Minnesota's PWHL teams announces official name

All teams. We have Boston fleet, Minnesota Frost Montreal Victo and New York sirens, Ottawa charge and the Toronto Scepters. And so for today's press conference, our first segment will be with Amy Shear, Senior Vice President of Business Operations for the PWHL and Conan Batha, Vice President of Brandon Marketing for the PWHL. Then later on, we'll be joined by the captains of each team. If you are not asking a question or speaking, please mute your mic and we'll keep going. So we'll begin today's press conference with opening comments from Amy and Conan. And then you may raise your virtual hand to ask a question. Once I call on you, please announce your name and outlet before asking your question. Additionally, we will be recording the Zoom and can share the link afterwards. But if you would like uh to record your own version, you can simply press the record button on your device and we will give you permission on your end. All right, let's get started, Amy and Con and congratulations. Exciting day. Can you first share with the group? Tell us about the process of getting here today? Sure. So, first of all, thank you everybody for, for joining us today. We're, we're obviously truly grateful for all that you do to cover the league. Um So thank you for joining us today, which we think is a pretty monumental day for our league and uh the next evolution of, of our growth as we head into year number two. But um you know, I, I think this, this project was truly a labor of love. You know, I think everybody here probably under understand sort of context of building out a team name and a logo uh where most teams uh take 18 months to do one logo, one team name. Um And we decided that we were going to do six and nine months. And so, uh here we arrived today, which with uh with six logos and team names that we're really happy with and thrilled with the work uh from a process perspective. Uh This started from day one, We really started collecting insights and feedback from our general managers from our players. Uh And of course, over the course of the season from our fans uh in numerous different ways. And so a lot of uh discovery uh to put us down the right path. And I think um once Connon started uh in November, the process really started to take off and, and accelerate. Um And then Conon really took over the day to day of this process. So I think Conan is probably the best person to maybe take us through what that process looked like. Conan. Hi, everyone. Um Thank you so much and really excited um, to Echo Amy, really thrilled um to, to share the names today. Uh So essentially, um, once I joined, uh I think the first, um, the first thing that we were really staring down was uh a very compressed timeline. Um And understanding that Jersey artwork, uh was really the driving factor of this because we wanted to make sure that um to, we would have Jerseys uh ready for the start of the season to um to reflect the updated identities. So, working back from a from a May um due date of artwork, we knew we had to work very quickly, uh very efficiently, uh but also be really intentional and strategic. Um So the first one of the first tasks was engaging um flower shop, which is a creative agency out of um out of New York. And um they joined the team, we worked in lockstep together, sort of um they worked as an extension of our team. Um And one of the first things that we set out to do, just knowing that we had all of this great input um coalesced from this discovery phase um was set a number of criteria to ensure that names. Um There were, there was a lot of ideation around a lot of different names. Um We're very fortunate to have passionate fans, players staff um and also very lucky to have started our inaugural season where we were able to really start to see some of these um personalities and identities uh start to take shape and mind those as well. So, four criteria um the first really being, does the name inspire pride of place? So does it capture the soul of the city um the community? Um and, and the people um the second being fan connection. So will the name resonate with fans? Does it feel strong, confident, powerful, those are all really important attributes that we wanted to make sure um the name um the name head and then um identity possibilities. So how do we, we go beyond just a name um and make it really mean something. Um I think for us it's really um it's the, the fans and the players and the communities that are going to imbue meaning in these names and we wanted to make sure they had enough rich territory from which to work off of. Um So visual identity um just activations ways in which this name could really come to life in arena um And in the community and come alive and then the last piece um was just uh legal. Uh I don't mean to minimize it but a name that would be ownable to us. So, not just distinctive and timeless, but also ownable. Um And ensuring that it was something that would um that is that something that wasn't already trademarked. So those were sort of the criteria. And then from there, we had a lot of names that we considered. Um And we're thrilled to have the names that um we unveiled today. Thank you, Conan. Thank you, Amy. All right, we'll begin to open it up for questions. Can you please raise your virtual hand and wait to be called on? And then when you are called on, please state your name and your outlet. We'll give it a second for everyone to raise hands. All right. Our first question comes from Tyler Cole. Go ahead. Good morning, everybody to your daily face off here. Um Obviously, big day here for the league. Uh Maybe this question is for, I'm sure if you Canon or if it's for Amy, but I kind of heard through the grapevine that the jerseys were also going to be released today as part of this new brand release. I was wondering if you know what's, if there's anything that's delayed that release for the jerseys or is there maybe a time frame when we know that those will be coming out before the new season? Hi, Tyler, this