PWHL reveals names, logos for inaugural 6 teams

if you're a fan of the pwhl and we know there are gajillions of fans right across this country we saw that in the inaugural season you're going to have to make some more room in the closet this morning the league has just announced team names and logos for the original six that means new jerseys and merch I'll tell you when it's all coming out but here's the big reveal we were talking about this with Chris a moment ago here's all six Boston Fleet Minnesota Frost Montreal victoire New York Sirens Ottawa charge and Toronto scepter Jana heord is in with me senior vice president of hockey operations for the pwl big day and thank you for coming in thanks for having it is we were we were revealing them with Chris a few minutes ago but on Friday here on the this show we were having a great time guessing because you dropped the hint what they were going to be we were all wrong on all of them so I'm here they are the for real so I'm going to say the names you tell me a little bit about what they're Conjuring up each of the names Boston Fleet so the fleet is obviously the maritime Heritage in Boston Collective spirit that the city of Boston represents okay Minnesota Frost last year's Champs like that state of hockey they love ice they love hockey that's that's a easy one I think that's Chris Murphy our meteorologist that's his fave he's pulling already for Minnesota again Montreal La vict the competitive Spirit of Montreal the the history of success and sports uh that led us to victoire okay uh New York Sirens the sirens represent the noise the city the energy the people of New York and Ottawa charge I I had thought maybe Reds on this one I was way off on all of them as I said Ottawa charge so Ottawa are capital city their motto is Advance uh so charge is really about that energy that their fans bring every game move it forward progress all of that and finally I was way off I went elizabethans based on that it was Queen Elizabeth the that was way off Toronto scepter well I guess not bad powerful it's strong it's about our Regal history our commanding presence and that's what our players bring to the ice every game how were they chosen Jan it's been a long process it's been a labor of love for our team and and specifically you know our marketing and branding folks and uh we started with the discovery phase where we talked to fans and players and employees and people in different markets and really tried to zero in on how we could make these names resonate we wanted them to be bold strong confident uh resonate with a dynamic style of play of the pwhl and the spirit of our league okay so I need to ask you because there was a big fruer ra when it seemed like the names were from the US trademark database and there were six names and you'll be well aware the fan reaction was not good they didn't like the Toronto torch Montreal Echo Boston Wicked those were just some that came up in these documents were those original suggestions that you changed based on the lack of fan support or was that like a red herring and you were never going after those six to begin with what happened there well you know what this is quite a process to come up with a name that's going to resonate with people and resonates with cities and so that was just the beginning of the process this this has started when the league launched in August of last year and it's been that long as we continued to build these brand this was a bit of a do over you just yeah there was various phases we it was something we didn't want to rush and we wanted to make sure we got it right so as we moved through the discovery phases and talk to people and we just felt like we wanted to take our time to really do the work that needed to be done to get them right and so that's let us to where we are today and what do you think of the six I love them uh I've had a chance to to see them and and start to feel what they're about and and of course names until they are something to you they're just a name but we're excited to bring these to our fans and uh the way our fans rallied around season one when we were just pwl Toronto or pwl Ottawa now they have a brand and identity that they can really be creative with and have fun with and I think one of the things I really love is that our primary colors remain the same so if you're wearing that original Toronto blue uh you are going to be a founding fan we're going to know you're there since the beginning but that blue is now in our new logo and that's true cross all six markets so the original color stays and then you're incorporating some secondary colors as well you said the word identity and that's really what a logo and a jersey is isn't it really says the essence of the team and the players on it that's right and it's something that the players are going to be proud of to step on the ice and and then of course our fans think so what what kind of reaction are you hearing from the I was with Natalie SP this morning and and she loved the scepter and can't wait to to really be creative with that and play with that she was talking about what she might do with her Stick or or something like that so I think all of our players are going to really Embrace these and run with them and you know our fans are the most creative of anyone so they're going to come to the Arenas and they're going to make sure that that becomes who we are and who we represent and we just can't wait for that to happen number one Natalie Spooner is being back on the Ice's good news after the injury at the end of last season cuz she was the League's big scorer so people will be looking forward to seeing her play again when you say the fans if they want to add to the the Jersey wardrobe uh when is the merch available so our jerseys won't be available or launched so nobody's seen the jerseys yet until the end of October or at least before the season starts um in terms of other merch it's available now uh we launched with the names so hopefully everyone can go to the website and and find their favorite logo their favorite team and start to represent the new brand start the collection I have some other questions because now we're into September we're thinking about winter sports when does season two begin so season two will begin earlier than the first season so we started January 1 last year so our schedule's not complete yet there's a lot of moving parts that we're finalizing and so that'll be available soon but it'll be earlier than January 1st and we've now moved into some new venues which is really exciting for us so of course our fan response was incredible in year one so we want to make sure there's more room more capacity more opportunity for fans to see the game so here in Toronto we're now the scepter will be home at Coca-Cola Coliseum 88500 I think somewhere around there so much bigger than where we were and in Montreal the victar will be in plbel which is also significantly larger than their original home venue of verun so excited that more people will get to witness and be a part of the pwl so uh so earlier start not 24 games you're up to 30 for each of the teams and in these bigger venues in some markets and what about ticket sales when do they start or are they already underway for fans so right now renewals of season ticket holders are underway and and very shortly in the next you know coming days and weeks it'll be open to the public but uh the process has started and we're excited and can't wait to grow our fan base in each of our markets okay it's a big milestone today thanks for coming in Jana and tell us telling us more about it and uh we'll be there to cover when the puck drops on season two for sure thank you thanks for the support