Report: Potential PWHL team names revealed from U.S. trademark search

Potential team names for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s original six franchises have been revealed.

As first reported by Clark Rasmussen of Detroit Hockey, applications for the Toronto Torch, Montreal Echo, Ottawa Alert, Minnesota Superior, Boston Wicked and New York Sound were filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office by PWHL Holdings, LLC.

As mentioned in Rasmussen’s story, it’s important to note that these trademarks do not guarantee these are the names for the six teams. It is possible that these are just options, with more to come in the future. The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken filed multiple trademarks for potential team names before settling on the Golden Knights and Kraken, respectively.

It’s been a busy week for the PWHL. On Tuesday, the league unveiled its logo as it prepares for its inaugural season.

The league revealed the logo on Tuesday through social media with the caption: “Bold. Powerful. Undeniable.”

The crossed hockey sticks in the “W” provides the visual of a faceoff, and is made up of six distinct pieces, a numeric portrayal of the league’s first six teams.

According to a PWHL media release, “The logo’s primary color is purple, a color that signifies power and is often associated with ambition, both symbolic of PWHL players and the league’s formation.”

The color is a continuation of the purple carpet entrance used at the inaugural PWHL Draft in September.

Training camp for the league’s original six franchises begins mid-November.

The PWHL’s inaugural season will begin in January 2024. The league was announced in August 2023 after the Mark Walter Group announced a new league with the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and the now-folded Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).