If a series of trademark filings made earlier this week are to be believed, the American Hockey League expansion team previously referred to as Palm Springs could instead be using “Coachella Valley” as their place name.
Trademarks for the names Coachella Valley Firebirds, Coachella Valley Dragons, Coachella Valley Eagles, and Coachella Valley Falcons were all applied for on August 31, by the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. That firm had previously worked on trademarks for Oak View Group, owners of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the incoming AHL franchise that will be Seattle’s affiliate.
All four nicknames were previously attached to trademark filings with “Palm Springs” as the place name.
The trademark application for Palm Springs Firebirds had initially been rejected by the US Patent & Trademark Office, citing the “Firebirds” name being in use by the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds. That issue was later resolved. Given that the OVG organization took steps to make sure that “Firebirds” would be available to them, it looked a lot like the team was likely to be the Palm Springs Firebirds.
With the new filings, it would appear that Coachella Valley Firebirds is now the front-runner.
It should be noted that, despite not being rejected by the USPTO, neither Palm Springs Eagles nor Coachella Valley Eagles is an option for the incoming expansion team, as the Colorado Eagles are already in the AHL.
The change of place name is likely related to arena issues for the new team. Originally, the team was slated to play in a new arena in Palm Springs, with OVG partnering with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians on the arena. That partnership later broke down and OVG moved on to a different arena property near Palm Desert.
