Hamilton, 3 other expansion PWHL teams reveal names and logos ahead of inaugural season
Hamilton Havoc, Detroit Clutch, San Jose Sea Lions and Vegas Vanguards will begin play this upcoming season. All four now have logos, but they won't appear on the teams' jerseys until the 2027-28 season.
Hamilton Havoc logo incorporates city's official bird, the peregrine falcon
Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports
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The PWHL's newest four teams now have names and logos, but you won't see them on the teams' jerseys this upcoming season.
Hamilton Havoc, Detroit Clutch, San Jose Sea Lions and Vegas Vanguards were announced as team names on Tuesday morning, ahead of the start of the league's regular season on Dec. 5.
All four expansion teams will wear previously-revealed sweaters that include the city name stitched across the chest, something every PWHL team has done in its first season.
The jersey designs with team names and logos have been submitted to Bauer, but it takes about 14 months to get those ready, according to Amy Scheer, the league's executive vice president of business operations.
Hamilton Havoc defender Zoe Boyd shows off the home jersey the team will wear in its first season. The jerseys with the team name and logo won't be ready until the 2027-28 season. (PWHL)
"It’s become a fun tradition and the jerseys look great, so why not keep it?" Scheer said about the city-name jerseys.
Even though the jerseys aren't ready yet, the league had merchandise with team names and logos ready for sale on its site on Tuesday morning.
The team names and logos are the result of months of research around what's important to each city, its fans and sports culture. That includes online chatter indicating what fans want to see.
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"Our fans love sharing their opinions," Ali Koviak, the league's senior director of brand and marketing, told CBC Sports. "We love seeing their ideas. Then, once we find something that works, we really start building in that direction: name, logo, sketches, visual exploration. It’s not necessary a linear process. Each city looked a little bit different in terms of how everything came together."
Nature, industry inspired Hamilton logo, name
Hamilton Havoc "is inspired by the unique balance between the forces of industry and nature in Hamilton, as steel mills rise alongside the natural beauty of the Niagara Escarpment," according to the league's description.
"Shaped by generations of creators, builders, and makers, disruption has always made way for change, adaptation, and reinvention, and this team will be tested and forged in the same spirit," the PWHL says.
The logo incorporates Hamilton's official bird, a peregrine falcon, which is "reimagined in steel with molten eyes."
The San Jose Sea Lions pays tribute to the marine mammals that serve as "proud guardians of the rugged Bay Area coastline." Sea lions are "deeply connected to Pacific waters and the communities that define the region" and are "known for their intelligence, playful expression, agility, and fierce protection of their colonies," the league says.
The San Jose Sea Lions, the PWHL's first California-based team, pays tribute to the marine mammal "known for their intelligence, playful expression, agility, and fierce protection of their colonies." (PWHL)
The name also holds a connection to the San Francisco Sea Lions of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association. The team, which played in 1946, included Toni Stone, "the first woman to play baseball regularly in a major men's professional league."
The Vegas Vanguards "celebrates those who lead the way, embracing challenges and creating new opportunities," the league says. "Inspired by the pioneering spirit that helped shape the West, the name represents courage, determination, and a willingness to forge new paths."
The logo features the kit fox, which is native to the Mojave Desert and "perseveres and thrives in the face of adversity."
The Vegas Vanguards logo features a kit fox, a species native to the Mojave Desert. A kit fox "perseveres and thrives in the face of adversity," the PWHL says. (PWHL)
Detroit Clutch is a reference both to a common hockey term and the city's deep history within the automotive industry.
"It really opened up this rich world where shift plays a role in automotive culture and hockey on the ice and being clutch," Koviak said. "Rising to the moment and actually being a mechanical mechanism within a car, we loved where that went for us."
That one might be a bit tricky for fans who are used to associating clutch with a certain Canadian captain, who plays for the Montreal Victoire.
"We’re hopeful that fans will really embrace it and that there's room for clutch to exist in the broader PWHL community as well," Koviak said.
The Detroit Clutch logo incorporates both the city's history in the automotive industry and the influence of Motown. (PWHL)
The Clutch's logo also includes "rhythmic vinyl lines" within the wheeled logo, which is a reference to "Motown's enduring influence."
Training camps open in the PWHL on Nov. 18.
The Hamilton Havoc will make its PWHL debut on Dec. 5 in Quebec against the Montreal Victoire, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. It will also mark the debut of the PWHL on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, which will broadcast the game.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karissa Donkin is a reporter with CBC Sports who covers the PWHL, women's hockey and lots more. You can reach her at karissa.donkin@cbc.ca.
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