is Amy. I'll take that. Um Nothing was delayed. Um There was never a plan for Jerseys to be released as part of this launch. Uh The jersey launch will be sometime either at the end of October, beginning of November. Um So those our jerseys are still in production. Um So we thought the time to reveal them would be a little bit later when we actually have our jerseys in hand. Great, thanks Amy and a quick follow up here for kind of, I just kind of explain maybe the, the, the how tough it might have been, not just trying to form the identity for one team but for six teams and kind of working from scratch a little bit. Sure I can speak to that. Um You know, I think it's interesting when we say uh when you say work from um start from scratch or work from scratch, I think one of the most fortunate things for us is that um while we were doing this process and uh you know, developing these names and these identities, um our first season was underway, right? And so we had the luxury to be able to um experience, you know, what fans experienced at games and get sentiments um from across the board and really use those um to, to help crystallize this. So it was really wonderful just to be able to have, be able to mine insights in that way. Um And we started to see these identities really come to life on and off the ice and our fans um expressing themselves and, and what they, their hopes and dreams were for their teams. Um And so quite frankly, we were lucky to be able to um to be able to fold those pieces in. Awesome. Thank you very much both of you. Our next question comes from Jay Gray. Hi, thank you, Jay Gray from the Ice Garden here. Um Can I I there's a lot of visual identity in these logos that's clearly coming from the history of the different sports teams in the city and the cities themselves. So I wanted to ask, how did you and the team go about creating these authentic brands for each city that are personalized and I'll let you take that. Sure. Um So I, I think even before we, you know, one of the criteria for considering the names was really, how will this name come to life visually in a really authentic way that captures the essence of the city and the communities in which um in which the team is in, right? And so that visual piece was something that was very, it wasn't siloed from the name that was something that was very much upstream. Um When it came to design, it was really about taking a lot of it and um holding them into um the design work. So, uh cultural influences um heritage uh nodding to the name in the actual visual identity, uh color. One important piece around color was it was very important for us to maintain the primary colors of um of the teams from season one to season two and beyond. Um just to ensure that our fans could continue to support their season one merge proudly. Um there's a lot of equity built up in those colors and we were excited to retain them. So also as part of the visual identity design, um understanding color theory and how the existing colors could work with an updated palette that ties the name and the identity altogether. Thank you. Thank you, Kenzie. Go ahead. Yeah. Hi, guys. Congrats. Big day. I think you can see the excitement online and I think it's uh the future is bright here. I guess my, my first question to you just with, we look at last year and with the trademark, those names had been released. To what extent internally were those discussions had and to the desire of creating six brand new team names. And see, I don't think they were brand new um or the other ones necessarily being old, I think over the course of the last nine months, we went through hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of names and those were six of them that were in the queue uh that just didn't make the final cut. And so I don't know that there's any new versus old. Um They're all part of a singular process that got us to today. And then my second question for you, I guess to, to what extent as well were players brought into the discussion um or leaned on throughout this process. So the beginning of the discovery process, uh general managers, players were brought in to provide their own insights and, and um kind of bring to the table their thoughts on names. So they were, that was part of the discovery process that happened early on. Appreciate it. Thanks guys. Hi, go ahead with the next question. Hi, Pala Pratt from uh TDE Sports and San Eric. Um I, I would like to, to, to start with, uh with something I just read in an article uh this morning that every name, especially for maybe not in Montreal, but maybe in every market that the name were presented to a group of people and examined by those people. Can you be more specific about who was part of this group? Actually? Um We had a small internal group within the league that was part of this process um for, for reasons in terms of um I think that you can imagine the group was very small and very tight. Uh We didn't want names to leak, we didn't want anything to get out. And so we had a small internal group that was part of the process of understanding um what the criteria was and ultimately part of the process of taking these names, putting them through intellectual property in both Canada and the US. Once we had names that passed through that we as a team uh reviewed the names, we all had our opinions. Um Everything was shown to our board of Billie Jean King, Alana Klaus, Stan Casten and Royce Cohen. And uh they ultimately signed off on everything that we've done. Um But it was a, a small group uh from the league level that ultimately was part of the decision making process and, and just a quick follow up, we, we, since five of the six markets were actually PHF markets as well, were the names uh from the PHF like Toronto Six or Boston Pride or Montreal Force. Were they ever considered? I understand, I understand that the league doesn't own them. But was that an option? And if not, why um the PHF names were, were not an option? I think uh launching a new league. Um We wanted to build equity in what we were building as the PWHL. And so the determination was made uh for us to set out with six new names for our teams. Uh that would be part of our own history and create our own history. