As Owensboro hockey fans learn they'll have to wait a little longer than expected to see professional hockey in their town, Evansville's new Southern Professional Hockey League franchise moves forward with the announcement of five potential names for the new team.

The team's owner, Mike Hall, appeared on Eyewitness News Monday night to announce the names, which are:

  • Evansville Storm
  • Evansville Freedom
  • Evansville Aviators
  • Evansville Thunderbolts
  • Evansville Edge

Personally, I prefer a name that reflects something the City is known for, which would eliminate "Edge" for me. "Storm" is a little too generic for my taste, so I'll take that one out as well.

That leaves us, Freedom, Aviators, and Thunderbolts. "Freedom" makes sense with our history of hosting the annual Freedom Festival (before it became Shrinersfest), and of course the Four Freedoms Monument on the riverfront.

Honestly, I really like "Thunderbolts" as it reflects the city's history of producing parts out of the old Whirlpool factory for the planes of the same name during World War II. The problem with "Thunderbolts" is that it's already taken by the Junior Hockey League franchise currently playing at Swonder Ice Arena. Sure, the new team could puff out their chest and say, "we're taking this," but I can't imagine they'd want to start their tenure by bullying the other team in town into giving up their name.

That leaves us with "Aviators". Obviously not my favorite, but a close second since it can be viewed as a reference to Thunderbolt plane. Plus, it's the only one left after a simple process of elimination.

Which one do you prefer? Cast your vote below.

Please note: The poll below is not the official poll being conducted by the franchise. The results are for our purposes only. To vote in the team poll, visit their Twitter page.

More From WGBFAM