Naming The Teams

Early Days

At the beginning of the MAHL, most teams had either a fairly generic nickname like Reds or Hornets, something related to the town like Saints or Miners, or had no nickname at all. Eventually every team in the league had a nickname. One of my favorite stories about how a team got its nickname comes from Ely. The Ely Hockey Club was heading on the road to Eveleth for the quarter finals when the team bus had to stop for a black bear crossing the road. Ely would win and advance, eventually making it to the Kellogg Cup Final where they once again came across a black bear on the edge of town while on the bus down to Minneapolis. Ely would go on to win the Kellogg Cup and credit the black bears for giving them good luck. From that point forward the team announced that they would be known as the Ely Black Bears.

Ely Black Bears logos

Town Connection

There is a wide variety of nicknames across the #MAHL, from predaceous animals, to warrior peoples, to whatever a Sap Tapper is. Most of the nicknames in the MAHL have some relation to the town they play in. Many teams pick the name of a local animal such as Moose, Bears, Pheasants, or Bucks. Others play off the town's history such as the Stillwater Volunteers who are named after the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry who fought in the Civil War, or the Chisholm Flames who are named after the Chisholm Fire of 1908. Perhaps the best known “unique” nickname in the MAHL comes from the Edina Cake Eaters. Edina is one of the most successful teams in the history of the league and they boast one of the most unique names in sports. For years, people from Edina have been referred to by others in the state as “Cake Eaters”, a reference to Mary Antoinette and her famous “let them eat cake” quote due to Edina’s reputation as a well off community. Rather than let this be an insult, the team got ahead of it and embraced the backhand remark as their own, proudly boasting that they are indeed Cake Eaters.

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