Possible names for the original six Professional Women’s Hockey League franchises have been announced.
Applications for Toronto Torch, Montreal Echo, Ottawa Alert, Minnesota Superior, Boston Wicked and New York Sound were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday by PWHL Holdings, LLC. DetroitHockey.net was first to report the filing Thursday morning.
PWHL Holdings previously filed trademarks for the league’s name and logos.
It should be noted that trademark filings do not necessarily mean that these will be the team names when the puck drops for the PWHL’s inaugural season in January 2024. And that the league has not yet officially announced its team names and logos.
These names follow previous women’s hockey franchises of the last decade such as the Toronto Furies, Toronto Six, Montreal Force, Les Canadiennes de Montréal, Boston Blades, Boston Pride, Minnesota Whitecaps, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Calgary Inferno, Markham Thunder and Buffalo Beauts.
According to a June press release, the new league has “acquired assets of the PHF,” although it is unclear what assets or intellectual property — such as team names and logos — were acquired and could be used in the PWHL.
On Tuesday afternoon, the PWHL officially unveiled its league logo with “a stylized ‘W’ to highlight women, as well as crossed hockey sticks and a puck that fit perfectly into the center of the letterform.”
“We love highlighting the ‘W’ in a clean and strong design that celebrates the pioneers of the PWHL and their legacy in women’s sports,” said Stan Kasten, PWHL Advisory Board member and president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a press release. “When people see the logo, they see how it represents women and immediately know it’s about hockey. The “W” symbol speaks for itself, but offers versatility and fits well with our PWHL lettering.”
The logo consists of six different parts to represent the six players on the ice for each team and the top six teams in the league. The branding was created by Younts Design Inc., a creative studio with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.
What happens to the PWHL?
The training camps for the coming season are scheduled to begin on November 15th. According to the league, 184 players will be added to training camp rosters in the league’s six markets.
Camp participants include the league’s 18 first free agent signings, 88 players selected in the PWHL Draft – draftees Tatum Skaggs (Boston) and Minttu Tuominen (Minnesota) are not reporting to camp – and 78 from the League Invited Undrafted Free Agents Draft Shortlist. Teams were allowed to bring a minimum of 28 players and a maximum of 35 players to the camps.
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Many players who were drafted have yet to officially sign contracts with their respective teams as general managers wait for training camp to make final roster decisions. Before the season begins in January 2024, rosters will be reduced to 23 players by Dec. 11, according to the league, and each team can sign two players to reserve player contracts. According to the CBA, “each reserve player will receive a stipend of at least $15,000 for the league season.”
The opening of training camps marks the first time teams have come together since the league was announced in June.
The league is financially supported by Mark and Kimbra Walter and led by board members including Billie Jean King, sports manager Ilana Kloss, Kasten and Dodgers senior vice president of business strategy Royce Cohen.
Walter is managing director of the investment firm Guggenheim Partners, which manages over $300 billion in assets. Walter’s estimated net worth is around $5.3 billion, according to Forbes. He has owned the Dodgers since 2012, when his investment group bought the team for $2.2 billion. He is also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks and part of the ownership group that purchased the Chelsea Football Club.
The league will launch with a groundbreaking CBA that will be valid for eight years and expire on July 31, 2031.
The first CBA of its kind contains more than 40 pages and 30 articles, including, but not limited to: player salaries and player-related expenses; Advantages; player movement; roster size; travel; and safety and working conditions, according to people who read the document. Specific items covered in the document range from league minimum salaries to meals, hotel accommodations, per diem, housing, moving expenses, health insurance, pregnancy benefits, parental leave, a 401(k) program, foster care and more.
The CBA is the first in women’s professional hockey and is the culmination of months of negotiations between league leadership and a player-led negotiating committee led by Sarah Nurse, Liz Knox, Brianne Jenner, Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Required reading
(Photo: Courtesy of PWHL)