also own.

"If you look at the mountains on the (Jazz) jersey, I think that kind of breeds a little bit of a color palette naturally, of fresh ice, the whole setup, blue skies, you see that," Smith explained. 

"In a dream scenario, there's a Venn diagram where you've got the Jazz and this team... where things could kind of overlap."

I'm a sucker for that. I always thought the Pittsburgh method of having all teams use the same colors was cool, and it sounds like Smith digs that sort of thing too, but said that it doesn't need to be done in such a rigid way.

"You've got to leave a little room for teams to get out and do special stuff that's not going to be part of that diagram," he said. "But I think there can be a really cool symmetry and I don't think it has to just be like Pittsburgh or everything else where everything's the exact same color."

We'll see what they come up with soon enough, probably team colors first. The first big league event that the Utah Whatever They'll Be Calleds will be the NHL Draft at the Las Vegas Sphere.

That seems like a good time to unveil something, doesn't it?