Report: Seattle Arena Group Registers 13 Possible NHL Expansion Names

Possible names include Sockeyes, Seals and Emeralds.

The group behind the renovation of Seattle’s KeyArena has registered more than three dozen internet domain names related to 13 possible names for an expansion NHL franchise, DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen reports. 

A total of 38 domains were registered Thursday, apparently by a lawyer for Oak View Group, the Los Angeles-based company whose $660 million arena renovation proposal was approved by the city council last month. The NHL quickly announced that it would consider an expansion bid to put a team in the newly renovated arena when it opens in 2020. 

The expansion process is still in its infancy but OVG has its eyes on these 13 possible team names:

• Seattle Cougars

• Seattle Eagles

• Seattle Emeralds

• Seattle Evergreens

• Seattle Firebirds

• Seattle Kraken

• Seattle Rainiers

• Seattle Renegades

• Seattle Sea Lions

• Seattle Seals

• Seattle Sockeyes

• Seattle Totems

• Seattle Whales

The proposed names are not without issue, though. Whales and Seals are very close to the names of two former NHL franchises (the California Golden Seals and the Hartford Whalers). A romance novelist from Washington state, who writes under the pen name Jami Davenport, filed a trademark application for Seattle Sockeyes, the name of a team in series of steamy hockey stories.