Choosing a team name for an expansion franchise is usually done before the jerseys debut, so that the franchise’s new logo is based on the name emblazoned on the jerseys. As we know, the PWHL didn’t do that with their first six franchises, waiting over a year to actually attach names to those teams. The six names chosen still seem quite ridiculous, but the PWHL made it through its second year as the Minnesota Frost celebrated their second Walter Cup win over the Ottawa Charge. Knowing that two expansion franchises would be joining the league this season, it was expected that PWHL would have finalized all details for these two new teams before unveiling their jerseys.
Only that didn’t happen on Tuesday.
The PWHL went ahead and created jerseys in the same style as the other teams wore in the first year for both Seattle and Vancouver, and it appears they will play as “PWHL Seattle” and “PWHL Vancouver” this season. Immediately giving these two teams an identity was apparently a task too difficult to accomplish despite knowing these teams would be joining the league for the 2025-2026 season, and it once again gives a beer league look to the PWHL instead of being the best women’s professional hockey league.
I’ll get into that more below, but here’s a side-by-side of PWHL Seattle star Hilary Knight showing off that team’s new jerseys.
There’s nothing wrong with the color scheme chosen for the Seattle women’s team. It looks like they are going with similar colors that of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks minus the green. The dark sweaters don’t go like that dark as that of the Krakenbut they do have the the same schedule as the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds without the green. Creatively? No. Fits Seattle’s sports color scheme? Absolute.
But why is this team wearing off-white? It’s not like there’s a deep history of women’s hockey on which the team is basing these jerseys. It just seems like the team doesn’t know how to do laundry. It’s never a good idea to artificially create nostalgia, so why can’t the Seattle team just wear white? This is a trend that has to end sooner or later, and it would serve Seattle well to move from the off-white cream color to regular white.
Knowing they won’t make that change, these Seattle jerseys work quite well and will set them apart from the other seven teams.
The other team competing on the women’s circuit this season is PWHL Vancouver, and they also released their new look yesterday.
Initially, these sweaters immediately gave a kick Winnipeg Blue Bombers atmosphere of the CFL, but this blue-and-gold combination isn’t often seen in hockey. There’s nothing special about these jerseys, but they are based on the idea of being simple: clean stripes, good contrasts and a good color scheme. In short, these are the necessary ingredients for a sturdy sweater. Vancouver should look good this season.
Again, the jerseys aren’t the problem here, with either Seattle or Vancouver. The PWHL knew these teams would play this season before even announcing the two new franchises, and they will now begin the 2025-2026 season without an identity. It’s not like this has to be difficult, considering the other six team names and how deplorable they are. There are literally dozens of trendy words that could have been chosen and used for the identity of these two teams.
We’ve seen the ECHL expand year after year, sometimes with multiple teams joining in, and all those teams starting to play around with team names and identities. If the ECHL can do this as a developmental league for the NHL, so should the top professional women’s league. We saw them play a full season before the original six teams got team names, and now we’ll see the new expansion teams play a full season without getting team names. At what point does this league and its eight teams start behaving professionally?
Time and time again I’ve written on this blog about how important brands are to sports franchises, and the PWHL seems determined to push back against those ideas. Yes, fans can say, “I’m a PWHL Vancouver fan,” but it carries a lot more weight when someone says, “I’m a Seattle Tsunamis fan!” That branding and team identity changes the entire statement. I want to encourage the team, not the corporate identity.
I will still cheer for the players because they are the reason to watch the PWHL, but the people running this league cannot be removed from the decision-making processes fast enough. They deserve credit for getting the league off the ground, but all that followed was beer league level management. Frankly, the players and fans who support this league deserve better.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#Identities #matter