The origin of all 30 NHL Team Nicknames.

[muwarrior69]

http://mentalfloss.com/article/22915/whats-nickname-origins-all-30-nhl-team-names?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=cpc

[Litehouse]

That's a lot of "name the team" contests.  The Rangers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Blackhawks seem to be the only ones that have a real story.  I always found the origin of baseball team nicknames that derived from sportswriter references interesting as well.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's a lot of "name the team" contests.  The Rangers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Blackhawks seem to be the only ones that have a real story.  I always found the origin of baseball team nicknames that derived from sportswriter references interesting as well.

Out of respect for our Native American brothers and sisters, they will be known as Chicago's hockey team moving forward.

[Benny B]

SAN JOSE: Sharks was chosen from 2300 entries in San Jose's name-the-team contest. The other finalists included Rubber Puckies, Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, and Blades. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.


After UC-Santa Cruz, Northern Californians should know full well not to let the public vote on a name.  Though I am a fan of "Rubber Puckies."

[brandx]

Out of respect for our Native American brothers and sisters, they will be known as Chicago's hockey team moving forward.

Some folk can't see the difference between nicknames like Blackhawks and Redskins.

Pretty pathetic, actually.

[Pakuni]

Out of respect for our Native American brothers and sisters, they will be known as Chicago's hockey team moving forward.

That would be a really valid point, if Blackhawks was a racist slur or were accompanied by racist imagery.
Alas, it's not. The team is named after a military unit which, in turn, was named after a person (Chief Black Hawk).

[Lennys Tap]

That would be a really valid point, if Blackhawks was a racist slur or were accompanied by racist imagery.
Alas, it's not. The team is named after a military unit which, in turn, was named after a person (Chief Black Hawk).

They're you go again with those pesky facts. Two types of people who think Blackhawks = Redskins - the terminally stupid and the stubbornly stupid. I have hope for Chico - think he's more likely the latter.

[JuniorCardigan]

Out of respect for our Native American brothers and sisters, they will be known as Chicago's hockey team moving forward.

Man, you really missed the mark on this one.

[Benny B]

That would be a really valid point, if Blackhawks was a racist slur or were accompanied by racist imagery.
Alas, it's not. The team is named after a military unit which, in turn, was named after a person (Chief Black Hawk).

But they changed from Black Hawks to Blackhawks.  When the words are separated, Black acts as a noun (as it's part of Chief's name), but when combined, Black becomes an adjective.  So technically, "Blackhawks" could be considered derogatory as you're referring to a Native American as being black.

Though the reality here is that, of course, everyone knows that Native Americans have the utmost respect for black people, as it was not uncommon in frontier days for Native American tribes to call off their attacks against settlers once it was determined that the wagon they were attacking was occupied by a black family.  Many of these settling families had children that went on to become law enforcement officers once they reached the western states; and so even today, the problems we see with inordinate proportions of white police officers in predominantly black neighborhoods are not seen out west because once upon a time, you had entire cities of predominantly white settlers being policed by a single black officer, and though while the townsfolk were initially resistant in most cases, everyone made peace in the end and were able to get along.  

Over time, the dynamic between white citizens and black officers reversed itself and relationships degraded, culminating with with the arrest and beating of Rodney King, whose father - incidentally - was the only black person who ever worked for Jack Kent Cooke, the owner of the L.A. Kings hockey team and a notorious racist.  Cooke claimed that he held a naming contest, but that was after his first choice, the Jigaboos.   Once it was ascertained that Cooke couldn't get away such a blatantly racist team name and his failed attempt to convince the public that "Jigaboo" was a term of endearment when used properly, he named the team Kings as an ironic tribute to his former employee while maintaining that it was the winner of the contest.  He had hoped that "King" would eventually become a racist term for a black person, thus fulfilling his desire to own a team with a racist moniker; however, this never took hold, especially with the rise of the a certain gang in L.A. which made the term "King" more associated with Latinos than blacks.  So disgruntled with his efforts, he later purchased the Redskins.

In short:   Black Hawks = OK.  Blackhawks = (counter-intuitively) OK.  Redskins = Unequivocally not OK.

[77ncaachamps]

SAN JOSE: Sharks was chosen from 2300 entries in San Jose's name-the-team contest. The other finalists included Rubber Puckies, Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, and Blades. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.


After UC-Santa Cruz, Northern Californians should know full well not to let the public vote on a name.  Though I am a fan of "Rubber Puckies."

Ironically (?), the early Sharks developmental team was the KC Blades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Blades

[Spotcheck Billy]

once upon a time, you had entire cities of predominantly white settlers being policed by a single black officer, and though while the townsfolk were initially resistant in most cases, everyone made peace in the end and were able to get along. 

Nice working in a Blazing Saddles reference

[Pakuni]

But they changed from Black Hawks to Blackhawks.  When the words are separated, Black acts as a noun (as it's part of Chief's name), but when combined, Black becomes an adjective.  So technically, "Blackhawks" could be considered derogatory as you're referring to a Native American as being black.

Though the reality here is that, of course, everyone knows that Native Americans have the utmost respect for black people, as it was not uncommon in frontier days for Native American tribes to call off their attacks against settlers once it was determined that the wagon they were attacking was occupied by a black family.  Many of these settling families had children that went on to become law enforcement officers once they reached the western states; and so even today, the problems we see with inordinate proportions of white police officers in predominantly black neighborhoods are not seen out west because once upon a time, you had entire cities of predominantly white settlers being policed by a single black officer, and though while the townsfolk were initially resistant in most cases, everyone made peace in the end and were able to get along.  

Over time, the dynamic between white citizens and black officers reversed itself and relationships degraded, culminating with with the arrest and beating of Rodney King, whose father - incidentally - was the only black person who ever worked for Jack Kent Cooke, the owner of the L.A. Kings hockey team and a notorious racist.  Cooke claimed that he held a naming contest, but that was after his first choice, the Jigaboos.   Once it was ascertained that Cooke couldn't get away such a blatantly racist team name and his failed attempt to convince the public that "Jigaboo" was a term of endearment when used properly, he named the team Kings as an ironic tribute to his former employee while maintaining that it was the winner of the contest.  He had hoped that "King" would eventually become a racist term for a black person, thus fulfilling his desire to own a team with a racist moniker; however, this never took hold, especially with the rise of the a certain gang in L.A. which made the term "King" more associated with Latinos than blacks.  So disgruntled with his efforts, he later purchased the Redskins.

In short:   Black Hawks = OK.  Blackhawks = (counter-intuitively) OK.  Redskins = Unequivocally not OK.

[muwarrior69]

SAN JOSE: Sharks was chosen from 2300 entries in San Jose's name-the-team contest. The other finalists included Rubber Puckies, Screaming Squids, Salty Dogs, and Blades. Blades was the most popular entry, but ultimately rejected because of its gang implications. When the nickname was chosen, seven shark species made their home in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean off the California coast called The Red Triangle.


After UC-Santa Cruz, Northern Californians should know full well not to let the public vote on a name.  Though I am a fan of "Rubber Puckies."

I guess most Hockey fans and the PC crowd never saw the Musical West side story where it was the Jets vs. the Sharks...2 gangs.