Stockton Scorch? It could happen, as new Stockton AHL franchise unveils five finalist names

Starting next season, the Calgary Flames‘ AHL affiliate will be playing out of Stockton, California. With their ECHL affiliate moving to Adirondack – and promptly being renamed the Adirondack Thunder – the Stockton team will need a new name. And after thousands of submissions, suggestions for the team’s new moniker have been reduced to five finalists. They are:

Shocker that they're all fire-related, eh?

A couple of interesting suggestions here. "Inferno" is already the moniker given to Calgary's CWHL team, which is partnered with the Flames. To give the primary farm team the same name would not only be redundant, but also confusing. Then there's the Heat, which is different from the Abbotsford Heat, in that the team will play out of a town that will presumably support them.

Then there's the name we all know should be the winner, both for alliterative purposes and… well…

Jokes aside, Stockton Scorch would be an awesome name. We avoid the repetition and confusion the Heat and Inferno would bring, and calling a team just "Fire" is incredibly boring. Blaze is okay I guess, but seriously, alliteration.

Besides, just think of what you could do with a fire-themed team with strong cause to utilize the letter "S". You could have an S, and then a more different S.

… Can Trogdor be the Stockton Scorch's mascot? This gets even more perfect the more I think about it.

It's ultimately the Flames who get to decide the name. You know what to do, Flames. You know exactly what to do.

by Ari Yanover