Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong has been very active during the 2024 draft, but appears to have made a small mistake.
Friday evening, during his press briefing following the first round of the auction, the CEO seemed to let slip the future name of his team during one of his responses.
“When we got to the No. 5 pick, that’s when we knew. That’s when we knew he was going to be a Utah Yeti, I think,” Armstrong said of selecting Tij Iginla.
He then tried to catch up, without much success.
“I’m not allowed to choose the name, but I think little kids in Utah vote about 25 times a day. So I think they got it.”
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The new National League team came into being last April, when the league decided to put the Arizona Coyotes franchise on hiatus. The new organization decided to take its time before choosing a name and logo. It opted to take a vote, and six names were still in the running as of mid-June.
They were Mammoth, Blizzard, Outlaws, Venom, Utah Hockey Club and of course Yeti. Fans had until June 20 to register their vote.
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