A Winnipeg Whiteout during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Ladies and gentlemen, your Winnipeg or Manitoba Whiteout!
It’s possible, and the reality is at the moment it’s the only thing the team could legally call themselves.
That’s what 6282980 Manitoba Limited Partnership (the legal name of the group who purchased the Atlanta Thrashers) registered as a trademark with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office on May 4, 2011 for one stated purpose only “Entertainment services in the field of professional ice hockey” – and as of today’s date it’s the only thing they’ve registered. Application number 1526249, go ahead, look it up.
Lets face it, it’s clear this group is not interested in returning to the name Winnipeg Jets, they made that obvious from the start – if it were to be called the Winnipeg Jets they would’ve said so right away. Manitoba Moose? It’s still possible but my source was wrong about 2 of the 3 things I was told in that conversation, so… I’m not liking the odds on the third one. The Whiteout, which would be different, does make sense from a historical perspective in the city – it was the tradition the fans of the Jets started during the playoff runs the club had in the 1990’s, there’s a tie-in with ice and winter (and boy does Winnipeg ever get winter), you could make a hockey player-blizzard-whiteout conditions connection in there too without much effort.
I’ll admit, yes, it’s likely that they purchased the term to legally own the name of this Winnipeg tradition in anticipation of owning a NHL team there but still… it’s not much of a stretch. The team already has 13,000 fans locked in for at least 3 seasons; people can’t turn away at this point if they don’t like the name, plus why name the team Jets or Moose? Fans already have merchandise, that’s money the owners lose by sticking with an established identity in jersey and various other sales.
A Winnipeg Whiteout, for those who are unaware, is when the fans of the Winnipeg Jets dressed in white during home playoff games – it certainly took off across the North American professional sports world after they started it. The tradition stuck with the Jets franchise in Phoenix where fans there still don white during their home playoff games.
I’d be interested to hear what the fans out there think about this name – Manitoba Whiteout? Winnipeg Whiteout? Add your comments below, honestly the more I hear it the better it sounds… just good luck to whoever has to make the logo for it.
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could be trademark for playoff home games
Re: b, Yes it could be – but right now it’s the only thing they’ve trademarked… seems strange they’d take care of playoff marketing before team name marketing
what would a home jersey for a nickname like whiteout
That’d be the interesting part…
maybe so the whiteout doesnt get confused with phoenix
Anything other than the Jets is wrong, but at this point, I’m just glad we have a team back and that I have 2 season’s tickets.
“seems strange they’d take care of playoff marketing before team name marketing”
Eh. I see how it could make sense. Whiteout is a Winnipeg NHL tradition that they’d be smart to preserve regardless of the team name. And considering how tightly wrapped they’ve kept the team name, I’d be surprised if they let it leak out through a trademark website.
Re: Jesse… They filed the trademark using their legal name, which wasn’t exactly easy to find 🙂
Theyre trademarking the Whiteout home playoff games. Companies trademark random things all the time, like the sound of a Harley Davidson motorcycle is trademarked/copyright.
I think Winnipeg Whiteout is a GREAT name. They can design the jerseys all white with a Cool Gray 2 or 3 (PMS colors) “W” stretched across the jersey. Or, it could have an upside down “W” and a right side-up “W” with a hockey puck in the middle or even with hockey sticks representing the “W”
“Jets” would be nice; however, like the article said, people already have the merchandise. Plus, it was be liking living in the past for that this will be a new, reborn hockey team. And please, do NOT name it after an animal. It’s very lame and “minor league.”
Say hello to your WINNIPEG WHITEOUT or “WHITEOAT” in Canadian.
does that mean that their team colors and jerseys are white and white? haha, jk
I’m not canadian, I’m not also familiar to the whiteout thing as much as canadians, I really wonder what the logo could be for them, maybe it’d be like OKC Thunder’s
Your merchandise argument is flawed. Just look at teams like the Cowboys and Yankees, they have no trouble selling merch. Just come out with a new logo ala Canucks and problem solved.
