PWHL 24-25 Season - Names/Logos in August

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

Hi, I thought I would make a new topic, since we are approaching the new season have already had the draft, and are in the middle of free agency.

The only news is that aparently some people in the league have said that names will be revealed in August. The only legit news source I could find was this Star Tribune article (https://m.startribune.com/now-league-champions-pwhl-minnesota-needs-a-permanent-name-here-are-10-suggestions/600369985/?clmob=y&c=n)

Apparently no new trademarks have been filed for the names that were pulled last year after fan backlash. That's a disappointment. Since they were:

Minnesota Superior (why? Like, Duluth is my favorite city in the world, but thats just a bad name. I would honestly prefer Lakers, but idk how well that would go)
Boston Wicked ()
New York Sound (what?)
Montréal Echo (???)
Ottawa Alert (my friends from Ottawa aparently actually like the name for local reasons that were too Canuck for my Minnewegian mind to comprehend so )
Toronto Torch (wouldn't that work better for NY?)

Minnesota players (including my future wife, Taylor Heise) are aparently pushing for the name "Reign" as a nod to the artist formerly living as Prince and a play on the team colors, purple and black. I haven't heard any other serious pushes for names from other team's players.

Names will be confirmed August next month sometime, but no one has said when other than that.

What names would you like to see? Will you be following the league? Where would you hope they expand if the league continues to be a success?

[fouhy12]

The first season was a ton of fun. As a Boston fan, I really hope they don't go with "Wicked" because that's so dumb. The only one of those names I don't mind is Echo, everything else can go right in the bin.

[Dynasty]

I don't know what the aspect is with singular team names being used in women's sports. It already looks poor in the WNBA; we don't need it again here.

[Burmy]

My ideas for names:

• Boston Banshees (ties closely into the city's strong Irish population; as the titular female spirits of Irish folklore screamed to herald a loved one's death, so will these Banshees' scream herald the death of their opponents' chances of beating them)
• Minnesota Reign (if the players are going THIS hard for it, then it's hard for the PWHL to kick against the goads)
• Montreal Mystique (cool alliteration, French name that's still catchy in English)
• New York Colossus (a nod to the poem on the Statue of Liberty's base "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus)
• Ottawa Alert (that I think can stay...really nice tie-in to Ottawa hockey history, plus the Canadian emergency alert signal sounds really neat!)
• Toronto Beacons (similar to Torch, but more concrete...also a nod to Toronto's status as hosts of the PWHL's inaugural game and their solid team culture, raising the beacon for others to follow)

[spartacat_12]

I saw this posted a couple of weeks ago. Potentially some new names for the PWHL teams (except for Ottawa & Minnesota).

Much like Utah's NHL team, I don't understand why Ottawa would go with a singular name. The "Alerts" were the historic women's team in the city, so why not use the proper version of their name? It would just be Alertes in French, so there shouldn't be any bilingual issues.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

I will actually be so upset if it's Minnesota Superior. I'm not cheering for a team with such a dumb name

 

Agreed that Alerts is better than just Alert

[Burmy]

I'm actually a bit excited about the Milwaukee Mustangs mention, but wondering why that's in the hockey section (There's only ONE sport where the Milwaukee Mustangs brand belongs).

 

On the slight chance that Milwaukee ever does get a PWHL team, they should be the Milwaukee Hoppers, in honor of Admiral Grace Hopper, a pioneer of computer technology and programming who is celebrated throughout MKE (Without her contributions, we wouldn't be using this very messageboard).  In addition, it would be a tie-in to the Admirals as well as us being the Brew City (with the hops that make beer).

[BeerGuyJordan]

1 hour ago, spartacat_12 said:

I saw this posted a couple of weeks ago. Potentially some new names for the PWHL teams (except for Ottawa & Minnesota).

Much like Utah's NHL team, I don't understand why Ottawa would go with a singular name. The "Alerts" were the historic women's team in the city, so why not use the proper version of their name? It would just be Alertes in French, so there shouldn't be any bilingual issues.

If these are the six identities they go with, it's a collective improvement. They still would have been better overall keeping the 5 PHF identities.

