I spent almost a year writing about a team that didn’t exist, which was frustrating at times, but it was for the most part, expected. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be following the naming of that very team five months after it became a reality. Yet here we are, still more than a month away from the tentative team name unveil date (it’s currently set for November 22nd), and in a way, there’s still no official end in sight.
So don’t get me wrong, I’m as frustrated and as impatient as anyone reading this website. However, I’m here today to try and take a stab at putting a positive spin on the delay. It all stemmed from a quote from a profile piece on The Creator from Worth Magazine.
During salary negotiations, Foley remembers McPhee saying, “‘Bill, you put what you think is reasonable in front of me, and I’ll sign it. I want to win the Stanley Cup.’ I said, ‘This is my man. This is my guy.’” -Noah Davis, Worth Magazine
It’s been a common theme, winning over money. From the first time we met The Creator way back in 2014 he said it. He said it on the podium moments after he was awarded the league’s 31st franchise, and he’s said it at every pass since. Never once has that piece of rhetoric wavered, and here it was again, this time discussing the type of person he decided to hire.
However, I’ve always viewed it through the lens of how it will affect decisions on hockey operations. How he won’t be afraid to spend the extra buck to sign the right free agent. How he’ll give the go ahead for the GM to hire that highly paid coach. And how no matter what, there will never be a moment in which the front office, the players, or the fans ever feel as though the owner’s bank account is standing in the way of success.
But what if the “winning is greater than money” mantra extends to every piece of this new franchise, not just on the ice. As frustrated as we all are about how long it’s taking to pick an adjective to precede the word Knights, imagine what the delay must feel like for the guy who will be getting a monetary cut of every single jersey, t-shirt, hat, and anything else that has a Something Knights logo on it.
Every day that goes by is another day he’s not making money selling gear for his new hot product. Think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars being left on the table, all so he can “do it right.”
The name, the logo, the colors, the jerseys, heck even how all this will finally be shared to the public, it all must be perfect. Anything short is simply unacceptable. Is that not exactly what you want to hear from your favorite sports franchise?
They are doing it with the team name for Christ’s sake. Imagine what it’ll be like during the Expansion Draft, the Entry Draft, Free Agency, and most importantly, when the Las Vegas Perfect Adjective Knights finally hit the ice.
Is it annoying being on the outside looking in wondering when it’s all going to end? Absolutely. But is it also possible we are looking at a highly publicized microcosm of the way this organization is being run in the future? You tell me.
How I got all that from the quote up above, I have no clue. But it’s something to think about, cause you and I know damn well, speculating on when this process is going to end might be the only thing worse than Campaign 2016. Might as well think about something else.
Stephen (@me_so_hungy)
Welcome to the NHL and how the league does it’s business. The fact that everything was on the hush for so long retarded the team and what it could do. Hiring people? Ok, you can’t do that without an official team. Getting a team name trademarked (fuck the domain registration since every team has a .nhl address), and having the meetings with Reebok regarding logos, etc should have happened in late spring/early summer. There should have been a logo unveiling at the Announcement at the least…how many times has a team been awarded in any sport without at least a logo? (I didn’t do the research, but always picture the announcement AND the logo present).
As this has gotten longer, I empathize with Foley. Over the time I have followed the NHL, it’s clear the home office is awful. This could and should have been done months ago. The team should have been flush with merchandise for the Frozen Fury, and the arena should have been decked out in (Adjective) Knights gear.
For not being a patient man, Foley is showing fantastic poise.
Todd Little
how many times has a team been awarded in any sport without at least a logo? (I didn’t do the research, but always picture the announcement AND the logo present).
– NHL expansion teams usually do not have a name when the franchise is awarded. So what you are picturing is not the norm.
The last two teams took their time with the name too. Minnesota took six months and Columbus took between 4 and 5 months.
Everybody keeps complaining about this and I totally understand we live in the social media age now, but the time frame is not unusual by any means.
Garry
I see your point Ken but truth be told if when he says name, logo and colors set when in reality they likely were not, why say it? Why not simply state we are working on it the best and quickest we can. If we remove his statements about things being selected already it makes us assume any day now or week or month we will see it. I think his mistake was saying too much and too much of what was not obviously true.
Ken Boehlke
Which comments are you referring to, because a couple times I’ve thought there have been some inconsistencies but the most recent time I went through it seemed to all time out. The logo has been the major holdup with the merchandise all being put on hold because of that. Add in the fact that Bettman couldn’t make the 18th and here we are staring at the 22nd (which I personally still think it’s ambitious)
Garry
Just the fact he seems to want to do it right.
Patrick
I’ve been bragging about my opportunity to select my new season tickets seats this week to friends and family, however, it’s deflating when they follow up by asking what’s the team name and I have no response. They have had many opportunities to release the team name in grand fashion (T-Mobile open house, practice facility ground breaking, Hockey Fest) and I’ve been axiously awaiting only to be disappointed myself. It takes such a long time to build a brand and it’s going to take a lot longer when we don’t even know that brand’s name.
Paul
Keep in mind that the Minnesota Wild didn’t announce their team name until almost 7 months after the franchise was awarded. That was on January 22, 1998. Granted, it was a different time in how revenue was generated and how merchandise was sold. Back then, what is the since-retired original secondary logo was unveiled with the name. Their current primary logo wasn’t unveiled until November 1999 with the home jersey coming first, over 2 years since the NHL announced it was expanding by 4 teams.
