Arizona Coyotes Team Name Beat Out Several Less Viable Options
The Arizona Coyotes were almost not the Coyotes, but the Scorpions or the Phreeze or…you get the picture. What were those other options in the name the team vote, anyway?
The Arizona Coyotes – then Phoenix – have played in the desert for twenty years now.
When Winnipeg settled on Phoenix for the relocation, they decided to do a fan vote for the new team name.
Now, naming the team after John Scott wasn’t an option at that time, but there were some that were just as close in absurdity.
I dug up a list of those potential names, so let’s stroll down memory lane and be glad we are not rooting for the Phoenix or Arizona John Scotts.
PHOENIX PHREEZE
Are you Phreaking kidding?
Nothing about this name would have made any logical sense for Phoenix.
Let’s start with the obvious fact that nothing in Phoenix actually freezes. The blistering heat makes this name a contradiction of the city itself.
Now the moniker isn’t always a reflection of the city, just look at Pittsburgh, I have never seen a penguin in the United States let alone the state of Pennsylvania. The next terrible point regarding this name is that we would have kids in Phoenix writing words like Phantastic, Phun, or Phlag even more often.
The Phoenix Freeze on the other hand? I could …kind of…Nope, even with correct spelling the name is still terrible.
PHOENIX GOAL MINERS
A slightly better choice than the Phreeze because of the Gold Rush sending everyone West seeking riches.
However, I can only picture this logo as Yosemite Sam wielding a hockey stick. The name is still an awful pun and would give writers plenty of ammo any time they were shut out.
PHOENIX SCORPIONS
According to one article, the Scorpions was also a choice that finished as runner-up to the Coyotes.
This option is much better, considering the venomous creature resides in the desert.
The logo would be menacing and, let’s be honest, scorpions are pretty terrifying to find out and about.
Although after reviewing the first two choices, the ownership at that time might have screwed this one up by calling them the SCORE-PIONS or something similar.
Get it? They would SCORE goals. I know, I know. That’s almost as bad as the Goal Miners.
PHOENIX MOON DOGGIES
Yes, this was actually an option in the name-the-team vote.
Where do I begin? What is this? A space dog?
An all-dog planet that is close to the moon? Is it a doglike creature that resides on the moon?
All I know is that I would prefer the Arizona John Scotts to this name any day.
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The only thing worse than this name would’ve been the glow in the dark jerseys that would eventually accompany the name, when Phoenix pioneered the “BLACK LIGHT GAME” to draw interest in the game.
Okay, maybe they wouldn’t have gone that far because if they stuck with this name the team would be bankrupt.
PHOENIX JETS
This may have been the perfect solution. Winnipeg fans wouldn’t have been happy no matter what. That’s a good thing.
The Coyotes kept the history of the franchise with Arizona anyway, though the current incarnation of the Thrashers/Jets don’t recognize that fact, so this would have been the most appropriate name. However, when you put things to vote anything can happen, like John Scott as an All-Star captain or a reality TV-star as President of the United States.
Next time you attend Gila River Arena just remember every time you chant “Let’s Go Co- Yotes” that chant could have been a lot more difficult.
“Let’s Go Moon Doggies!” would have sounded absurd.
Maybe you would have preferred to shout “P-H-R-E-E-Z-E”? You would have to spell it out or else the opposition would assume the nickname was actually spelled correctly.
How about “Scor-PIONS, Scor-PIONS”? Okay, not too bad.
I wasn’t around for the vote in 1996. Phoenix picked a good one, and the now Arizona Coyotes are building their own history.
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