Hockey team name ideas

Updated October 17, 2026

A good team name is easy to chant, looks good on a jersey and isn't anyone else's. Below are 150 original names in eight groups, from kids' teams to adult rec leagues. We checked every one against the NHL, the AHL, the PWHL and the three leagues of the CHL (OHL, WHL and QMJHL), and none is a current team name there. After the lists: how to pick one, choose colors, sketch a simple logo and run a fair team vote.

What makes a good team name

1. It's easy to chant. Say it out loud: "Let's go, Narwhals!" If you need a breath in the middle, it won't work from the bench. Short names are easier to yell.
2. It works on a jersey. Picture it in big letters across the chest. Long names get squeezed or shrunk, so one or two words is safest, or a short name plus a crest.
3. It turns into a logo. The best names are things you can draw: an animal, an object, a shape. Snowplows is a logo. Learning Curve needs a clever designer.
4. It isn't taken. Don't copy a pro team. Pro team names and logos are trademarks, and a copy never feels like yours anyway. Check your own league and tournament too, so you aren't the second Snowy Owls in the bracket.
5. It has no second meaning. Say it to a parent, a coach and a referee. Picture the announcer reading it out. Look it up online, and check what the initials spell.
6. It fits your team. Your town, your rink, your colors, or a story everyone on the team is proud of. A name with a story lasts.

For youth teams, ask your association first. Some clubs use one name for every team, and some name house league teams by color or sponsor.

150 team name ideas

Add "The" in front if it sounds better, or put your town's name first to make it yours: the Lakeview Narwhals.

Animal names

The classic choice, because animals are easy to draw. Pick one that's tough, fast or just fun.

1. Arctic Foxes
2. Snowy Owls
3. Snow Leopards
4. Mountain Goats
5. Muskoxen
6. Narwhals
7. Walruses
8. Belugas
9. Peregrines
10. Blue Herons
11. Caribou
12. Malamutes
13. Snowshoe Hares
14. Porcupines
15. Gray Jays
16. Puffins
17. Snapping Turtles
18. Komodo Dragons
19. Swordfish
20. Ice Yaks

Weather and nature names

Good for cold towns, outdoor rinks and arenas named after a lake or a forest.

21. Northern Lights
22. Polar Vortex
23. Whiteout
24. Snowdrifts
25. Icebergs
26. Glaciers
27. Flurries
28. Icicles
29. Cold Front
30. Wind Chill
31. Gale Force
32. Nor'easters
33. Whirlwinds
34. Squalls
35. Black Ice
36. Timberline
37. Evergreens
38. Tamaracks
39. Boulders
40. Sequoias

Hockey puns

Built from hockey words. The hockey glossary has plenty more if you want to make your own.

41. Icing on the Cake
42. Flying Saucers
43. The Puck Stops Here
44. Skate Expectations
45. Stick Figures
46. Net Results
47. Glass Act
48. Wheel Deal
49. Celly Phones
50. Apple Pickers
51. Tape to Tape
52. Toe Draggers
53. Deke Squad
54. Puck Luck
55. Stick Tap Crew
56. Give and Go
57. Biscuit Bakers
58. Backcheckers
59. Blue Liners
60. Rebounders

Alliteration

Two words with the same first letter. Easy to remember and fun to say.

61. Hat Trick Heroes
62. Polar Patrol
63. Quick Quokkas
64. Turbo Toucans
65. Lucky Llamas
66. Frozen Flamingos
67. Woolly Wombats
68. Mighty Meerkats
69. Ice Iguanas
70. Cool Cucumbers
71. Emerald Eels
72. Racing Reindeer
73. Silver Streaks
74. Northern Navigators
75. Speedy Sparrows
76. Golden Geese
77. Hustling Hedgehogs
78. Fearless Fireflies
79. Dangle Dynasty
80. Shutout Society

Kids' team names

Friendly, funny and easy for a six-year-old to shout.

81. Puck Pups
82. Snowball Squad
83. Hot Cocoa Crew
84. Marshmallows
85. Snow Cones
86. Super Sliders
87. Pucksters
88. Glow Worms
89. Ice Pandas
90. Mighty Mites
91. Little Dippers
92. Bumblebees
93. Ladybugs
94. Dragonflies
95. Snowplows
96. Zoomers
97. Waddlers
98. Sprinkles
99. Mitten Kittens
100. Kooky Koalas

Adult rec league names (clean and funny)

Names that laugh at yourselves, not at anyone else.

