Portland, Maine is getting a new ECHL team in 2018, and that team needs a name. Naturally, the team won’t be called the Portland Pirates, as their past AHL iteration in the market had that name. But, there is one name on the cards that we here at The Comeback would like to encourage you to vote for: The Wild Blueberries.

The final five are the Maine Mariners, in honor of the market’s first AHL team that was around from 1977 to 1992. The Watchmen, in honor presumably of the 2009 Zack Snyder film. The Lumberjacks, because you know, Maine. The Puffins, because you know, Maine. And finally, submitted by Bill S. of Portland: The Wild Blueberries. This is by far and away our choice.

As the team says:

Blueberries are “the official berry of the state.  Maine accounts for 10% of all blueberries grown in North America and Coastal Maine boasts the largest production of blueberries.”

That’s as good of an explanation as any to name your team not just blueberries, but “wild” blueberries. Are Maine’s blueberries just that more special than blueberries from say, New Jersey?

Each person is allowed only one vote per IP address, so we all encourage you to make democracy count and vote for a hockey team to be called the Wild Blueberries. Hockey team names in the lower leagues are always bizarre and fun, such as the Fayetteville FireAntz of the SPHL, the Louisiana IceGators of the same league, the Chesapeake Icebreakers of the ECHL, and the list goes on and on. Wild Blueberries somehow would be an even better name than all of those.

Democracy exists for these kinds of moments: voting on minor league hockey team names. Since the team can’t be named Hockey McHockeyface, we encourage you here to use your voice, whether you are in Maine or not, to call Portland’s new ECHL team the Wild Blueberries.

Together, we can do it.

[Barstool Sports/Portland Maine Hockey]

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.