Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Yesterday the Owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, Anthony LeBlanc, announced that his team will officially change its name to the Arizona Coyotes at the start of next season. This announcement sparked a great debate around the NHL, and with Blue Jackets fans in particular.
Since the start of the franchise, there have been Jackets fans in Cincinnati and Cleveland that have complained about the team name. Understandably, they feel being the Columbus Blue Jackets excludes fans throughout the rest of the state. Because of this, there have been suggestions about changing the name to the Ohio Blue Jackets, so should the franchise consider changing the name?
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Some differences need to be considered before deciding if the Jackets should follow in the Yotes’ footsteps. First, the Jackets do actually play in Columbus. The Coyotes franchise started out in Phoenix, but has since moved to play on home ice in Glendale, Arizona. This had a lot to do with the name change, as team management felt the need to include Glendale in the team name. “Becoming the Arizona Coyotes makes sense for us since we play our games in Glendale and the city is such a great partner of ours,” said owner Anthony LeBlanc. Changing their team name was a way to include more fans, but also to show thanks to the city that hosts their games.
The Blue Jackets don’t have that problem. Since the Jackets are based from Columbus, the name seems to make sense. It doesn’t, however, include fans from the rest of the state. But would changing the name help grow the franchise throughout Ohio? Or would change alienate some fans? I know people in Columbus that I have talked to think changing the name would be “annoying” and “unnecessary”. But Jackets fans are very loyal to their team, so I doubt the annoyance of a name change would really drive away that many people. But is it really necessary? That will be up to President John Davidson and team management to decide in the future.
No serious talk has come from the franchise regarding changing the team’s name, but many fans from across Ohio have been calling for it for a while now. We’ll have to wait and see if the Coyotes franchise is on to something; they just might start a revolution throughout the league.