 

Rebels is a vast improvement on Wicked. I'm not convinced it's better than the Pride identity, but with even just a decent logo/jersey combo, it could be.

 

Superior is...meh? They could have done worse, they could have done a lot better. Whitecaps in the PWHL team's current color scheme would be better, and that identity predates even the PHF, so it's a longer part of the state's hockey culture.

 

Empire is easily better than Sound, but the OG Riveters identity will probably always be that market's best look.

 

Pioneers > Torch, hands down. It's better than Six, as a name also. The Six did have the unique situation of a very well executed identity built around a bad name, but it'd pretty easy for Pioneers to be a step up from both previous names they hold the rights to.

 

Montagnes is...okay, I guess? It doesn't translate to the same, so I'd call it only a slight upgrade from Echo. I'd need to see the executed identity, but I was a big fan of the Force logo and kit. It had the benefit of working in French and English. Not a must, but worth extra credit. Hard to imagine they'll beat the PHF identity.

 

Finally Alert. It's okay, but only once I learned the history. Alerts would be a better version of the name.

 

Someone in the last thread accused the PWHL of throwing out the baby with the bath water l, and I agree. If they weren't so determined to kill the PHF, they could have used those identities as a starting point and almost certainly wound up with a better O6 than we're going to get.

[Section30]

With how much of a cluster**** PWHL Minnesota has been since winning the title I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the "Superior" name that has been loathed by every single person I've talked to.

 

The name would make sense for a team in Duluth sure, but the Twin Cities are 150 miles from Lake Superior. It just makes zero sense.

[The_Admiral]

I want to know more about Kawartha Lakes getting in on the league with the "Lindsay Cutters," not to be confused with my favorite 2005 emo band, Cutting Lindsay.

[Section30]

Also, a team in Edina?!?  Ewwwwww

 

Yes, the Twin Cities are one of the biggest hotbeds for women's hockey talent, but I don't think we are big enough to support two professional teams in the same league.

 

Nobody outside of Edina would cheer for them and the difference in arenas and facilities between the X and Braemar Arena (which is great for high school and summer hockey, but not NEARLY big enough for a top tier team) would be comical. 

 

If Minnesota gets a second team in the PWHL it should be in Duluth. Amsoil Arena is state of the art and seats just under 7k which fits right in with many other PWHL arenas, plus it reaches a different fanbase by representing all of northern Minnesota. (Plus if Duluth got a team they could take the stupid "Superior" name and it would actually make sense!)

[spartacat_12]

1 hour ago, Burmy said:

I'm actually a bit excited about the Milwaukee Mustangs mention, but wondering why that's in the hockey section (There's only ONE sport where the Milwaukee Mustangs brand belongs).

 

On the slight chance that Milwaukee ever does get a PWHL team, they should be the Milwaukee Hoppers, in honor of Admiral Grace Hopper, a pioneer of computer technology and programming who is celebrated throughout MKE (Without her contributions, we wouldn't be using this very messageboard).  In addition, it would be a tie-in to the Admirals as well as us being the Brew City (with the hops that make beer).

1 hour ago, The_Admiral said:

I want to know more about Kawartha Lakes getting in on the league with the "Lindsay Cutters," not to be confused with my favorite 2005 emo band, Cutting Lindsay.

55 minutes ago, Section30 said:

Also, a team in Edina?!?  Ewwwwww

 

The list is just the various projects that the marketing firm is allegedly working on, not exclusively PWHL brands. The Milwaukee/Edina/Halton/Lindsay names are all likely some sort of junior/minor league teams. 

 

The first season was a big success, but I think there's still a lot of work to do before they start expanding.

[SavardToColton]

Not feeling Boston Rebels. Maybeee it could allude to the Revolution era but when I think of the word Rebels in an American context let's just say the Revolutionary War doesn't come to mind.

 

 

 

And to add with the PHF branding point, I don't have a strong feeling on the other lost brands (though Whitecaps definitely should stay due to the history) but the Riveters name being thrown out with the PHF is a true shame. 

[chcarlson23]

6 hours ago, Section30 said:

Also, a team in Edina?!?  Ewwwwww

 

Yes, the Twin Cities are one of the biggest hotbeds for women's hockey talent, but I don't think we are big enough to support two professional teams in the same league.

