The National Hockey League’s incoming Seattle franchise revealed in June that their American Hockey League affiliate would play in Palm Springs, CA, and today we have the first hints of a name for that team: The Palm Springs Firebirds.

As I reported at DetroitHockey.Net this morning, lawyers working on behalf of Oak View Group – the owners of the NHL’s Seattle franchise and the prospective owners of the AHL’s 32nd team – filed for a trademark on the name “Palm Springs Firebirds.”

The firm who completed the filing is the same as the one who helped OVG acquire a slate of domain names that could be related to the Seattle franchise’s nickname in 2018.

Should the new Palm Springs team take on the Firebirds name, they would be the second high-level hockey team to do so in the past four years, alongside the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds.

Seattle Firebirds was also one of the thirteen names reflected in the list of domain name registrations.

It should be noted that Oak View Group has yet to formally acquire an AHL franchise. As such, while this filing may signal their direction in a naming a future team, there are many steps for them to take before doing so.