The Houston Hot Ice

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I know people like to come up with silly team names and now with AI it's easy to make logos/uniforms, but choosing a real name and developing a logo isn't an easy task.

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Seattle had the chance, before they settled for the Kraken.

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Houston Cat-5's
Houston Swamp Donkeys (Play on swamp a$$)
Woodlands Upside-Down Pineapples (IYKYK)
Houston Ferris Wheel Finger Blasters (pew pew pew)

With a nod to the "City Under Siege Thread" - how about the Houston Bayou Floaters?

ChatGPT gave me some interesting choices:

1) Aeros -- " Aeros would be the obvious favorite. The name has unusually strong equity in Houston: the original WHA Aeros won two championships and became iconic through Gordie Howe, while the later AHL Aeros also won a Calder Cup." (ChatGPT is forgetting the IHL Aeros won a Turner Cup in 1999).

2) Voyagers -- I like this one. It also has a Houston connection: "The Houston Apollos franchise that we discussed earlier eventually became the Montreal Voyageurs and then the Nova Scotia Voyageurs."

3) Aviators -- Not bad. But currently in use by both minor league baseball and hockey teams.

4) Apollos -- Another heritage choice but the branding could be cool.

I'm not a fan of non-plural nicknames like "Kraken" as they strike me as minor league but ChatGPT suggested Orbit which isn't great but could work.

If I had a vote, I would go:

1) Aeros
2) Apollos
3) Voyagers

ETA: I just remembered that Orbit is the Astros' mascot so that's a no-go.

EclipseAg said:

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2) Voyagers -- I like this one. It also has a Houston connection: "The Houston Apollos franchise that we discussed earlier eventually became the Montreal Voyageurs and then the Nova Scotia Voyageurs."

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I'm always fascinated by public discourse around sports expansions. It's especially bad in NHL circles, as we're seeing these days.

So many people say "Put a team here" or "Put a team there." As if leagues just "put" teams in random cities.

Are that many people ignorant of what it takes to create a professional sports franchise in today's world? You need at a minimum:

• A billionaire owner (or a consortium of mega millionaires) who is/are very interested in spending money
• The ability to purchase a large tract of land in a desirable area
• The willingness to invest (or ability to secure public monies) to build a facility that the team controls
• The willingness to lose many millions for years while waiting for the value of the initial investment to increase

But sure. Gary Bettman is just gonna "put" a franchise in Saskatchewan.

I watched a lot of NHL on TV last season, especially after the Olympics and learned a lot about watching it on TV. I enjoy the heck out of that, too.

JYDog90 said:

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GEA89 said:

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Just call them the Aeros, modify the Gordie Howe era uniform and add in a new version of the bomber plane logo in the old colors. Done deal, seems easy and will be extremely popular.

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I love the Aeros as a mascot, but I don't like the bomber aspect to it, I'd rather go in an aerospace direction.

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how about Bun B surfing on a rocket while ripping a glass of purple drank?

Is this gonna be announced soon? I saw some rumors online a while back that it was imminent but haven't heard anything since.

Less Evil Hank Scorpio said:

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Is this gonna be announced soon? I saw some rumors online a while back that it was imminent but haven't heard anything since.

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This was publshed yesterday. So a non-update update

https://www.si.com/nhl/avalanche/onsi/news/avalanche-future-rival-houston-nhl-team-draws-nearer

Hardcore Greg said:

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scd88 said:

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Hockey in person is better than football in person.

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Football in person is becoming somewhat grueling. I just don't remember the amount of stoppages and down time inyears past. But maybe I am just more busy or less patient nowadays. The TV timeouts kil me.

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Football in person is pretty bad. Probably last of hockey, baseball and football of what I'd want to attend. The TV product is just so much better

CFTXAG10 said:

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ThunderCougarFalconBird said:

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JYDog90 said:

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GEA89 said:

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Just call them the Aeros, modify the Gordie Howe era uniform and add in a new version of the bomber plane logo in the old colors. Done deal, seems easy and will be extremely popular.

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I love the Aeros as a mascot, but I don't like the bomber aspect to it, I'd rather go in an aerospace direction.

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how about Bun B surfing on a rocket while ripping a glass of purple drank?

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TALMBOUT.

The Milkman said:

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Hardcore Greg said:

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scd88 said:

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Hockey in person is better than football in person.

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Football in person is becoming somewhat grueling. I just don't remember the amount of stoppages and down time inyears past. But maybe I am just more busy or less patient nowadays. The TV timeouts kil me.

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Football in person is pretty bad. Probably last of hockey, baseball and football of what I'd want to attend. The TV product is just so much better

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Yep...also, starting on delay so I can fast fwd through all of the junk has spoiled me, and made in-person that much worse. It's probably not much worse than it was a decade plus ago, just feels bad since everything else is so convenient and instantaneous in our lives. That said, going to Baton Rouge for the game this weekend and going to have a fun time win or lose (most likely scenario obviously).

Great job...I could get behind that mascot and uniform easily.

GEA89 said:

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scd88 said:

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Hockey in person is better than football in person.

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I agree, I traveled to Las Vegas for work spending two nights every month on the strip and I would buy a ticket last minute and walk to T Mobile and watch the Golden Knights every chance I got. Going to a live NHL game is top tier entertainment

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...and going to a Golden Knights game is on a whole different level than going to any other NHL home game. It's kind of like going to a Vegas show with a hockey game going on. If you have a chance to go to a game in Vegas, I highly recommend it!

gougler08 said:

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jetch17 said:

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After catching some preseason action in Pittsburgh tonight, I'm ready for some hockey back in Houston - fun as sh*t

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Hockey in person is just a badass experience

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Yes. I used to get glass side Aeros tickets for $60 flat with a quick call to the office.