The Professional Women's Hockey League on Monday revealed the names and logos for its six franchises after playing its inaugural season without them.
The Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres are the first official monikers for the PWHL, which made its debut in January 2024.
The teams were previously identified by geographic designations -- such as PWHL Toronto, for example -- and one primary color last season. Those colors have carried over to the new logos to add continuity for the fans.
"Obviously, in Year 1, you have to build a culture and somewhat of an identity. Now, to have logos and names, I'm super excited for the fans to have that strong identity," Hilary Knight, Boston captain and U.S. hockey legend, said Monday.
Some were critical of the PWHL for launching in January without having any team names. The PWHL said the expedited time frame between the founding of the league and its first games made that too challenging but said that names would be in place for Year 2. The league said it developed six brand identities in the span of nine months.
"We did a very thorough, thoughtful, and buttoned-up process. I don't think any of us are sitting here concerned about backlash, understanding that we know that we did things the right way," said Amy Scheer, senior VP of business operations. "The next phase for us is to see our fans bring these logos to life in the arena and how they start to take on our brand and really bring it to life."
(Re)introducing the inaugural six, as you've never seen them before:
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) September 9, 2024
Boston Fleet
Minnesota Frost
Victoire de Montreal
New York Sirens
Ottawa Charge
Toronto Sceptres pic.twitter.com/oMTyeTbecL
The new team names are:
Boston Fleet: A nod to the city's "rich maritime history," the logo also subtly evokes that of the Hartford Whalers, who played in the NHL from 1979 to 1997. "It really just embodies that relentless, passionate attitude of what it means to be a part of that city and represent that city on the professional level," Knight said.
Minnesota Frost: The name is a reference to "the State of Hockey's deep-rooted love for the ice." PWHL VP of Brand & Marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah said Frost was a name they kept coming back to during discussions of "many, many, many names" that "weren't necessarily all weather related."
Montréal Victoire: The logo includes a "hidden M" within the design as well as a fleur-de-lis, a national symbol of Québec. Scheer said there's not meant to be a translation of the name when the team plays outside of Montreal. "We purposely wanted their name to be in French regardless of where they play," she said. "It was an intentional decision. We wanted to represent Montreal and Quebec as best we can, and that is through the French language."
New York Sirens: Rather than Greek mythology, the name "Sirens" is evocative of both the sounds of New York City and the sound one hears when a goal is scored. While the color scheme is similar to other New York teams, Scheer said that's not intentional. "It's kind of interesting both the Liberty (WNBA) and Gotham (NWSL) have that color in their palette. I don't think all of the greens are the same, but we all have something in that green palette," she said. "And I don't think it was intentional, but it's certainly nice to have that tie into the two other women's teams that we share the city with."
Ottawa Charge: Inspired by the city's motto -- "Advance -- Ottawa -- En Avant" -- but team captain Brianne Jenner said it's more than that. "It's not just a nod to the city and being the center of government, but it's a nod to our fans as well," she said. "I hope our fans realize that and embrace that. The electric energy that they brought in our first season is a big part of our identity"
Toronto Sceptres: For Toronto, the PWHL wanted to find a connection to royalty, as it's known as the Queen City. The ornamented Sceptre itself is "a symbol of power and strength."
The players did not have sign-off on the new team names, but they and team executives were consulted during the process. There were some interviews with fans to get a better sense of each market. The PWHL also monitored social media and YouTube comments for name suggestions.
The league partnered with creative agency Flower Shop to develop the new team identities. Scheer said the PWHL did consult the NHL about ant potential "coexistence agreements" regarding their names and existing NHL teams, but that was extent of their input.
In 2023, PWHL owners purchased the assets of the Premier Hockey Federation, another professional women's hockey league. That included the names associated with some of the same locations that have PWHL franchises, such as the Toronto Six and the Minnesota Whitecaps. But Scheer said there was never any consideration to reviving those names.
"Launching a new league, we wanted to build equity in what we were building as the PWHL. The determination was made to set out with six new names that could create our own history," Scheer said.
The league said new team jerseys are still in production and will be available at the end of October or early November. The 2024-25 PWHL regular-season schedule will consist of 30 games per team, including neutral-site games.