101. Bench Warmers
102. Cold Feet
103. Nap Time
104. Midnight Snacks
105. Early Birds
106. Night Shift
107. Second Wind
108. Sweaty Sweaters
109. Frozen Dinners
110. Lost Mittens
111. Slap Happy
112. Heated Seats
113. Carpool Lane
114. Spare Parts
115. Late Bloomers
116. Learning Curve
117. Snooze Button
118. Coffee Grinders
119. Ice Packs
120. Rusty Edges

Girls' and women's team names

Strong names, not cutesy ones. Any name on this page works for a girls' or women's team too.

121. Steel Sisters
122. Breakaways
123. Athenas
124. Velocity
125. Glacier Girls
126. Unstoppables
127. Starlings
128. Firebrands
129. Sparkplugs
130. Tempests
131. Diamond Edge
132. Queens of the Crease
133. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pucks
134. Shieldmaidens
135. Silver Linings

Tournament and 3-on-3 team names

For a weekend-only team, a three-player team or a hotel lobby legend in the making. For the rest of the weekend, see what to do at a hockey tournament.

136. Triple Threat
137. Triple Overtime
138. Bermuda Triangles
139. Tricycles
140. Trio Grande
141. Three Peas
142. Road Trippers
143. Hotel Lobby Legends
144. Bracket Busters
145. Continental Breakfast Club
146. Late Checkout
147. Room Service
148. Wake-Up Call
149. Tiebreakers
150. Final Buzzer

How to check a name isn't taken

1. Search the name with the word "hockey" and see what comes up.
2. Check the big leagues: the NHL, the AHL, the ECHL, the PWHL and the major junior leagues. The PWHL's four new teams, in Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose, are announcing their nicknames before the 2026-27 season, so check again before you order jerseys.
3. Check every team in your own league and in any tournament you're entering.
4. Make the logo your own. Don't trace or tweak a pro logo.

How to pick colors

• Two main colors and one trim color. More than that starts to look busy.
• Contrast. Numbers and names have to be readable from the far end of the rink: dark on light, or light on dark. Yellow letters on white disappear.
• Light and dark sets. If your league wants a light and a dark jersey, make sure your colors work both ways.
• Don't match a rival. Look at the other teams in your league, so the referee isn't squinting at two navy teams.
• Plan around the gear players already own. If most of the team has black pants and helmets, pick colors that look good with black.
• Ask your supplier first. Find out which colors they carry for jerseys and socks before the team falls in love with a shade nobody makes.

A simple logo idea

1. Pick one thing from the name: the narwhal, the snowplow, the apple.
2. Draw it as a simple shape, something you could cut out of paper. If it takes more than a few seconds to sketch, simplify it.
3. Use your two or three team colors, with a thick dark outline.
4. Add the name in plain block letters, or just the initials in a circle.
5. Shrink it to the size of a helmet sticker and print it in black and white. If you can still tell what it is, it works.
6. Ask around. A teammate who loves drawing, or a parent who designs things, may jump at the job.

A few to get you started: the Apple Pickers could be a red apple with a stick through it. Icing on the Cake could be a cupcake with a hockey stick for a candle. The Snowplows could be a plow blade pushing a puck.

How to vote as a team

1. Set the rules first. On a youth team, the players vote and the coach runs it. Each player can suggest up to three names.
2. Collect ideas for a few days. Use a box at practice, a sheet in the dressing room or a thread in the team chat.
3. Screen the list. The coach or manager takes out anything rude, mean, taken or with a second meaning, and says why, kindly.
4. Make a shortlist of four to six names.
5. Vote by secret ballot, so nobody feels pushed. For a fairer result, rank your top three: three points for a first choice, two for second, one for third. Most points wins.
6. Break a tie with a quick runoff between the top two.
7. Make it official. Announce it, do the first chant and tell the league.

For young kids, keep it simple: the coach picks three, and the kids vote with their eyes closed and hands up. For an adult rec team, it's one player, one vote, and the captain breaks ties. Once you have a name, give it a team celly to match: here are some goal celebration ideas.

More inspiration

Still stuck? The free hockey team name generator takes your town and a theme, like animals, weather, jobs or food, and gives you eight names to argue about.

Want to see how a whole league of names, colors and logos fits together? Brudvig Hockey 2027 is a free 3-on-3 arcade hockey game you play in a web browser, and its 32 original teams, with their logos and jerseys, are all on one page. Borrow the ideas, not the names.