A sports franchise’s name shouldn’t be connected to the success of said franchise. The truth of the matter is that some names have affected the success of a franchise. From the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the Charlotte Bobcats, many strangely named teams have folded over the years indirectly relating to their name.

The Devil Rays shortened their name to just ‘The Rays’ in 2007. In 2008, they posted their first winning season as the Tampa Bay Rays, ultimately losing to the Phillies in the World Series. The Charlotte Bobcats switched with the New Orleans Hornets with their name change. The Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans were both created. The Hornets have started to recently have success, while the Pelicans have struggled with injuries.

Last week, Bill Foley revealed the name of the new hockey franchise coming to Las Vegas. The team name: Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Foley, the majority owner of the team, is a leading investor in marketing for the Black Knights, the Army’s college football team. He is also a chairman of the board of financial services at the college. Foley originally wanted to name the hockey team the Black Knights, but was turned down by Army.

The team name is four words long. Like the Devil Rays, the name doesn’t slide off the tongue. The logo was widely made fun of on Twitter. A helmet with a ‘V’ carved out of the face hole; the logo looks more like what a super villain would wear to try and defeat the Avengers, not playing hockey. The black and gold color scheme may at least have a positive effect on merchandise. No other team in the NHL has those colors picked. The only problem with the jerseys would be placement of the logo.

This team will not be good right off the bat. General Manager George McPhee has expressed that the team will look for “bubble players” and not go for players with enormous contracts.

"There's going to be a massive player redistribution before the expansion draft in the weeks leading up to it," McPhee told the Las Vegas Sun.

"We understand teams are going to try to not give us anything, and that's the way expansion goes. There are a few teams that have expansion stress and we might be able to get a good player from them, and there'll be some teams that don't have anything and rather than take a bad contract we'll take a throwaway pick."

McPhee was formerly the GM for the Washington Capitals. What is mysterious is how McPhee will guide the team. The 2017 offseason will be interesting as the Golden Knights are guaranteed a top 6 pick in the first round of the NHL draft, with a top 3 pick guaranteed for rounds 2-7.

The Golden Knights have potential to be a good team. A general problem with expansion teams is that the team is almost forced into a rebuild process upon being created. With the way the Western Conference is right now, Las Vegas can be a force to be reckoned with if they build the team wisely. The Golden Knight name has its flaws and needs time to grow on NHL fans. Let’s hope the name won’t play a crucial part in the success of this franchise, as it has done in the past.