 

Nobody outside of Edina would cheer for them and the difference in arenas and facilities between the X and Braemar Arena (which is great for high school and summer hockey, but not NEARLY big enough for a top tier team) would be comical. 

 

If Minnesota gets a second team in the PWHL it should be in Duluth. Amsoil Arena is state of the art and seats just under 7k which fits right in with many other PWHL arenas, plus it reaches a different fanbase by representing all of northern Minnesota. (Plus if Duluth got a team they could take the stupid "Superior" name and it would actually make sense!)

Yeah a team based out of, and heralding themselves as an Edina team, would not be well supported. It’s the city that Minnesotans hate the most lol. 
 

I mean I couldn’t imagine myself going to a game and cheering “Let’s go Edina” even if the other team was not a Minnesota team 

 

Don’t get me wrong tho, Braemar is really cool, and would work for a possible PWHL minor team if that’s the idea. But they would have to be either Minnesota or the Twin Cities or something like that. Even Minneapolis would work. 
 

To go with the location name of Edina is a clear sign that they don’t understand the market. Which hey, this is the same league that fired Hall of Famer, and beloved face of women’s hockey in Minnesota, AFTER she won a championship, so I guess it’s on brand

 

Also, a full on PWHL team up in Duluth would be awesome! 

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

Minneapolis Millerettes!

[nash61]

"Edina Cake Eaters" or we riot.

[BeerGuyJordan]

Identity unveiling has been pushed to September, reportedly because the league has expanded their Bauer agreement and they will now be doing the jerseys.

 

Honestly, the only thing better about this league, compared to the NWHL/PHF so far is the on-ice product. That's a given since it's the first time we've had a single, unified women's pro league with the entire talent pool. I don't know how much credit the PWHL can take for that.

 

Everything else? A step back from before, and it's not like the predecessor league was killing it. The PWHL has yet to feel like something that is going to be around in 15 years.

[spartacat_12]

16 hours ago, BeerGuyJordan said:

Identity unveiling has been pushed to September, reportedly because the league has expanded their Bauer agreement and they will now be doing the jerseys.

 

Honestly, the only thing better about this league, compared to the NWHL/PHF so far is the on-ice product. That's a given since it's the first time we've had a single, unified women's pro league with the entire talent pool. I don't know how much credit the PWHL can take for that.

 

Everything else? A step back from before, and it's not like the predecessor league was killing it. The PWHL has yet to feel like something that is going to be around in 15 years.

 

I think aside from the mess in Minnesota, the league's inaugural season went about as well as anyone could have hoped, especially when you consider they originally wanted this coming season to be the first but expedited things at the behest of the players. They have a CBA locked in until 2031, so things in the near future are fairly stable.

 

As someone living in Toronto, I can tell you that the league has gotten far more attention than any of the previous pro women's leagues did. Even without the permanent branding I've seen more PWHL gear around the city than I saw from the Toronto 6ix, and the demand for tickets has been through the roof. They should be able to carry this momentum into the next couple of years before they capitalize on the Winter Olympics in '26.

[spartacat_12]

Sounds like the names & logos are going to be unveiled next week. The league and each team has updated their twitter profiles to just black & white, which means we could potentially see some teams switching up their colours.

 

EDIT: They've announced September 9 as the unveiling day, and each team has posted a cryptic message hinting at their name.

 

Montreal: "Something is calling" - seems like they'll be going with the previously leaked Echo

 

Toronto: "Almost ready to rule the rink" with a portrait of a queen - my guess would be Monarchs or Royals

 

Boston: "Something is coming" - likely a reference to "something Wicked this way comes"

 

New York: "Turning the volume up" - fits with Sounds, so looks like yet another team using the previously leaked name

 

Ottawa: "Bringing the energy" - a little more vague, but still makes sense if they're sticking with Alert

 

Minnesota: "A cold front is rolling in" - they posted a picture of trees covered in snow, so doesn't look like they're going with Superior; probably some generic, winter-themed name like Frost or Blizzards

[Burmy]

The wait is almost over...