Professional Women's Hockey League unveils new logo

The new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) now has a league logo.

The league unveiled the new branding on Tuesday, after a player from each of the league's six teams each teased a portion of the logo on their social media posts over the last few days.

The primary logo is a stylized W, representing women, with two sticks crossed and a puck to create a visual of a faceoff.

"This element was chosen to illustrate a new beginning in women's hockey, in the same way a face-off takes place at the beginning of every game," the PWHL said in a news release.

The logo includes six pieces, representing six players on the ice during a game and the league's "original six" franchises, which are located in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Minnesota and New York. 

The secondary logo includes the PWHL acronym with a stylized W. Both have purple as a primary colour, "a colour that signifies power and is often associated with ambition, both symbolic of PWHL players and the league's formation," the PWHL's release said.

The first hint of the PWHL's colours came at the league's first draft last month, when players walked a bright purple carpet lined with fans.

Each team's draft table had a sign with a unique colour. Those colours — including red for Ottawa, maroon for Montreal and blue for Toronto — were added to each team's social media after the draft.

League set to begin play in January 2024

Black and white versions of the league's logo were first reported by SportsLogos.net last week, after they appeared in the United States Patent and Trademark Office database. The database shows they were filed on Oct. 12.

The designs were created by Baltimore-based Younts Design Inc., a creative studio that has worked with other sports organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

"We love the prominence of the 'W' used in a clean and strong design that celebrates PWHL trailblazers and their legacy across women's sports," PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten said in the PWHL's news release.

"When people see the logo, they will recognize how it represents women and immediately know it's about hockey. The 'W' symbol speaks for itself but offers versatility to fit nicely when used inside our PWHL lettering."

Earlier this month, Kasten told CBC Sports that the league's teams will "certainly have team names," before January 2024, when the league expects to begin play, but it's less certain that teams will have logos by then.

"I don't know about logos," Kasten said at the time. "But we'll see. We might. We might surprise everyone. Or we might not surprise everyone. We're just not ready to announce anything yet but when we are, we will."

On Tuesday, each team updated its social media to include the new league logo with the team's colours and city name.

Kasten also said earlier this month that the league plans to announce the schedule, team names and team venues for both playing and practising "in the next few weeks or so." Training camps open in all six markets on Nov. 15.