Re: Eric… So the Cowboys and Yankees are on the same level marketing-wise as the Jets?
It could also mean they plan on using a name that is already trademarked (Moose, Jets), and therefore don’t have to re-file.
Just a guess. I know nothing about this sort of thing.
@ Chris Creamer
Aren’t the Canucks? The Bombers have been the Bombers for years and they don’t have trouble selling merch either.
@Eric You’re right about all those examples, however in how many of those instances do those teams have the opportunity, the rare chance, to completely re-brand, name, logo, colours, everything – rendering all previous merchandise (not just the ones with logos on them) 100% out-of-date?
I was just saying, the argument that we shouldn’t call them The Jets based on merchandise is terrible.
Would both of the Winnipeg Whiteout’s jerseys be white or would one be off-white? Or maybe cream?
It could be the playoffs thing, it could be media teasing like they did during free agency in the NBA last season.
Chris,
Any owner could rebrand their team at any time, they don’t b/c it’s not worth it.
The Jets brand is already very strong. Which is why you saw hundreds of people wearing Jets gear shouting “GoJetsGo” at Portage and Main.
People in this city didn’t just want the NHL back, they wanted their Jets back.
Also, the Jets branding would already hold clout in other markets, such as the South-East division we will be playing in next year.
People clearly want the NHL back regardless of Jets or not… 13000 season tickets sold without the Jets name disagree with you. Jets branding means absolutely nothing in Southeast division markets; can you honestly tell me more people will go to a game in Carolina or Florida because they’re facing the Jets rather than the Whiteout, Falcons, or whatever they call ’em?
Regardless, I’d be all for them being called the Jets if this was Phoenix returning to the city… anyone else needs a new name.
Whiteout? Isn’t that the stuff you use on paper when you make an error?
Is the name registered with the US trademark office also?
While it is interesting that this is the only thing they’ve registered so far, it should also be remembered that the Jets name is owned by the NHL, eliminating the need for True North to register the name. The NHL would simply have to transfer the rights to True North, which could be done after any announcement so nobody figures it out ahead of time.
With the NHL having Away teams wear white now the White Out tradition doesn’t make any sense anymore. Besides what kind of a symbol can you come up with for white out other than a W?
I don’t think True North is worried about the Southeast Division crowds and markets when the Jets are in town. They oughta be looking at how well West teams will receive them. They’ll be in the West a lot longer than the Southeast in years to come. Branding of the team shouldnt be concerned with the short term
The name “Whiteout” is minor league…
Canadiens, Leafs, Senators, Oilers, Flames, Whiteout(???)
Lame…
Ian makes a great point. Even a new Jets logo could be registered after announcement of Jets name, in theory.
Are they gonna b**** about Penn State whiteouts too? Hope not, because a Penn State whiteout would look a heck of a lot better than anything they could do.
It’s amazing how quickly people are jumping the gun even considering for a second that the new NHL team in Winnipeg will be called Whiteout based on the filing of a copyright. I’d bet the family farm on it not being called Whiteout.
Whiteout is a term for a blizzard.
It’s the only one that True North has trademarked because the ‘Jets’ name is already trademarked by the NHL. The NHL owns the team. Gary Bettman has made it abundantly clear that True North is welcome to transfer that ownership over for them to use and name our beloved team the ‘Jets.’ To sum this up, all of your rampant speculation is *AT BEST* reckless conjecture and a ‘gut feeling hunch.’ True North obviously are considering other names, and this one ranks amongst the more liked of the options. I’m okay with that, but there’s been resounding opposition to a non-Jets named team. There will be backlash if it’s not Jets. It’s like teasing a caged animal with a piece of steak. As silly as it sounds, the whole success of this team after 3-5 years may – in fact – ride on whether or not they do the right thing. …And that is, to name the team OUR Winnipeg Jets. Thank you.
