OK, a question for our tens of readers...which is better, a new ECHL team in Hoffman Estates having an online contest to name the team, or us finding out about it?

I'm sure you are as excited as we are about the prospect of Hoffman Estates' rich professional hockey history being augmented by a brand-spanking-new team.

Oh yeah...remember the Hounds? Their first game was cancelled after the players were unable to skate on a rink where the surface wasn't so much ice as it was unflavored sherbet. Of course, this led to the team being derisively referred to by some (OK, me) as the Slush Puppies.

So here's the Hounds' owner, Craig Drecktrah, now being the proud owner of a franchise in a real-life league...for any Jewish readers among the tens, I'll give you a second here to giggle over "Drecktrah". Maybe he has a partner named "Marty Schlock".

Drecktrah, a former part-owner of the Rockford IceHogs, has announced that he hopes to have a working relationship with the Chicago Blackhawks. A spokesman for the Toledo Walleye was quoted as saying, "wait...what?"

So the contest...they have a list of what they're telling us are the most popular names on their site. Some of them are...interesting...

Chicago Hounds: Not bad the first time around, but would you really want to re-use the name of a team that ended in abject failure? On the other hand, maybe Drecktrah has a warehouse full of T-Shirts he still wants to move.

Chicago Cougars: Of course, this one resonates with us, since we've both read up on the WHA, and Fork occasionally rambles about the old Chicago Cougars. Of course, the word "Cougar" just meant big-ass cat back then. Nowadays (quick aside: We don't use "Nowadays" as much as we should), it has a slightly different meaning. So unless they want to put a picture of Demi Moore on the front of the jerseys, they might want to skip this one.

Chicago Blizzard, Chicago Express: Team Names that are singular instead of plural are stupid. Sorry, Lightning and Wild fans, but it's true.

Barrington Beavers: See Chicago Cougars.

Hoffman Hammers: Nice and illiterative. Also sounds like a finishing move for a wrestler.

Of course, as we are idea men here at HOCKEENIGHT, we are only too happy to help out with a few names...

Chicago Craftsmen: In honor of playing in Sears Centre, why not let Sears have a plug for their line of tools? In fact, you can even have a contest for each game, picking the "Tool of the Game". Winner gets a free spray tan.

Chicago Slush Puppies: In honor of the Hounds.

Cook County Commissioners: Lucky fans can get their relatives spots on the roster.

Hoffman Estates Hockeenights: Look, we'll foot the sponsorship for this one. How much can it be? 3-4 hundred bucks? CT can dig that much change out of his sofas.

But in the end, we need to settle on one. We're going to submit this one, and are asking everyone to join in supporting it. We thought long and hard about what it meant to have a team playing a fast, exciting game west of Route 53. We wanted something that pretty much embodied the spirit of the Greater Chicagoland Area, as well as the seemingly thousands of car dealerships in the Schaumburg/ Hoffman Estates area, as well is the mulletude that still exists, if not in sartorial splendor, at least bubbling under the surface:

Chicagoland Camaros

So go over there and vote early and often. Then we'll see if we can whore ourselves out to the new hockey team. Hell, someone needs to be their Official Website.