Phoenix Coyotes Co-Owner, President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc announced today that the Phoenix Coyotes will officially change their franchise name to the Arizona Coyotes beginning at the start of the 2014-15 NHL season.

"We are very excited to announce that our franchise name will change to Arizona Coyotes for the start of the 2014-15 NHL season," said LeBlanc. "Becoming the Arizona Coyotes makes sense for us since we play our games in Glendale and the city is such a great partner of ours. We also want to be recognized as not just the hockey team for Glendale or Phoenix, but the team for the entire state of Arizona and the Southwest. We hope that the name 'Arizona' will encourage more fans from all over the state, not just the valley, to embrace and support our team."

As part of the name change, the Coyotes will be introducing a new shoulder patch for their home and road jerseys in 2014-15. The patch will be unveiled for the Coyotes first preseason game next season. The rest of the Coyotes uniform will not change.

The franchise has been known as the Phoenix Coyotes since it moved to the Valley from Winnipeg in 1996. The Coyotes played their home games in downtown Phoenix from 1996 until 2003 when they moved to their current home, Jobing.com Arena, in Glendale.