The name of the game - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

For sports teams of all sorts, coming up with a suitable name can take an interesting path. It must be a name that inspires the players and also helps fans to identify the team. 

 

There are many reasons for the naming of sports teams. Some bring to mind animals, such as the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Raptors and the Seattle Kraken, so named for a mythical sea creature. 

 

Colours seem to be a recent entry into the name game. So many local children’s and youths’ teams are identified by colour. There seems to be an additive quality here as some teams have two colours in their names. Along with team names changing, so too are the age categories which formerly had such titles as Bantam, Midget, PeeWee and Squirts. They are now called by the respective age groups such as Under 14, Under 16 or Under 8. This change for hockey teams was mandated by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association about three years ago. Soccer has had these categories for several years.

 

Weather has its turn in the name game with Lightning, Hurricanes, Avalanche and Thunder earning a spot in the limelight. Others relate to the economics of the area as in the Wingham Ironmen, a name in deference to the foundry where many people earned their living. Likewise the name of the Green Bay Packers, which is so named because of the many slaughterhouses in the vicinity and the Houston Rockets with its association with the United States aerospace program. 

 

Sometimes, it is a change of ownership or location of a team that brings about a name change.

 

In recent history, some professional teams have changed their names and for varying reasons. Some names are seen as offensive, outdated, racist or culturally insensitive. Take for example the Washington Bullets of the National Basketball League. Due to the unfortunate statistics of a high rate of gun violence in their city, the team rebranded themselves in 1997 as the Washington Wizards.

 

At one time, a team’s name could have been chosen with the idea that it paid honour to an individual or group of people. Times change and so do modern perceptions. Most recently, the Cleveland Major League Baseball team changed its name from the Indians to the Guardians. The new name became official on Nov. 19, 2021, although, their first game as the Guardians took place on opening day 2022. The term “Guardians” refers to two very large statues located near a bridge in Cleveland called the “Guardians of Traffic”.

 

Included in the reasons for naming is to pay respect to a certain person. The Chicago Blackhawks team name is not derived from a tribe or clan, but rather for a revered Indigenous leader of the Sauk people. However, this name too does bring some criticism.
Locally, one man stands out as having a team named in his honour. We only have to look to the Listowel Cyclones to find out who. Now, the definition of a cyclone is “a severe windstorm resulting from a condition of low pressure, with the winds moving in a spiral toward the centre, namely a hurricane of typhoon.” It is doubtful if Listowel ever suffered one of these weather events. So why, in 1972 did the D team and all the A teams choose that appellation? 

 

The answer goes back several decades and starts with the birth of one Frederick Wellington Taylor on June 23, 1884 in the village of Tara. He grew up in Listowel and started his hockey-playing days there, in fact, he was on two teams in 1902 and 1904 that won the provincial championships in their age brackets. 

 

As a young man, Fred headed north and west, playing in Kenora and then in Manitoba. His career would eventually take him to Vancouver, where he spent more of the rest of his life. He was known as a “clean player with clever footwork”. He was able to skate just as fast going backwards as forwards with the ability to handle the puck equally well both ways. In 1909, he signed a contract for $5,250 a year, making him the highest paid professional to that date (over $140,000 in 2025). His speedy skating was noticed by the Governor General who gave him the nickname “Cyclone”. Fred played professional hockey for 18 years and was in four Stanley Cup championship contests, winning with both the Vancouver Millionaires and the Ottawa Senators teams. Though in his post hockey career he worked for the federal government as a Commissioner of Immigration in Vancouver, he kept in close touch with his favourite sport. He dropped the puck for the inaugural Vancouver Canucks NHL game in 1970 and was a fixture at games in the Pacific Coliseum home games.  In 1947, Fred was a charter member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.  

 

He called Listowel his hometown and made frequent trips back there and also to Goderich where his mother and sister lived. Fred “Cyclone” Taylor passed away on June 9. 1979 and is buried in Vancouver.

 

Whatever the reasons for a team’s name, fans love to follow their favourites and rally behind their logos and colours.