PWHL Team Names Unlikely To Change If Utah's NHL Team Is Any Indication

Unless new names emerge in the near future, the PWHL looks as though they'll be sticking with the original six names trademarked back in October 2023. Conversely, the NHL's new Utah franchise provided fans with 20 options.

The NHL approved the relocation of the the Arizona Coyotes to Utah in April, and only weeks later, Utah's ownership and the NHL unveiled a survey allowing fans a say in the new organization's future name.

They trademarked and tested a long list of name including Utah Glaciers, Utah Mammoth, Utah Caribou, Utah Powder, Utah Squall, Utah Ice, Utah HC, Utah Freeze, Utah Frost, Utah Hive, Utah Swarm, Utah Mountaineer, Utah Venom, Utah Canyons, Utah Yeti, Utah Black Diamonds, Utah Outlaws, Utah Fury, Utah Blast, and Utah Blizzard. 

It was a stark departure from the PWHL's approach for their six teams, where only one name per team received a trademark, and they were not well received by most fans. Those names - Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, Ottawa Alert, and Toronto Torch were registered on October 25, 2023. 

There was no fan input, there was no communication with communities, and there was only a single option for each team. 

One of the main reasons given by the PWHL on many decisions has been a lack of time. The NHL proved however that 20 names could be generated and examined with a similar turnaround. Of course the NHL's Utah franchise will follow the PWHL lead and just be known as Utah for their first season without a nickname, but it also shows that if the PWHL plans to unveil team names and logos in August, they are quite literally out of time to begin trademarking names if logos are already in the works.

The NHL's other recent addition, the Seattle Kraken unveiled 13 trademarked names and also ran a poll among fans in the region voting to support one of Seattle Cougars, Seattle Eagles, Seattle Emeralds, Seattle Evergreens, Seattle Firebirds, Seattle Rainiers, Seattle Renegades, Seattle Sea Lions, Seattle Seals, Seattle Sockeyes, Seattle Totems, Seattle Whales, and of course, the Kraken.

As of June 3, 2024, the PWHL owned 75 trademarks globally including in Canada, USA, the United Kingdom, and European Union.

The majority of those trademarks were the league's PWHL name and logo in both French and English, as well as each team's PWHL Ottawa, PWHL Montreal, PWHL Toronto, PWHL Boston, PWHL New York, and PWHL Minnesota, along with the six nicknamed monikers. Other items trademarked by the PWHL included PWHL Jailbreak and Jailbreak Goal, Battle on Bay Street, as well as the now utilized Walter Cup, and a variation for Mark and Kimbra Walters' daughter that went unused, the Samantha Walter Cup. Within those 75 trademarked images and names, only six team nicknames exist, the original six that were trademarked in October 2023.

Other sports team names in those cities have also been trademarked during this period of time. The Hockey News conducted a variety of trademark searches in case the PWHL utilized alternative companies to conceal names. In Ottawa those included baseball's Ottawa Titans and lacrosse's Ottawa Black Bears. In Montreal it was cricket's Montreal Tigers. Toronto also had a cricket team register a trademark, the Toronto Nationals, along with a swimming team called the Toronto Titans. In Boston there was a football team called the Boston Breakers, a soccer team called the Boston Bolts, a flag football club called the Boston Brigade, and a boxing organization known as the Boston Butchers. In Minnesota it was the Minnesota Honeycrisps, a baseball team. 

Unless we see something in the next few weeks, there is really no way around the PWHL moving forward with their six original choices.

In some ways, fans have softened on those names, while other portions, including the linguistic error of Boston Wicked, the illogical change to the historic Ottawa Alerts name to Ottawa Alert, and a New York name, the Sound, that if the team moves to New Jersey, or out of Connecticut, which the league has already made a priority moving forward, would remove the initial geographic connection of the Long Island Sound.

Whether it's the original six tradmarked names, or something altogether different, we will soon know the nicknames for each of the PWHL's original six franchises.