NAHL team in Topeka to be renamed, rebranded as the Pilots
June 6, 2018
By Tim Bisel, Topeka Capital Journal
Lamar Hunt Jr. is navigating a new course for Topeka hockey, and he now has a new team name to reflect his endeavor.
The Topeka Pilots.
Hunt, who purchased the North American Hockey League's (NAHL) Topeka RoadRunners junior hockey team from Don Stone in April, revealed the team’s new name Tuesday evening during a gathering at the southeast entrance of the Kansas Expocentre. Hunt said he and his team researched the history of the capital city and found a name that he believes “really reflects this community.” ...
Hunt and his staff have yet to finalize a team logo, but he said they are working “feverishly” to do so and secure approval from the North American Hockey League.
“I can say this (about the name): The obvious choice might have been the Topeka Capitals, but we felt like that was so common in the marketplace right now,” Hunt told The Topeka Capital-Journal after the reveal. “We tried to look at what makes Topeka unique, and this aviation and all that is a little marker in history here that matters.
“I think it also ties into the military, of course. There’s a lot of pilots. There’s Navy pilots, there’s Air Force pilots, there’s Army pilots and things like that. I think it’s a noble profession, a noble undertaking, but there’s a certain level of commitment and fortitude (required) to be a pilot, and I think the same thing about athletes.” ...
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