Opinion: It should be back to the drawing board for PWHL names

For the sake of women's hockey, the PWHL would be wise to hit the brakes and show fans they're listening when it comes to the initially proposed names, which were received like a lead balloon.

The PWHL's first six names came out online this week, and it certainly was not the response the league or the marketing agency they contracted, hoped for.

It was a wide spanning decry for almost every proposed name, including the Boston Wicked, which Locked On Bruins host Ian McLaren "the worst team name in sports history," and to which Meg Linehan, senior writer at The Athletic agreed stated "makes me want to actively fight whoever came up with it. Why would you do this. Why."

Yahoo's Jacob Stoller wrote an article on the response, saying "the trademarked names were met with mostly negative reviews among hockey fans."

With the response received, including from the most diehard women's hockey fans, it should give the PWHL a moment to pause, reflect, and inevitably, to go back to the drawing board. Fans want to know the league is listening, and there has never been a more clear call to change directions than right now.

With more than two months remaining until the inaugural season opens, there is time to get this right. One wonders what work was done on potential branding over the last five years, given the monumental rush and sprint the league is in right now to get to the finish line, but that's beside the point.

As multiple reports have claimed, PWHL teams are expected to have only their market name on their jersey during this inaugural season, and while fans have been anxious to see team names, their anxiety was worsened by the result of that push to get things done, rather than getting it done right.

As I wrote in an earlier column, team names and logos can wait. The focus right now should be getting a quality product on the ice, and treating players well. The PWHPA and PWHL chose to abandon all of the PHF "assets" they purchased. It's a decision that has certainly impacted the player experience and put the process behind, but never was that more clear than what we saw from the team names.

Now more than ever, I'll re-assert that team names and logos can wait...and in this case, should have waited. If we see three more rounds of potential names trademarked, that would actually be a hopeful sign that this process is not being rushed as many players have expressed they fear. 

There is too much on the line to get even small details wrong, but a detail like a name, that will become a legacy, and a source of income related to marketing and merchandise, is too important to get right, to get them this wrong.

When you look at historic names in sports, a few things hold true - they're plural, they're tangible items, often easily tied to a mascot or symbol. In baseball it's the Cubs, Tigers, Orioles, Yankees, Twins, and Red Sox. In the NFL it's the Cardinals, Bears, Steelers, Eagles, Lions, and Packers. The NBA provides the Celtics, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, Kings, Lakers, and Rockets.  Even if we look at a pattern of the original five teams of the PHF, the Riveters, Pride, Whale, Whitecaps, and Beauts, or go back to the CWHL's Furies, Thunder, Les Canadiennes, Blades, Inferno, or Stars. In the NCAA top programs include the Badgers, Buckeyes, Huskies, Terriers, Golden Gophers, and Golden Knights.

It's easy to see a pattern here, and it's hard to think that if six of these names had been selected, that the uproar from fans would have been anywhere near as deafening. There would have been favorites, and some would have not liked a name here or there, but there wouldn't have been across the board disdain.

There is little connection for fans to terms like Echo, Torch, and Wicked. Ottawa had an obvious connection in the Alerts, and the league still changed this historic name. 

While the Riveters may have been the most beloved name in women's hockey, Minnesota fans losing the history of the Whitecaps perhaps hits closer to home. There was nothing wrong with the vast majority of the brands or logos the PWHL acquired, so to see the PWHLPA and PWHL throw those away simply to disassociate, and then come up with these names, was the final straw for many fans who were already dealing with losing teams and players they loved.

Marketing and branding is often about about pitching dozens of ideas, and consulting the communities involved. Whomever was consulted here missed the boat, but it's not too late. The PWHL can still stick to their timelines, and go back to the drawing board on these names for the good of the league, and for the assurance of the public that this new league will indeed listen to fans, and adapt.