Las Vegas will have logo, nickname soon

The Las Vegas expansion team will have its nickname sooner rather than later.
"Our goal is to have a logo and a team name ASAP," majority owner Bill Foley said Wednesday at a press conference introducing George McPhee as general manager. "But we have to do it properly and we have to do it in conjunction with the League."

The team, which will begin play in the 2017-18 NHL season, planned to announce a nickname by October. Foley said he had several ideas but was unable to choose one because of copyright reasons.
"I didn't realize how complicated it was, and it is complicated," Foley said. "We are working our way through the process right now as we speak. We have a lot names in mind, but a lot of the ones I really liked are trademarked, so that is a little bit of an issue."
One such nickname that could be causing difficulty is Knights or Black Knights. Foley, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is part of the Black Knights Sports and Entertainment group, and Army's collegiate nickname is the Black Knights.

"The issue we are having is with various trademark issues and trade name issues that are registered," Foley said. "We are working our way through that process with various athletic teams, entities that may have a name that we are interested in. So we are working with the League and Adidas and Reebok."
The Review-Journal newspaper in the city has a tournament-style bracket with 64 team names and is using fan voting to pick a proposed nickname. Foley said the nickname will not be picked by fans or determined by vote.
"We are not going to have a name-the-team contest because we need to have a name," Foley said. "We need to get this done, we need to get it behind us."
Asked what he was looking for in a nickname, Foley said it has to resonate.
"It should represent Las Vegas, represent the environment," Foley said. "It should be unique to Las Vegas, but it needs to be a name that people hear the name and say, 'These guys are tough. These guys are going to win. These guys are dedicated.' It needs to have that kind of momentum, that kind of philosophy behind the name. And that's why some names just don't make it for me."