As it turns out, the future Palm Springs minor league hockey team might not have settled on “Palm Springs Firebirds” for its name when the team takes the ice in 2021 in the planned downtown arena.
DetroitHockey.Net, the website that initially broke the Firebirds news, now reports that Oak View Group has filed applications for Eagles and Hawks – because, I suppose, if there’s one thing Greater Palm Springs is known for, it’s all those Eagles and Hawks flying around! In addition, web domains related to Palm Springs Eagles and Palm Springs Hawks were registered on Saturday – though it’s not quite clear if those were registered by Oak View Group.
And while the new names are a possibility, there are some reasons to be skeptical, including the fact that there already is an Eagles team in the league (the Colorado Eagles) and also this:
With these points in mind, it’s possible that the Eagles and Hawks trademark applications are intended to be misdirection. If, for example, Firebirds had already been chosen as the team name, adding Eagles and Hawks to the rumor mill would allow for a bird-themed logo to be developed without confirming which name had been chosen.
It’s also worth noting that the Eagles and Hawks trademark applications and domain registrations happened after our initial report on the Firebirds trademark, which could be a coincidence or could be cause for further skepticism regarding these new options.
So perhaps it’s all a misdirection to throw people off the Firebirds scent? Or maybe Firebirds is also a misdirection and owners are considering a better, more appropriate name for the desert, and in 2021 we will all be rooting for the Palm Springs Fightin’ Snowbirds!
