NHL Notebook: Utah files trademarks for new name as Sharks fire head coach David Quinn
2 days ago
The National Hockey League playoffs are underway, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t news from around the league.
The newest NHL team has several trademarks for a name, some coaches are moving, and the IIHF World Championship will begin in several weeks.
Let’s take a look at the latest NHL Notebook!
Utah’s name
As you know, the team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes will be moving north to Utah. What is not known, though, is the team’s name.
According to Ryan Miller, a Utah Jazz beat writer for KSL.com, there are several trademark applications for potential names for the team. Here is the list below.
Personally, my favourite is Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC for short), as I am also a fan of soccer, and the simplistic nature of the name is also unique and classy in North American hockey. If they go the usual route, “Utah Ice” is probably my favourite, while most of the other names is something you’d see in the EA NHL franchise.
David Quinn fired by the San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks announced on Wednesday that they had fired head coach David Quinn.
It’s not really that fair, considering that the team that the Sharks iced was really bad, embarking on several massive losing streaks during the 2023-24 season. The 57-year-old had a 41-98-25 record at the helm of the Sharks.
Prior to his tenure as the Sharks bench boss, the Cranston native spent three seasons with the New York Rangers, where the team had a 96-87-25 record, losing all three playoff games that the team had in during the 2020 playoffs. Of course, that was the weird pandemic season where teams had to play in a bubble.
Time will tell if he’ll get another opportunity.
Lindy Ruff rehired by the Buffalo Sabres
One coach who’ll never run out of opportunities is Lindy Ruff, who was fired in the middle of the season by the New Jersey Devils.
Well, the 64-year-old coach will be returning to the team where it all started, as it was reported on Monday that the Buffalo Sabres would be hiring the 2005-06 Jack Adams winner.
Ruff spent 15 seasons with the Sabres from the 1997-98 season until the 2012-13 season, where he posted a 571-432-78-84 record (the third column being ties). After he was fired, he spent four seasons with the Dallas Stars before his three-and-a-half-season tenure with the New Jersey Devils.
At every stop, Ruff has managed to post a .500 cumulative record, with only one full season resulting in a sub .500 record, back in 2002-03 when the Sabreds had a 27-37-10-8 record.
The Sabres currently have the longest playoff drought of any team in the league. They last made the playoffs during the 2011 postseason, Ruff’s third-to-last season in his first Sabre tenure.
United States announce first 15 players for the World Championship roster
One tournament that Oiler players do not go to often anymore is the IIHF Men’s World Championship, a tournament that takes place in May. This season, it’ll take play in Czechia from May 10-26, featuring powerhouse teams such as Great Britain, Austria, Norway, Poland, France, Kazakhstan, and many other teams
On Wednesday, Team United States (one of the actual powerhouses of the tournament) announced the first 15 players on the team.
For a team that features no Americans from playoff teams, it actually looks like the makings of a solid roster. Dylan Larkin had a terrific season when healthy, scoring a career-high 33 goals and 69 points in 68 games, and a big reason why he’s heading to this tournament is because when he wasn’t healthy, the Detroit Red Wings were a totally different team. Joining him from the Wings is netminder Alex Lyon.
Matthew Boldy is looking like a great pick from the Wild in the 2019 draft. He scored 29 goals and 69 points in 75 games this season and now has 75 goals and 171 points in 203 games. Trevor Zegras was picked three spots ahead of Boldy, but he had a rough season with the Anaheim Ducks due to injury. Zegras himself had two 60+ point seasons the prior two years but scored just six goals and 15 points in 31 games for the Ducks in 2023-24.
It’ll be an exciting time for fans whose team didn’t make the playoffs!
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