ORLANDO, Fla. - After a few weeks, some phone calls and a tweak or two, the SPHL's new Augusta, Georgia team is almost ready to announce its name. Almost.

SPHL fans have until midnight on Friday, March 12 to weigh in on which of five names the team will choose. A fans' poll is currently being run by the team in conjunction with the Augusta Chronicle newspaper with the winner being unveiled on Saturday, March 13 at 4 p.m. at Somewhere in Augusta. The announcement event is open to the public.

The five names that are in the running are: Brigade, Chill, Patriots, River Hawks ans Snipers. The name with the most votes in the fans' poll will be the one used.

Originally, the team had opened up the voting to twenty ideas that had been sent in. After doing further research, it was found that several, such as "Nationals" and "River Dogs" would have created legal issues due to other sports teams holding copyright or trademark rights. In the case of "Nationals", the team would have also had to deal with the Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters professional golf tournament.

Gilles Richard, general manager for the new franchise, told the Chronicle that he did not anticipate that selecting a name would be as complicated as it has been.

"I didn't realize it was going to be this difficult. You have to consider all these teams, not just hockey names," he said.

Fans can vote by going to http://chronicle.augusta.com and opening a free reader account. The link to the poll can be found on the front page of the sports section.

Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com