My name for Las Vegas Hockey owner Bill Foley is “The Teasemaster” as our quest for a team name comes closer to an end. Desert Knights might soon be revealed, if comments Foley has recently made come to fruition. Still, weeks to go before we know for sure.
Foley commented in an interview with Sportsbook Radio’s Brian Blessing at the Suncoast, and his words further reported by every website known to hockey.What will be the name of the Las Vegas NHL Hockey franchise? His words as reported exhaustively in the media:
"We have our colors picked, we have our basic logo picked, but it’s going to need some refinement. We have moved some color schemes around, and the team will be something Knights. K-n-i-g-h-t-s. We have the name. The name is trademarked, we have the domain name. That’s all I can say right now."
Foley also commented that the team has come to a “really cool” uniform design that looks like steel chain mail. Several pundits have caught on that to surmise the silvery color of steel may tie in to one of the names Foley has trademarked: Silver Knights. The Las Vegas Silver Knights?
The Las Vegas Hockey franchise has three names trademarked with Knights in it: Silver Knights, Desert Knights and Golden Knights. That is, three names we know about. Who knows if the Teasemaster Foley isn’t going to whip out some other name like a Las Vegas Strip magician.
It really will be the Desert Knights. In an earlier article I noted Foley’s comments about what he wanted in his franchise. In that article I zeroed in on some statements he made in an interview with NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika. In particular:
"“My goal is to really have a culture that has a military origin to it, of loyalty, strength, perseverance,” he said. “We never stop trying. We never give up. We never give in. That kind of culture.“That’s really what I’m trying to do with the name and the logo, and I believe once that gets accomplished, guys that come and play for our team, if we pick the right type of players, they are going to embrace that culture and they are going to feel kind of a strength and power from being part of that organization.“That’s why I’ve been pretty stubborn about various names and trying to keep it coming back to what I think I really want this team to represent. This is my one chance to do it.”"
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The tendency between Foley and his General Manager George McPhee has been an emphasis away from The Strip and glitz and an emphasis on pandering to tourists. Instead they have been about building a lunch bucket, rough and tumble organization that gets its roots from the tough ranching and mining history of Nevada and develop a hardy local fan base.
Foley still would have preferred Black Knights for the Las Vegas Hockey name, the name for his beloved West Point. But that is not to be. Silver Knights and Golden Knights hit as too glitzy for the culture these guys are aiming for. So from where I sit, Desert Knights fills the bill.
Unless Teasemaster Foley pulls a name out of the hat.