PWHL team names: League announces rebranding, new logos ahead of second season

The PWHL, the top professional women's hockey league, announced the nicknames and logos of its six teams on Monday. The Professional Women’s Hockey League recently finished its first-ever season, where the franchises didn't have logos or names.

The plan was to have names for the second year, and on Monday, the league also confirmed that the full team jerseys would be released in October or November.

The six PWHL team names are as follows:

• Boston Fleet
• Minnesota Frost
• Victoire de Montreal
• New York Sirens
• Ottawa Charge
• Toronto Sceptres

According to the league, the team names all have special meanings for the cities. Fleet represents Boston's maritime tradition, and Frost embodies the State of Hockey’s deep-rooted love for the ice.

Victoire pays tribute to Montreal’s French-Canadian home, while the Sirens are an ode to New York's vibrant sights and sounds. Charge reflects the Canadian capital’s motto, “Advance — Ottawa — En Avant," and the Sceptres embody Toronto’s regal history and commanding presence.

“Everybody’s going to sit behind their computers and they’re going to type good, bad and ugly. And that’s OK,” league vice president of business operations Amy Scheer said. “I feel the process we went through was very thorough. We feel very confident that we’ve got six great names that are bold, they’re confident, they’re strong, competitive and, I think, they resonate with the markets that they’re in.”

The Professional Women’s Hockey League was founded in late June 2023 and began play on Jan. 1.

PWHL execs say creating team names was a 'daunting' experience

Following the PWHL officially announcing the new team names, the league said it worked with creative agency Flower Shop to come up with the nicknames.

Creating a sports team name and logo is crucial for merchandise sales, and Amy Scheer said it was a "daunting" experience to create them.

“Daunting for sure, but an absolute labor of love,” Scheer told The Associated Press. “I think anybody who has worked in sports or is a marketer or brand person would look at this as an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the PWHL’s vice president of brand and marketing and the leader of the project, said it was a long process, but the league is thrilled with the team names.

“From where we started with this massive pool of names that was generated and to where we are today, I feel so proud of every single one of these team names and identities,” Bhatt-Shah said. “We’ve ended up in a spot where we just couldn’t be more thrilled.”

The 2024-25 PWHL regular-season schedule will consist of 30 games per team, including neutral-site matchups.