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Our next question comes from Sophia Blue. Hi, Sophia Blue, student journalist from Minnesota. Uh You kind of talked about how fans were incorporated into choosing the names. How, how did you go about doing that? Did you have like a fan boat in each market or? Yeah, just how about how did you go about incorporating fans in team names? Sure. So, um we didn't have uh what you would traditionally like a, a fan vote or a poll or something like that around the names. Um I think it was really important for us to be able to go deep in really understanding fans, connections to their communities and their and their cities, right? And so for us, what ended up being extremely valuable were um in depth conversations that we had with fans in each market. Um But then part and parcel with that, it was really interesting as the season um went underway to also look on social and, and see um you know what fans were saying, what they were thinking our youtube chat when we were streaming uh games were also really interesting. Um I mean, fans were constantly dropping names in there um and adding commentary around what they might like about it or not. And so also being able to listen to those conversations um that were happening in real time um were helpful as well. Thank you. Our next question comes from JN Gala. Yes. Uh Sorry about that. My name is John uh from CBC Montreal. A thank you to the both of you and thank you to for everyone who, who's here. Uh This question could either go for, for the both of you, but it's specific to Montreal. I just want to know how many other names uh were in the hat here and how hard was it to like choose uh Victoire? So overall John, like we went through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of names. I I can't sit here and tell you how many were specific to Montreal but in general, we went through more names than I can count to. Um I think the challenge in picking a name out is that it has to pass through intellectual property in both Canada and the United States. And so with different laws, rules, regulations in both countries, it certainly presents a bit of a challenge. Um I think we all loved the name Victoire. We, we purposely decided that there would be no anglican version that we wanted to just keep it in French. Um But I think when we saw that name, we all loved it. We felt it really, um talked to the essence of Montreal as a city to the people of the city, their expectations for championships, given their rich history in sports. And so, uh I think it was one of those names that when it hit you, you felt immediately good about it. Um You know, I don't know, Conon if you have anything to add, but uh it was one of those names, like some of the names you you got and just smiled. I think for me that was surely one of them. I would agree and I, I think it was very important for us to have, um have a name that felt relevant and felt that level of connection um for fans in Montreal specifically. And so, um yeah, I think instantly, I mean, even just thinking about the first time that we, that we thought about that name and the name came up, uh puts a smile on our faces. I just had a follow up. Sorry about that. What do you say to people who kind of say, hey, there's no translation. What do you, what do you react? How do you react to that? There's not meant to be a translation. Um We purposely wanted their name to be in French regardless of where they play. They are the Victoire. Uh and they are the Victoire in Quebec. They are the Victoire in Toronto, New York, Boston wherever they play. Um It was an intentional decision. Uh We wanted to represent um you know, Montreal and Quebec as best we can and that is through the French language and that's their name. Thank you so much, Greg. Go ahead with the next question. Cool, thanks. Hey, everybody, thanks for doing this. Uh I have to say, I think sirens might be my favorite name, multi layered hockey, police cars, mythical creatures like all of it. It's, it's a great name. I was interested in learning more about the color scheme that was chosen for the team. It's, there's some people saying that they think it might be a nod to the liberty. Um And trying to kind of keep, you know, within the, the, the sports community within New York. What, what were some of the thoughts in, in the uh the color scheming of the sirens? Um Oh Conan, let's tag team. This one, for starters. Um, it, again, Connon talked about, uh, keeping the primary color from year one. And so that's that teal green. Uh, so that was our starting point. Um, you know, it's, it's kind of interesting with both the Liberty and Gotham have that color in their palette. I don't think all of the greens are the same, but we all have something in that green palette and II, I don't think it was intentional, but it's certainly nice to have that tie, the two other women's teams that we share the city with. Um, and then when you start to think about what goes with teal, uh, you know, the, the color palette starts to form itself. