This whole "named after the NHL team" debate seems to be a case of people looking at the issue from different perspectives. Many people view naming an AHL team after the NHL team as a negative. For example: Worcester Sharks. There were traditional local hockey names that could have been used, or they could have gone with a new name that was related to the local area, but they didn't they used Sharks because that is the name of the NHL team they were affiliated with at the time. I took the original post to be a complaint about this type of naming. Maybe it wasn't? Hard to judge tone sometimes.
The other end of the spectrum would be a completely local name that doesn't relate to the current NHL team at all, like Hershey Bears or Rochester Americans. A lot of fans think these are "better" names. I would include Marlies in this category. Slap an English Duke, or a fish, or cigarette logo on the jersey, or relocate them to Marlboro Mass with a wordmark logo and "Marlies" could be affiliated with any NHL team.
In some cases a team is named due to a local tradition or connection, that also has some connection to the NHL team too. However, the name is different enough that another NHL parent organization could be affiliated with that team and it would still make sense. This is the case with the Roadrunners, Gulls, and Barracuda.
Names that reference the parent without being named the same as the parent are also OK with me. Reign, (Monarchs), Heat, and now Rockets. Even though the name was chosen to refer to the parent organization, it is still generic enough to be used by other organizations or in other sports. The ECHL Royals have been affiliated with the Maple Leafs/Marlies, Bruins, Caps/Bears and Flyers/Phantoms without changing names, even though they were named "Royals" in reference to the Kings.
I think it is OK to name your AHL team the same as the parent team when the team is in a suburb, or a city that connects to the parent team city. Providence Bruins are a good example. It is close enough to Boston that most people in Providence are likely Bruins fans, and they can watch the NHL Bruins on their local TV station to follow the local players who move up. Texas Stars too. Wikes-Barre Penguins a little less so, but not bad. They are in the same state at least, even though Wilkes-Barre is closer to Philly, NY, and NJ than to Pittsburgh, so before the AHL came to town there were probably more Flyers/Devils/Rangers fans than Pens fans there
Naming your team the same as the NHL parent when the local area doesn't have a connection to the team or the name, and the parent team is far away and almost never on local TV is more boring and unoriginal. I think the only current examples are Albany Devils, Binghamton Senators, and Iowa Wild. This actually seems to be a dying trend, with most recent name changes going away from this type of name.
