The PWHL announced its first expansion team Wednesday, granting a new franchise in Vancouver – but Seattle could be on the way.
While the PWHL formally added Vancouver as the seventh franchise, the league wants an eighth in place before next season, executive VP of business operations Amy Scheer told reporters Wednesday. While Scheer said they’re not ready to say when and where another team will be added, Seattle has surfaced in rumors and speculation as the next spot.
The move to add Vancouver opens up the West Coast for the PWHL, while also freeing up more roster spots for a circuit currently overstuffed with talent – a good problem to have. Adding Seattle would now be a fit out west.
Given how successful the PWHL has been through a season and a half, expansion was an obvious move, and potentially bringing in two markets that are close to each other is smart, even if they are far away from the 'Original Six' franchises.
But let's get down to brass tacks here: what should the new teams be called?
You know I love everything jersey and name-related, so this is right up my alley. But I also learned during the PWHL's first naming wave that it's not easy to just conjure up an identity.
The league named all six of its original franchises at the same time, with help from the New York City branding agency Flower Shop. At one point, the spreadsheet of possibilities got up to 800 names, and the league even considered fan suggestions – New York Pizza Rats was a popular one that, ultimately, did not make the cut. But they also couldn't dilly-dally because Season 2 was fast approaching.
"Time really wasn't on our side," said Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the PWHL's vice president of brand and marketing. "So how do we make sure we're pulling in the voices and insights of each local market so the name feels authentic and relevant, but that we're also moving quickly to give the fans what they want? It was so important to do that for Season 2."
Bhatt-Shah was a big part of the process, along with Scheer (my interview with Bhatt-Shah took place shortly after the Original Six names were announced).
Which brings us to Vancouver and Seattle.
Right now, I would assume the same criterion applies as did before: the PWHL would prefer unique names that give them maximum IP freedom in the U.S. and Canada. But that doesn't mean we can't dip into the past.
In Ian Kennedy's book Ice In Their Veins, our own THN women's hockey writer recounts the history of women in the game, including a 1921 tournament that featured the Vancouver Amazons and Seattle Vamps. Now, there's a pretty obvious reason why 'Amazons' won't clear the copyright/IP hurdle these days, and as for Vamps – I'm not sure that's gonna fly with the players.
But Vancouver could still dip into history.
The last pro team Cammi Granato (now, coincidentally working for the NHL's Seattle Kraken) ever played for was the B.C. Breakers of the Western Women's League. Modify it a bit, and Vancouver Breakers has a nice ring to it.
As for the potential Seattle squad, lemme throw something at you: the Seattle Evergreens.
Of course, you get the tie-in to Washington state's great outdoors, but Evergreen State College in Olympia also had an outsized impact on music coming out of the state, particularly the Riot Grrrl movement. Members of Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney and Bratmobile all attended the school (as did rapper Macklemore, for the record). While Olympia is not Seattle, it's at least in the same state – and you don't get the title of the most important song in Seattle history – Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit – without Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, whose graffiti about pal Kurt Cobain inspired the name.
If the PWHL goes with the Breakers and Evergreens, the league would still be without an animal mascot, which is kinda funny, but not planned during the Original Six process.
"I wish I could give you a better story, but it was just coincidence," Bhatt-Shah said. "There were definitely animal names considered, but as we looked at our criteria, these were the strongest."
So let's open up the discussion. What would you call the newest PWHL teams? Let us know in the comments.