Army: Vegas NHL Team Took Our Parachute Team's Golden Knights Name

After announcing its name as the Vegas Golden Knights, the new NHL expansion team may face a challenge from the U.S. Army, which uses the same name for its parachute team.

"We're reviewing the situation and figuring out what the way ahead would be," said Army spokewoman Alison Bettencourt, The Fayetteville Observer reported.

Team owner Bill Foley is a West Point graduate and was aware of the parachute team name. He originally wanted to call his team the Black Knights, which is the same name used by West Point’s sports teams, but changed his mind, the Observer said, after Army officials expressed concerns about that name, which they trademarked.

Foley posted a video to the team’s website that said he wanted to use the name “knights” for the team because it represents the “highest element of the warrior class.”

The parachute team’s name is unofficial, but has been used since the 1960s because of the team’s gold-winning performances in competitions. Foley applied to trademark the name in August, and appears to have rights to it since the Army never trademarked it, according to The Washington Post.

College teams from Clarkson University also use the name Golden Knights, but have approved the NHL team to use it, the Post reported.

League officials have said they have no concerns about the name of the new team. “I don’t expect an issue,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on Wednesday morning, ESPN reported.

The Vegas Golden Knights NHL team will begin playing in the 2017-2018 season.

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