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's like red, uh, you know, certain colors just go together and, uh, I think for teal blue and orange work really well, we added gray in to add some more depth and dimension. But, um, it's, it's really a nod to the Statue of Liberty. Uh, you know, really one of the great symbols of New York City without using that in our symbolism. Um, I don't know, con if you wanna add anything on there. Yeah, I think, um, the only other things I would add is, uh, obviously we wanted a color palette that would, um, work well together and, uh, feel modern feel, um, like it reflected the city's exhilarating kind of sights and sounds that inspired the name and this palette does that um the blue, uh you know, this deep dark blue uh meant to evoke the city's iconic night skyline and this orange, um you know, it's, it's taxis construction zones, just all the things that are in the city that you don't even um you don't even notice because you're so used to them. And so, um it's really a combination of all those pieces. All right, Curtis Martin, you're next. Go ahead. Hi, everyone. Uh Thank you for the time today. It's, um, I'm P Martin from the hockey news. Uh Just question, going back to this is going back a while now, almost a year ago when we had the initial draft. I know Jana said that you guys talked a lot with the NHL just to uh get their ear about, you know, the process of starting a new league and, you know, branding. And so can you guys talk a little bit, anyone can take this about, you know, how much you've talked to the NHL to, you know, pick their brains about this branding and how to go about it. Well, I think the NHL are wonderful partners for us as a matter of fact, uh I'm sitting in the NHL offices right now. Uh They are wonderful partners for us. We talk to them all the time about many things. Um There were certain names where we might have needed a coexistence agreement. Uh and we talked to the NHL around the potential names where we might have had to work together. Uh And that was actually the only place where we asked for their input uh around the names. They're, they're wonderful partners in everything we do. I think for this one, we had to set our own course in our own path. And uh we did and uh just one follow up question uh for Amy, I know you talked about the jerseys possibly being revealed at the end of October, beginning of November. When do you think fans will be able to purchase, purchase the jerseys? And will there be multiple options kind of like in other sports leagues where you can buy the authentic or the replica? Thank you. Um That's a great question, Curtis. Uh When we launch what the jerseys look like, you will immediately be able to buy replica jerseys and you will be able to buy them with player names on them as well. Uh I don't believe this year we are going to have authentic jerseys for sale, given the compressed timeline. Um I'm happy that the players will have jerseys to wear for the games. Uh I think in year three, we'll probably start to see where we come out with an authentic program. Thank you. Our next question comes from Stan. Ok. We'll move on to Sarah at CBC News. Hi guys. Thanks so much. Uh You hear me? Ok, I hope. Ok. Um So I know, uh last year was all came together quickly. Uh And so that's the reason there wasn't um names for the teams, but there was some talk about uh what names could be. And with that came a little bit of um criticism, I would say it's always something that uh isn't easy coming up with names and there will always be criticism uh or backlash, let's say, uh how much was that? A worry for you guys uh revealing these team names today and kind of dealing with some of the backlash, I suppose. Well, listen, I think in life, no matter what you do, you will never please everyone. What I can say is uh is that as a league, we are very confident in our process in the discovery and the feedback that we took from all of our different constituents. Uh So coming here today, we did a very thorough, a very thoughtful, a very buttoned up process. And so as I sit here, I am very confident that we did things the right way. Uh all six names we love, we think the logos came out great. Um The color palettes are wonderful and so people will have their opinion and, and they should, right? Like uh we welcome everybody's feedback and everybody's thoughts. But in terms of how we handle it, I there's nothing to handle. Um you know, the next phase for us is honestly, is, is waiting to see our fans bring these logos to life. In the arena. Um, and, and how they start to take on our brand and, and really bring it to life. It's, we've done our part now, it's up to the fans to do their part. So I don't think any of us are sitting here concerned about backlash, you know, understanding that we know that we did things the right way great. And, uh this is less about, about the team names and the, and the jerseys, but more about um the, the, the season ahead. Uh like I said, last year was a compressed season. Uh It, there was a lot of success across the board for the teams. Now we're gonna see a season with uh the, the, the, the full amount of games. Uh We have teams that have found the arenas that they want and now they have names. How excited are you for, for the season ahead and what's to come for this league? Yeah, I think we've got an entire league and team staff who cannot wait for Puck drop this year. Uh a lot of lofty expectations for us, I think coming off of year one, but that's the type of pressure and stress that we all relish and why we do this job. And so we are all being thoughtful about how we approach season two. and we're ready to roll, we've got our buildings, uh just about in order we're working on our broadcast deals. And so season two is gonna bring a lot of excitement, right? Uh We know that play is going to be great fast physical. I think the in arena experience will be elevated now that we have these brands to rally around. Um The merch will continue to come out. Um And so fans can engage and be excited about their team names and so a lot of great stuff ahead. Um uh you know, we still have a couple of months to work on some things, but we're, we're ready to go and feel really great about where we are. Thank you. I think we have time for two more questions. Julianne Piquette. Hi, good morning. Um I just uh hearing you talk about Montreal's name not being meant to, to be translated. Uh Just, I just wanted to ask you about Ottawa's name, uh which is obviously a bilingual community as well. Uh So was it in the opposite meant to be AAA name that was uh that was translatable? And, and how, how much of a additional challenge was it to, to find a name for, for Ottawa's team? I don't know that I would consider it a greater challenge than any other team name. Um You know, same criteria, same