Does anyone really remember 1997? Once we heard the Jets were going to Pheonix, people were worried that they would take the name with them. But some started saying that’s not possible, Winnipeg owns the rights to the name. But that’s not true either and the NHL said as much then as they said just recently. The name Winnipeg Jets is trade marked by the NHL just like all the other teams. Registering as a business in any province as a number has nothing to do with what you call your business. Only on official documents is that needed, such as contracts and tax forms.
Bottom line is the name Jets is still possible and TNSE has even stated such to the press. They haven’t ruled it out
It is possible that they want to create a logo for the winnipeg white-out
WHITEPOWER! Don’t think this one will fly.
If the team really is named the Whitout that’d be pretty funny, considering the former Thrashers have by far the largest number of black players in the league.
This whole article is just stupid. It made angry just reading it. Of Course, it will be the jets. But still Ridiculous
no, they are just registering if for t-shirts for the playoffs.
If it is the Winnipeg Whiteout I picked a damn good domain name to buy 😉
That would be a brutal name. I could see it being a WHL or AHL team name with some way too cartoony logo. But that would not be a good decision for a NHL franchise. It’s as bad as when the Ducks were called the Mighty Ducks. I’d be surprised if they actually went with that for the team name instead of just for some marketing purposes.
Well if this was to come to fruition I guess we might be the first to hear about it… Guess I bought a great domain name if this is true 😉
http://www.puckdrawn.com/puckdrawn/2011/06/winnipeg-concepts.html
Interesting… 😉
That’s the name I suggested to Bob Irving on April 15, 2011. I jokingly suggested ‘Snow Dogs’, a play on ‘Desert dogs’ because at the time we were pining for the ‘Yotes’. But I did suggest Winnipeg Whiteout.
That is the weakest name floated to date. In my opinion it has to be the Jets or nothing. I won’t buy anything with the name whiteout or moose on it. I hope they don’t throw away the Jets history, nostalgia and character. Jets Jets Jets.
Some Winnipeg fans proving that beggars can indeed be choosers… you’ve got an NHL team back, are you really going to be shallow enough to not support it because of a name?
i dont believe that “whiteout” is the name of the team, because it would mean that they’re not going to be having “whiteouts” in the playoffs. the whiteouts’ whiteout? whiteout for the whiteout? kind of stupid.
Something everyone here (at least from what I saw) is missing is that the NHL owns the rights to the name “Jets”, and the ownership group would have to purchase that as well from the league. Just another money grab by the NHL.
@noaht nailed it.
The name won’t be Whiteout haha. To reiterate his post, imagine play-by-play describing a Winnipeg Whiteout whiteout?
@Jetsfan204 – “The name Winnipeg Jets is trade marked by the NHL just like all the other teams.” Not true. The NHL currently owns the Winnipeg Jets trademark, but they don’t currently have the trademark to any of the current NHL teams. The only team trademarks they have are former teams like the North Stars, Nordiques and Jets. The closest trademark they have to a current NHL team is “Stars”, but it seems unrelated to the Dallas Stars.
The NHL has allready said they would be happy to give the name for free! No money grab here Mike
Winnipeg Encore (back again) (French spelling). The logo being the outline of the province of Manitoba with a capital “W” and a lower case “e” – with an echo shadow — spelling out “We” as in all Manitobans
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Whiteout ?? isnt that kind of like Liquid Paper ??
Are people from Winnipeg seriously complaining about a name?! You’ve lost a team and now you’re getting one back! Look, I have the chance of losing the Islanders here in NY and if that would ever happen I’d be devistated but if the NHL decided that they’d replace the franchise I’d be super happy and appreciative. How is that not going on here?!
I love how people are saying Whiteout is a “minor league” name! And the comparison to the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, etc. A Maple Leaf is a leaf from a tree! Think about it. Are we really being this petty???
Since the NHL switched to the home teams wearing their dark uniforms, the whole whiteout concept seems a little bit strange. The fans come to the arena dressed like the visiting team. As great a visual as it provides, it seems more like something you should do when your team is wearing white, not the other team.
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