The Skilled Girls’s Hockey League on Monday revealed the names and logos for its six franchises after enjoying its inaugural season with out them.
The Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Cost and Toronto Sceptres are the primary official monikers for the PWHL, which made its debut in January 2024.
The groups had been beforehand recognized by geographic designations — equivalent to PWHL Toronto, for instance — and one major colour final season. These colours have carried over to the brand new logos so as to add continuity for the followers.
“Clearly, in 12 months 1, it’s important to construct a tradition and considerably of an id. Now, to have logos and names, I am tremendous excited for the followers to have that robust id,” Hilary Knight, Boston captain and U.S. hockey legend, mentioned Monday.
Some had been essential of the PWHL for launching in January with out having any workforce names. The PWHL mentioned the expedited timeframe between the founding of the league and its first video games made that too difficult however mentioned that names can be in place for 12 months 2. The league mentioned it developed six model identities within the span of 9 months.
“We did a really thorough, considerate, and buttoned-up course of. I do not assume any of us are sitting right here involved about backlash, understanding that we all know that we did issues the fitting method,” mentioned Amy Sheer, senior VP of enterprise operations. “The subsequent part for us is to see our followers convey these logos to life within the enviornment and the way they begin to tackle our model and actually convey it to life.”
(Re)introducing the inaugural six, as you’ve got by no means seen them earlier than:
Boston FleetMinnesota FrostVictoire de MontrealNew York SirensOttawa ChargeToronto Sceptres pic.twitter.com/oMTyeTbecL
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) September 9, 2024
The brand new groups names are:
Boston Fleet: A nod to town’s “wealthy maritime historical past,” the emblem additionally subtly evokes that of the Hartford Whalers, who performed within the NHL from 1979 to 1997. “It actually simply embodies that relentless, passionate angle of what it means to be part of that metropolis and characterize that metropolis on the skilled degree,” Knight mentioned.
Minnesota Frost: The title is a reference to “the State of Hockey’s deep-rooted love for the ice.” PWHL VP of Model & Advertising and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah mentioned Frost was a reputation they saved coming again to throughout discussions of “many, many, many names” that “weren’t essentially all climate associated.”
Montréal Victoire: The emblem features a “hidden M” inside the design in addition to a fleur-de-lis, a nationwide image of Québec. Sheer mentioned there’s not meant to be a translation of the title when the workforce performs exterior of Montreal. “We purposely wished their title to be in French no matter the place they play,” she mentioned. “It was an intentional choice. We wished to characterize Montreal and Quebec as greatest we will, and that’s via the French language.”
New York Sirens: Somewhat than Greek mythology, the title “Sirens” is evocative of each the sounds of New York Metropolis and the sound one hears when a objective is scored. Whereas the colour scheme is just like different New York groups, Sheer mentioned that is not intentional. “It is sort of attention-grabbing each the Liberty (WNBA) and Gotham (NWSL) have that colour of their palette. I do not assume the entire greens are the identical, however all of us have one thing in that inexperienced palette,” she mentioned. “And I do not assume it was intentional, but it surely’s actually good to have that tie into the 2 different girls’s groups that we share town with.”
Ottawa Cost: Impressed by town’s motto — “Advance — Ottawa — En Avant” — however workforce captain Brianne Jenner mentioned it is greater than that. “It is not only a nod to town and being the middle of presidency, but it surely’s a nod to our followers as properly,” she mentioned. “I hope our followers understand that and embrace that. The electrical power that they introduced in our first season is an enormous a part of our id”
Toronto Sceptres: For Toronto, the PWHL wished to discover a connection to royalty, because it’s often called the Queen Metropolis. The ornamented Sceptre itself is “an emblem of energy and power.”
The gamers didn’t have sign-off on the brand new workforce names, however they and workforce executives had been consulted in the course of the course of. There have been some interviews with followers to get a greater sense of every market. The PWHL additionally monitored social media and YouTube feedback for title solutions.
The league partnered with inventive company Flower Store to develop the brand new workforce identities. Sheer mentioned the PWHL did seek the advice of the NHL about ant potential “coexistence agreements” concerning their names and present NHL groups, however that was extent of their enter.
In 2023, PWHL homeowners bought the belongings of the Premier Hockey Federation, one other skilled girls’s hockey league. That included the names related to a few of the identical places which have PWHL franchises, such because the Toronto Six and the Minnesota Whitecaps. However Sheer mentioned there was by no means any consideration to reviving these names.
“Launching a brand new league, we wished to construct fairness in what we had been constructing because the PWHL. The dedication was made to set out with six new names that would create our personal historical past,” Sheer mentioned.
The league mentioned new workforce jerseys are nonetheless in manufacturing and might be accessible on the finish of October or early November. The 2024-25 PWHL regular-season schedule will encompass 30 video games per workforce, together with neutral-site video games.
