Vegas NHL team has identity with Golden Knights name

Right as it appeared the Las Vegas NHL expansion team would announce their name and logo to a crowd of around 5,000 fans near T-Mobile Arena, a video that was supposed to lead into the release didn’t play as planned.

Owner Bill Foley and commissioner Gary Bettman tried to soothe unrest from those waiting as much as possible by talking about the team and the importance of NHL hockey in Las Vegas. Foley also lowered his Stanley Cup prediction for the group from seven years after the first season of play to six years.

Then a countdown started and Foley got to finally unveil his organization’s team name and logo as the Vegas Golden Knights, ending months of speculation.

“We want our team to be known for dedication, honor, strength, courage and a commitment to never give up – both on the ice and off,” Foley said in a statement. “We want our team to be committed to teamwork, service to this great city and integrity in all things – and we wanted a name and logo that represented all of this and was unique to Las Vegas and our community. Vegas Golden Knights is that name.”

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Added Foley, “We selected ‘Knights’ because knights are the defenders of the realm and protect those who cannot defend themselves. They are the elite warrior class.”

Foley settled on the name late summer, but took his time to try to figure out the perfect logo and color scheme for the organization.

“I’m really trying to develop a powerful color scheme that our guys will feel great about wearing and they’ll feel strong,” Foley said in early October. “I just want it to reflect kind of the culture of the team and that’s probably why it’s taking longer. I’m probably the hang-up. Just trying to get it as close to perfect as I can.”

According to ESPN.com, the final versions of both the logos and the jerseys weren’t decided until 2 ½ weeks ago. The story said Foley needed the NHL to sign off on the name. He also required approval from Clarkson College and the University of Central Florida, which are both nicknamed the Golden Knights. Overall the NHL seemed happy with both the logo and name.

“Bill Foley is a star. He’s smart, he has great values and has done an amazing job in a short period of time. He loves hockey and he’s passionate about what he does,” Bettman said to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Added Bettman, “I’m very pleased with the final product. I think it’s exciting. If I wasn’t, it wouldn’t have been approved.”

The story also noted that Foley decided the ‘Las’ in Las Vegas wouldn’t be included in the name because, “In talking to locals, everyone seems to call it ‘Vegas.”

Said Foley, “I also thought ‘Las Vegas Golden Knights’ was too long.”

Since last June when the league announced Las Vegas would enter the NHL, the naming process involved several different reported possibilities from variations involving the word ‘Hawk’ to the ‘Knights’ template. Foley, a West Point graduate, always seemed somewhat partial to some version of Knight, but he kept his final choice a mystery between Desert Knights, Golden Knights and Silver Knights. His initial favorite was Black Knights in honor of Army, but received pushback from the Military Academy and some fans.

“I do listen to what the fans are saying. Black Knights is not a popular name generally speaking amongst the fans,” Foley said in late August. “I think they would have loved it because I had a real plan in place about what the Black Knight would be and how we would promote that logo and that name and that culture. But I believe we’ll do the same thing with the names we’re coming down to.”

In choosing the golden color, the team noted that, “Nevada is the largest producer of gold in the United States, it is a highly-valued precious metal and is a color seen in the Las Vegas terrain,”

The team’s official colors are steel grey, gold, red and black.

With the name and logo decided, Vegas can now put more time and effort into getting the rest of their business up and running. The team has hired George McPhee as general manager to lead the hockey operations staff. The Golden Knights also brought in Kerry Bubolz from the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers as their first team president.

McPhee still needs to hire a coach, and his scouts need to inform him on talent that could be exposed in next June’s expansion draft. But at very least, the team now has a name and won’t be called the ‘Las Vegas NHL expansion franchise’ anymore, which is a big step forward in forming a fully operational organization.

“This team now has an identity that is all for the fans,” Bettman said to the crowd of people at the name/logo reveal. “If this is indicative of the support this town has, I look forward to one day returning here and presenting the team with the Stanley Cup.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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