Granted, it took 3 years before the Wild started playing. Here, just over a year for the Las Vegas team. So I get the sense of urgency to capitalize on merchandise sales. Ideally, it would’ve been great to have the name, logo and jersey unveiled at Frozen Fury while I was there, but it is what it is. But, for my own genuine interest, I’m willing to wait for as long as Bill Foley gets it right the first time.
Jeff Thorn
I think you make a real valid point on this. I definitely agree with the premise of doing it correctly in lieu of rushing it out to make a quick buck. It does show a lot about the character of Mr. Foley.
Tom
He wants to *do it right” with an unpopular name? And by that I mean any of the 3 knight options. I would think getting it right might include giving the public what they want, after all they’re the ones that’ll buy or not buy your merchandise. And yeah, sure they’ll sell regardless, but I think getting it right should’ve included the original promise of getting us, the ticket holders, involved.
Tom
I guess what I’m saying is I know I’m not gonna like the name so I’m really in no hurry to hear it officially announced.
Chris
Here is the thing with the ‘perfect’ name. There is no such thing. No name will make everyone happy.
However, no one is going to bail on their deposit because they hate the name. It will grown on everyone, and if the team is as well run as promised, people will be lining up to throw money at Foley to buy their crapola.
When a women is pregnant, people are very vocal about the names she is considering. Once the baby is born, no one says a thing.
We just need to wait out the gestation period and move on.
006
There certainly are perfect names in the NHL…names that work symbolically insofar as place, sound right when spoken, and have a workable theme. And I’m not even talking just about original six teams. Bruins (brown bears) don’t roam anywhere near Boston and the Rangers name came from the original owner who’s youth was spent in Texas. I’m a Devils fan and we have the perfect name (the legend of the Jersey Devil)…voted on by none other than the residents of New Jersey. If I had to choose a few others that are unique in pro sports and also fit their location they would be: Blackhawks, Islanders, Capitals, Senators and yes, even Coyotes. Knights is way too generic (just like Kings, Panthers, Hurricanes, Stars, even Oilers) regardless of whatever modifier they choose. This was a unique chance to brand the team with a name emblematic of Las Vegas (not Vegas) and the ball was dropped. The people spoke, the people wanted Las Vegas Aces, and Gary Bettman and the NHL were too paranoid to let it happen.
Tom
Couldn’t agree more 006
Chris
There ARE perfect names…existing. I’m sure even with names as the Devils, there were those who had different ideas, just not as well know especially lacking a forum of discussion such as the internet to debate the merits of each. In hindsight, no other name works. I’m sure in the future, those who had no dog in the naming fight will only think of the Something Knights as what they are. I like Aces or Scorpions far better than the Something Knights for sure, but my point is in the end, it means very little. It’s not like we’ll benefit from merch sales. We’ll accept what they are and cheer for them. I care far more that we have a team than to worry overly about what it’s name is. Yes Knights sucks, or at the very least is boring. But it better than having only the ghosts of minor league teams past.
Tom
Good point. But I’m kinda surprised there isn’t some person or committee that says to Foley “you know this 2-worded Knights name sounds very semi-pto baseball-ish.” It blows my mind that there isn’t at least one person with pull to tell him that. Just Knights is boring, but at least it doesn’t have an unnecessary prefix on it to make it sound amateur. And I’m not buying the whole “we can’t call our team the Knights when they play in Canada.” Really? We have the New York Jets, but Winnipeg doesn’t have any restrictions on being called the Jets when they come play in America. I don’t know, just something to think about.
sparky chewbarky
I don’t buy the “London-Knights-won’t-let-us-do-it” excuse either, Tom.
Are we to believe that a junior team in Ontario, Canada, can stop ANY other hockey team in North America from using “Knights”?… even if it’s a team in a different country, in a different league, with a different logo, with different colours? (London uses green, gold and black)
James
@Tom
Did you read Foley’s latest comments? It sounds like he reads the comments on here. A certain poster on here mentioned the word “pop” various times.
“Once I see it, we’ll know,” he says. The first real opportunity happens Wednesday, when Foley meets with reps from adidas and the NHL. “We’re actually going to see the fabric and see the color schemes on fabric, as opposed to looking at them [online],” he says. “If I have to delay again, I’ll delay, but I want to make sure we do it right, that we have a color scheme that people can identify with that will pop, that they can really see, when you go to that arena, it’s a sea of a color that resonates throughout the whole arena.”
Foley senses the growing public frustration—or, at the very least, impatience—the longer his franchise remains the Las Vegas TBDs. He supposes the logo is 95% finished. The road jerseys are finalized too, but the proposed base color on the home set left something to be desired. “The first two times I saw it, it was recessive,” Foley says. “I didn’t think it was bright enough, popped enough.”
And so we wait, Foley perhaps more than anyone. “I want to share it, but I can’t get, and I want to make sure it’s right, or at least right in my mind,” he says. “May not be right. Two years from now, we may change the jerseys because we don’t feel they were right. But I want to do the best we possibly can with this name, and with this color scheme and the logo I can do. I’m really not frustrated…I’m just anxious to reach a conclusion.”
Ken Boehlke
He’s obsessed (in a good way) with this team. He reads every word on this site, including the comments. It won’t be like this forever, so we need to take advantage of it to have our opinions heard while we can.
Tom
@James,
Yes I read that article. It’s cool if he’s reading what we write, but I don’t think our opinions matter as much as we’d hope they do. If they did, we wouldn’t be stuck on this whole Knights thing. Whatever. I give up. I’m a Kings fan til I die anyways.
Ken Boehlke
It’s more than just a name. We’ve had opinions on colors, jerseys, mascots, a much more. While he may not take our thoughts to heart on the name, he may on the rest.