The Professional Women’s Hockey League unveiled nicknames and logos for its four expansion clubs ahead of the start of Season 4 on Dec. 5–6.
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The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) on Tuesday released the nicknames and logos for four new expansion teams joining the league this season, giving identities to the Detroit Clutch, San Jose Sea Lions, Vegas Vanguards and Hamilton Havoc.
The PWHL said the league selected the four new markets this spring as it expanded from eight to 12 teams and doubled in size since launching on Jan. 1, 2024. Season 4 begins with an opening-weekend set for Dec. 5–6.
The league also noted that while merchandise featuring the new logos and nicknames is already available for sale, the branding will not be incorporated on the expansion teams’ jerseys until next season, because the branding was not available when team jerseys were placed for order. Instead, the PWHL said the teams will have their city names printed across the front.
In a news release, the league said, “Each team’s unique identity was built with the spirit and legacy of the community a the center,” adding that “Women-led PWHL design teams were at the helm of the process to develop each city’s brand identity.” The PWHL said its logo designs for Vegas and San Jose included collaboration from the creative agency Doubleday and Cartwright.
For Detroit, the league said the Clutch name “offers a double meaning” as a nod to the city’s automotive industry and as an ability to deliver under pressure. It described the circular black-and-white logo as featuring an automotive wheel outlined in red, with “Clutch” across it in art deco-inspired typography.
The PWHL said San Jose’s Sea Lions tie into marine life in the Bay Area, with a circular logo showing a sea lion’s head and torso emerging from the waves, using blue and sunset orange. It also said the name pays homage to the West Coast Negro Baseball Association’s San Francisco Sea Lions, who played in 1946 and included Toni Stone, described as the first woman to play regularly in a major men’s professional league.
In Vegas, the league said Vanguards was inspired by a “pioneering spirit” associated with the West and features the primary colors of cactus green, desert gold and navy. The PWHL described the logo as showing a kit fox native to the Mojave Desert, with the fox’s ears shaped in a “V” to represent Vegas.
For Hamilton, the league said Havoc reflects a balance between industry and nature in the city, describing steel mills rising alongside the natural beauty of the Niagara Escarpment. It said the logo features Hamilton’s official bird, the peregrine falcon, perched atop steel-forged lettering spelling out Havoc, with colors of rusted steel, tempered gold and orange.
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