importance. Um And so the same amount of thought uh went into Ottawa that it did any other city and sure, the, the bilingual uh maybe throws a little bit of a wrench into it. But uh I think if again, if you take the right process, the right steps and be thoughtful, you'll come up with names that are meaningful to the community. Um It's, it's Canada's capital city and they lead that country forward and, and so there was a lot to think about when we, we thought about Ottawa, but I mean, sure it adds another layer layer um to the process. But, you know, at the end of the day, just try to do things the right way and make sure that there's a connection to the fans, English or French. Thank you. All right, Jerry Zgoda. Good morning. Uh Thank you uh Minnesota Star Tribune here. Ho ho uh for, for either or both. How many um how did you end up coming upon frost for Minnesota? And how many weather related names did you go through before you got there, Han and you wanna talk to Minnesota? Sure. Um I can't speak, I think goes to the earlier question. I can't speak to how many weather related names exactly we went through. Um There were many, many, many names. Um and I, I wouldn't say that they were necessarily all weather related either but um I think for, for frost, you know, that was a name that quite honestly it came up um from several different kind of areas. Uh that was a name that kept kind of coming up. Um And, and we heard was very, very popular um and had a lot of residents. And so I think for us, it was one that we right out of the gate took um very seriously and were really enthusiastic about and excited by and um wanted to really think about how we built um an identity around that and, and the storytelling that makes sense for, for Minnesota and, and connects in an emotional way um and speaks, speaks to the people. So, uh I think we all have a lot of heart for frost. Um And that was one that throughout the process. Um We, we felt very strongly about purple for Prince. I mean, um if you, uh I think every, we always like to say, our fans will imbue meaning into this. Um The purple is, you know, purple was Minnesota's primary color. Um Last season we wanted to bring that forward and then in terms of the additional color palette elements, the, the, the lilac, um the blizzard and white, uh those other colors that round it out. It's really meant to give depth and dimension um to the logo and, and icicles and really this monochromatic look that adds to the intensity and fierceness of frost. Thank you. Thank you, Jerry. All right. Final question for this. Uh for Amy and Conan Bridget. Go ahead. Hi. Thank you guys. Uh Bridget Pru, we, I Boston, I wanted to ask about Boston's logo. So, uh what was the origin of fleet and what aspects of that name drew you drew that name to the top of the list for Boston. Sure. Um I, I'll take that. Uh I, I went to BU I have a lot of heart for Boston. Haven't lived there in a long time, but I did live there for eight years. And so, um I do, I, as we like to say, we love all of our Children equally. Uh But Boston, um I can definitely speak to that. So I think in terms of the name fleet, um just the strong maritime history and heritage there you think about old iron sides. Um uh the Charlestown Navy are just a, a strong legacy of, of maritime history and building. And I think we really wanted to combine that with um the spirit of the people, the spirit of Bostonians, right? And, and New England. Um this, this Brazil, this unity, this togetherness, um and that spirit. And so for us, it was really about fleet in such a beautiful way, encompasses both of those things and brings it to life. Um And then the logo was meant to in terms of waves of resilience. Um this the bee sideways anchor, um bring all of those elements together as well. Thank you, Amy and Conan. We're going to shift to our second portion of today's press conference. Just a reminder to please stay muted unless you are asking a question. Our first three captains, we have Brian Jenner, who's captain of the Ottawa Charge, Blair Turnbull, Captain of the Toronto Scepters, and Marie Philippe, captain of the Montreal Victoire. Welcome. All right, in the interest of time. We will go straight into questions. So, if you have a question, please raise your virtual hand and we will try to get you in Jerry. Do you have a? Oh, there we go. All right. We'll start with, uh, Julianne Paquette. All right. Question is for Brian, uh, I was, uh, wondering seeing the, the teasers that were posted last, uh, last Friday, I believe. Um, what was the reaction among the, among the group seeing Gabby being put forward by the team? Uh, was, was there any jealousy or anything like that? Yeah, we had our, our group chat blowing up for sure. Um I think our, our guesses were a little bit off but everyone's really excited about this and, and I think in hindsight seeing that the photo was Gabby. She charges the net quite a bit. So it's pretty fitting. Um, but yeah, we're all really excited, obviously, this is a great day and I think really, really special for our fans as well. So it's a, it's a, it's fair to say that the, the whole team is, uh happy about this, uh, this new name. Absolutely awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next question comes from Tyler, uh Q Daily Face Off. This one is for Blair, uh, the Toronto Scepters, obviously, uh, the royalty, uh tie here for the team and, uh, the streets of Toronto, there's a King Street, Queen Street. How do you think that the name of this franchise has not just reflecting on the team, but also I guess the city in a way. Yeah, I think it's awesome. I think the league did a great job in picking our name. Um, obviously the teaser that was dropped last week kind of indicated that it might have something to do with the Queen. Um, and I didn't see too many people guess, uh, Scepters. So I think there's a lot of tie ins to the city, a lot of tie ins to our team identity and how we wanna play and perform on the ice. So overall, I think it's a very fitting name and one that uh our city will really embrace and a short fall up there to that Blair. It's kind of ironic or maybe coincidental that the team is moving to the Coca Cola Coliseum after playing at the Matomy for the last season and the regular season and the colors of this team kind of reflect ATM U down there. That's kind of funny. Right. Yeah, I think it's another sort of tie into the city. A lot of Toronto sports teams are blue and white and TMU are our home facility for last season. They have yellow as well. So, um, yeah, there's definitely a lot of tie ins with our, our logos and the colors and the city of Toronto. