If and when an NHL team officially arrives in Seattle, odds are that its name will be either the Emeralds or the Totems.
That's according to this week's Bovada odds, which list "Emeralds" as the 9/2 favorite to become the next expansion team's nickname. "Totems" comes in second with 6/1 odds, while "Rainiers," which also serves as the name for the Seattle Mariners' AAA Pacific Coast League affiliate, is the third most-likely nickname for a new NHL team with 13/2 odds.
The full list of nickname possibilities and their likelihood of joining the NHL, per Bovada, is as follows:
Emeralds: 9/2
Totems: 6/1
Rainiers: 13/2
Evergreens: 8/1
Kraken: 8/1
Renegades: 8/1
Sea Lions: 8/1
Firebirds: 19/2
Cougars: 10/1
Eagles: 10/1
Seals: 11/1
Whales: 11/1
Sockeyes: 15/1
A couple of immediate thoughts: Seattle is bent on bringing hockey to Washington, and the NHL has endorsed those intentions so long as they coincide with planned arena renovations, but there's no way they're going to be trotting guys onto the ice as the "Whales." Seriously, isn't that the equivalent of a forfeit? The "Eagles" can't happen now that the NFL's rendition has completely overshadowed them in the Super Bowl spotlight, either.
But "Kraken" isn't totally lame, even if it evokes memories of the demise of "Pirates of the Caribbean," and a few of the others even cracked our own list of top 15 nickname possibilities.
