Operators of the MJHLs expansion franchise in Niverville have christened their team the Nighthawks.
Fridays announcement came two months after the not-for-profit group running the team started a contest in local schools and online to gather recommendations for a nickname.
Twelve names made a short list the teams board of directors considered for the name and the public response was enthusiastic.
Anybody can just sit around the room and choose whatever you want but you know, getting the community involved was a big deal for us, said board spokesperson Clarence Braun.
And the fact that we had a lot of investment from the community was really, really appreciated. Its good to know that people feel like they were part of the process.
The choice of Nighthawks beat out strong contention from the Clippers, Northstars, Threshers and Nitro.
It definitely has a great flow, a great ring to it, said board member Ray Dowse Friday.
For myself, with a bit of a marketing background, I see the marketability of it with some of the stuff that we can do with the name. I think its going to be really fun and also very engaging as well from general public standpoint.
The leagues 13th team begins play in the newly constructed Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre this fall.
Niverville was granted a franchise in June after agreeing to pay a $150,000 expansion fee.
In September, the organization secured a three-year lease to use the 1,100-seat facility.
Earlier this month, the club hired former Winkler Flyers head coach Kelvin Cech as its first general manager and head coach.
Mike McAulay was subsequently hired as assistant GM and director of scouting and the management team was permitted to begin assembling a 50-player protected list on Jan. 11.
Next on the agenda is finalizing team colours and logo design, something Dowse said should be completed within the next two months.
There was a lot of great commentary and feedback from the public, said Dowse. Some really passionate people out there during this whole process. We had people send in their own logos for the name they were passionate about and their own color schemes.
mike.sawatzky@winnipegfreepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sawa14