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next question comes from Pat Lara, uh La Mar, um du, du du uh a point and to uh we sp uh uh in the, uh, the, the uh, on his leg. Uh no, uh the, uh the Spike and uh uh uh the sponsor to PT de Mar, uh de la de de la uh transport, uh de Confusion. Uh We, we uh thank you. Our next question comes from Jared Book. Hi, uh Mary Philip. Um You, you play for the Can Canadian. Uh What does Victoire mean for you? You just said that in French, it's, it's like a mindset. What, what does it mean when you found out that was a name? And, and what are you looking forward to putting that into uh the team's identity as captain? Uh Yeah, obviously very excited such an exciting day here today to have six new names, six new logos. Uh Obviously, our league works so hard for us to make you happy and for us here in Montreal, obviously that Victor De Moa, like I mentioned a little bit, it's gonna be a mindset. Obviously, the six we all wanna win. You wanna be competitive and for us in Montreal, yes, it's on our jersey, but I don't think it changed what we were last year, uh every day. Uh You wanna perform, you wanna bring out your best and it's gonna be what our team's gonna rally around, what the city is gonna rally around, what our fans gonna be all about. And obviously it's a league that's very competitive. And for us uh really love the logo, really love the name. Uh Everybody's gonna ride around when you come to the rink, it's gonna be in a Jumbo John, it's gonna be everywhere. It's gonna be on T shirts, sweaters. So uh obviously it's all new to all of us. Uh But obviously, if you look at the logo, uh it's so detailed. Uh Well, obviously the m in there, the Flo de uh with the wings. Uh There's a lot that goes beyond it and I hope people realize uh what it's all about and how much word it's been put behind to make sure that Montreal go represent uh what it's all about. Thank you. Our next question comes from John Warra. Uh This is um hi, this is also for uh Marie Philippe, the importance that the league put in on Victoire to make it a French to, to, to, to have a stand alone French name that's not gonna be um you know, changed into English and it's just gonna be stand alone. How important do you think that is for, you know, a as a Quebecer and, and, and for the French Canadian community? Yeah, I think they, they do their due diligence here. Uh Obviously in Quebec French is, is very important and being able to say Victoire and B language is something that I think they did a lot of research and it is important and I think people are gonna see you from the French side today, English side, but it's all one and we all in this together and obviously there's no separation. I think we, we all work for this logo, this name and at the end of the day, uh the city, the province can rally around our team and uh be excited for it. Thank you. Our next question comes from Kenzie Leland. Yeah. Hi, Kenzie with TSN. Um just if each of you could just spend a sentence or two, if you could just describe the significance of now, really having an identity, anyone can start. Do you wanna start? Sure. Yeah, I think it's um it, it, I think it's really exciting for our fan base is um you know, I think to see, you know, our jerseys in the stands like we're gonna see this year. I think it's, um you know, it's just the next step forward for our league. And obviously, you know, we had an amazing first season but now to have, you know, team identities and I know, you know, specifically ours in Ottawa is um you know, it's not just a nod to the city and, you know, being the, the center of government, but it's a nod to our fans as well. A and I hope our fans realize that and embrace that. Um you know, the electric energy that they brought in in, in our first season is a big part of our identity. So, um I think it's just gonna continue to carry the momentum of this league forward. And uh like, like who said a very exciting day, Blair? You wanna give it a go? Yeah, I think similar thoughts to Brian. Um It's a super exciting day, not only for the players to finally be able to say that we play on the Scepters. Um You know, it's a lot easier to say than Pwhl Toronto. So that's a plus for us. But I think in terms of um where the league's at and, and how successful it was last year without any names or logos, I'm thinking to what the future holds now for all the teams and the franchises um to have names and have logos and potentially mascots and so many different things for the fans to rally behind. And I think uh like what Brian said, um these team names and our logos and colors, they represent more than just our team. They represent our cities and our fans and um all the support that we had in year one and I hope um everybody feels that and everyone is super eager and excited to support uh the league moving forward now that we have names and logos and everything like that. Ok. Poo, you're off the hook, I'll give you a specific question here for my follow up. Uh, I think it's fun too to think there'll be mascots, hopefully one day. So Marie Philip, if you could kind of think of what a cool mascot could be for. For Montreal, what kind of comes to mind? Oh, great question, Nancy. Uh, obviously it's very exciting. We're actually just talking about it with Jenny and Blair before. Uh, I would say, I think for me, if I look at the logo, I think something with the wings, I think something that would be exciting to come to uh to Montreal. But obviously, uh anything at this point uh is just so fun. I think the excitement of today, every logo, every name. Um It's exciting. We've been waiting for that moment, obviously, last year was unbelievable uh with the PWHL from different markets, but now we literally have logos names and obviously mascot is gonna come, it's gonna be all new to us and it's gonna be exciting. Right? Amy. She's laughing over there, but uh it's your phone. We'll see what's gonna happen. