MN Wild = worst name in pro sports. Who is to blame for this? (St. Paul: insurance, college)

[Govie]

If my memory serves me correctly, it was voted on, but can any MN sports (NHL) junkies confirm this?

I know they unveiled the team name at my HS Alma mater, Johnson High, and Randy Kelly (a personal friend and the father of a kid I grew up playing hockey with) was the mayor at the time, and I also know they had a number of better names than that brutal name.

Any thoughts?

They should have named them one of these:

The Millers (our state produced more wheat than any other place on earth in the 19th century)

The Miners (our iron ore was a critical natural resource that made MN a ton of money for our early infrastructure)

The St. Paul Saints (why not?)

The Northerners

The Lakers (again, why not? Who in the bloody Hell said LA should retain that name?)

I don't know, but their name has always irritated me. I sure would like to know who was to blame for this, and if it was we, the people, I am ashamed.

[intelfan11315]

ahhahahah, yeah the wild really is a terrible name. Its too bad, because Minnesota North Stars was one of the coolest names ever. Maybe if Dallas folds you can get your name back?

[xandrex]

I don't mind the name "Wild". According to Wikipedia, there were some other cool names up for grabs, though. The six finalists were: Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Wild.

Of those, I personally like Blue Ox, Northern Lights, and Wild the best. The Freeze sounds cool too, but for whatever reason almost sounds too obvious?

[Govie]

Originally Posted by burgler09

ahhahahah, yeah the wild really is a terrible name. Its too bad, because Minnesota North Stars was one of the coolest names ever. Maybe if Dallas folds you can get your name back?

North Stars was what it should have become again, for sure.

Originally Posted by xandrex

I don't mind the name "Wild". According to Wikipedia, there were some other cool names up for grabs, though. The six finalists were: Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Wild.

Of those, I personally like Blue Ox, Northern Lights, and Wild the best. The Freeze sounds cool too, but for whatever reason almost sounds too obvious?

Those names now ring a bell. I talked with someone else on another forum and they liked Northern Lights as well. Ox would've been cool. White Bears would have been cool IMO but that kind of gives the WBL Bears another notch on their shoulders.

They should have taken a name from one of our old leagues, like the CHA. I also liked the Moose, but our timing was off on that because of what happend with the Thrashers/Jets thingy.

[Govie]

I guess I'm not the only one with this feeling:

Minnesota Wild – Named by the organisation
..- The six finalist team names for the new Minnesota franchise were: Minnesota Blue Ox, Minnesota Freeze, Minnesota Northern Lights, Minnesota Voyageurs, Minnesota White Bears and Minnesota Wild.
..- Out of the 6 names, Minnesota Wild was chosen. (Note: I personally think that the ‘Wild’ is the worst hockey team name in the NHL. How about the Minnesota Moose? Minnesota Militants? Even Minnesota Mounties?!)

NHL | Blogs


lol

[golfgal]

Do you really think that the Wild is a worse name then the MIGHTY DUCKS??

[Govie]

Yes.

And FTR, the Ducks dropped the "mighty" from their name some time ago.

Moose was the best, now that I think about it but again, they (their AHL team) were still alive when we got another franchise.

[Ghengis]

Wild - indeed a terrible, stupid name no doubt thought up by some "clever" PR consultant that likely moved on to selling insurance out of his garage office by now.

[audadvnc]

Be glad the name's not Pedo State...

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Govie

Yes.

And FTR, the Ducks dropped the "mighty" from their name some time ago.

Moose was the best, now that I think about it but again, they (their AHL team) were still alive when we got another franchise.

Still.....DUCKS???? Or for that matter GOLDEN GOPHERS ( I know, college team but so what).