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks Kenzie. All right, where you have uh room for one more question. Um Me then we uh pardon? Uh uh ef no uh sponsor the Pres uh Molavi or land, uh sponsor the Pre Gion. We uh we uh take out on the water, the uh uh uh uh that charge. Sw A nn. Thank you. Thank you, Brian Blair and Marie Philippe. Thank you for your time. We'll bring in our final group of captains. Joining us is Hilary knight, captain of the Boston Fleet, Kendall coins, Schofield, captain of the Minnesota Frost, and Micah Zandi Hart, captain of the New York sirens. All right, before we get started, I'd love to hear from each of you. Just talk about what today means, uh, for you and for the league and for your team, Hillary, we'll get started with you just so ecstatic. Um obviously, year one, you have to build a culture and, and some in somewhat of an identity. Um and now to have logos and names, I'm really excited for our group of individuals that gears up together, but super excited the fans to, to have that strong identity in Boston. And obviously a lot of thought that went into each team name and each logo and just really excited for Puck drop this year and for people to rally around all this amazing movement that's going on in the PWHL. Thank you, Hillary Kendall. Would you like to go next? Yeah, it's an exciting day, a historical day in uh PWL history and hockey history, sport history. Uh Excited for the fan base in Minnesota. Uh excited for the league and excited for hockey fans around the world uh that can now um you know, associate a team name and a logo uh with the, the greatest uh women's professional hockey league in the world. Thank you, Mica. Go ahead. Yeah, it's uh just such an exciting day. I've been around some players in the league today, some of my teammates and all other teams and obviously getting a lot of text messages from family and fans and everything and people are just excited. Uh It's just bringing more, more hype to the league. People are excited for the season and like, uh Kendall and Hillary have both said to, to give both us as players, but also the fans just something to root for and something to feel a part of uh in these team names and logos is just super exciting. Thank you. Just a reminder. If you have a question, you can use the virtual hand to raise it. And then I will, when I call on you, please announce your name and your outlet. If you are not speaking, please remain muted. Let's start with Sophia Blue. Go ahead. Hi. This question is kind of for everyone. Sophia Blue, student journalist from Min Minnesota. Um What was the general reaction from like your teammates or um just the people surrounding you about the new team names and logos Hillary? Would you like to start? Yeah, and people are excited, I think um you know, whenever you go into a huddle and uh you're cheering for something, it's nice to, to be able to name it. And so now to have that identity and have that more purposefulness, um you know, being in Boston and the thoughtfulness that went behind the design and the names, uh can we can really attach ourselves to as well as fans. And so I think people are really excited and really eager to get to Puck Drop for season two. Mica. Yeah, I think, um everyone's been obviously the, the suspense was building all last week after, uh the PWHL posted that it was going to be announced today and I think everyone was waiting for it And so far, everyone that I've talked to has just been really excited to dive into the logos. And I think for all of us players especially and, and the fans just to find out the why behind it and be able to kind of build that identity out behind the logos and really feel, you know, why it's a part of the city, why it's important. Um I think that's something that um we can really get behind Kendall. Go ahead. Yeah, just to build off. Um what Hillary and Mike said, I think uh excitement, I think, you know, the excitement of, you know, thinking about a couple of months from now. Um you know, seeing fans in Minnesota walking around with Minnesota Frost jerseys on and um you know, filling the, the Excel Energy Center with, with purple just as they did last year. But now with uh taking it a step further with the identity with the logo of the Frost and uh just a str such a strong, bold, intense logo um that I think a lot of people are very excited about it uh including the players. And so um yeah, I think the word that comes to mind is excitement. Thank. Thank you so much. Thanks Sophia. Our next question comes from Jerry Zgoda. Hi, um uh the Minnesota Star Tribune for, for, for Kendall. How involved were you in any other Minnesota players involved in the process? And how many weather related names did you go through? Did you see in, in, in that, in that whole process? We were not involved in the process. What, what, what's your opinion on the name? I love it. Right. Our next question comes from Curtis Martin. Hi, Chris Burton from the hay. This is a question for um all, all three of you. When did you guys find out what the names were for your teams? And what were your initial thoughts? Thank you. I, I can start. Um I know the leagues kept the league kept this under wraps pretty well. So, uh, recently, um and so it, it's funny when all the teasers were getting released, it was uh really trying to figure out what's, what's the name gonna be for each city. So, um, you know, the league did a really good job of keeping this buttoned up and, um, you know, we're obviously the leaders of our team, so we're here with, with this awesome merch. But um yeah, we, we were really not necessarily involved in this process, but I think uh they did an awesome job of being able to, um, you know, really put thought behind each city and with great purpose and meaningfulness for um people to really feel a part of these names and identities. Ok. Um Chris Hurley will move over to you. Go ahead, Chris. Ok, Tyler? Cool, go ahead. Kind of your daily face off. This one is for Mike, uh Mike of the, the colors for New York have kind of stood uh with from last year with the, the Liberty Green. What does it mean for this team to kind of be in conglomerate with the other women's sports teams in the New York area, the New York Liberty and Gotham FC. Kind of similar to what we see in like, say like Pittsburgh where they're all yellow and black. How does it, how does it feel to kind of feel like you're all one in 11 big unit over there with all the women's teams in New York? Yeah, I think that's a great question. I'm obviously not, not sure if there was intention behind that or not, but I think the fact that we're all kind of ring at a different version of this deal is, is pretty cool. Obviously in women's sports, we're, we're all one right now. We're all kind of feeding off each other and the support and energy and the kind of, um, well, how much everyone's watching women's sports, it's helping every sport, not just one. So, um, it's great to be a part of that and especially in New York, just the what sport means in the city of New York and the history of sport in the city. It's, it's cool to feel like we're kind of tied to some of the other teams in a way and I'm sure fans feel the same. Our next question comes from John Warre and this is for uh John War with the associated press. This is for Kendall and, and maybe Amy might. Well, I, I might be able to chime in but how impressed were you that they kept this thing under wraps for three months almost. I mean, this thing was decided in May and no one could guess what the, what the name was. Sometimes the best things in life. You have to wait the longest for Amy. Do you have a respon? Are you surprised that these things did not leak out? Of course, um You know, you do your best to work within a group and keep things tight. And uh you know, we had people sign a lot of NDAS as we look to build out merch and everything that we needed to get done for today. Videos produced, graphics produced. And so uh our, our lawyers were pumping out ndas every day, but um we're glad we got to today and we were able to make the announcement and um appreciate the support of our players and our fans uh while we went through this process. Thank you. Thanks John. Our next question comes from Jay Gray IJ from the Ice Garden and questions for Hillary. Um really as someone who's spent a lot of time in Boston Hockey, um can you speak personally to have the, the name and the logo and the color scheme that identity fit into the history and landscape of hockey in Boston? Yeah. Um Well, I absolutely love sort of just off the bat. It's, it's an anchor within the bee, right? Um And so it's got that movement that motion forward. Um you know, the waves in there, sort of, it really just embodies that relentless, passionate sort of attitude um of what it means to be a part of that city and represent that city on the professional level. And um also the, the anchor with like the nod to, to all the, the um heritage there. Uh But yeah, it's, it's really cool um to be able to have something that you feel embodies the city to this to this extent. Um So really excited and, and happy and the color scheme is so unique as well and it's definitely going to set us apart, which is awesome. Thank you. Uh And we have room time for a few more questions. Uh Chris Hurley. Are you, are you there? Ok, Miami. All right. Sorry about that. Uh You know, just to follow up with Hillary just with regards to the logo, very reminiscent of the, the, the new England Whalers, the Hartford Whalers. And just what was the feedback you were getting from the fans when the, when initial word came out, I know there was kind of a lukewarm response to some of the earlier drafts and just what was the, the feedback you were getting from the fans with regards to the name and what, what they thought, oh, like previously. Um, you know, I think it's tough whenever you launch something. Uh, people are like, oh, I don't know if I like it right. There's always sort of a mixed bag of, of reactions, but, um, I think people are really attached to this and I think, um it just goes to show that there is a lot of thought behind it and, um, you know, the other ones didn't stick and that's why we're the Boston fleet and we have this color scheme and it's gonna be uh incredible. Like I, I cannot wait to play in front of um our fan base because it's truly special when, when you're in our arena and you're just gonna see the sea of green, different types of green and different hues. And um, yeah, it's, it's gonna be truly something special that he thanks Chris. Our next question comes from Jason Cook. Hi, Jason Cook from the Little Sun. Um This question is for Hillary and also I don't know if Amy wants to chime in as well. Um, but first Hillary, do you think now that you have team names, do you think it will be important to eventually get games in Boston? And I know you're based in? Well, I mean, if Amy wants to follow up on that, are there any plans next year as far as venue or confirmed venues or anything you'd be able to share Amy? Do you want to start with that? Yeah, Jason, we'll be back at Tsongas this year. We're working on some other options that quite honestly we're just not really to address right now. Um If we have other venue announcements, I promise you, we will make that announcement but not quite there yet. Thank you. Thank you. Our final question comes from Jerry Zgoda. Jerry or I guess no more questions. Ok. All right. Thank you everyone for joining us today and congratulations to everyone involved and we look forward to seeing you soon.