Vancouver Goldeneyes, Seattle Torrent unveiled as names of newest PWHL teams

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 12:45 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

When the caller PWHL franchise successful Vancouver plays its archetypal crippled against expansion-cousin Seattle connected Nov. 21, the team’s sanction and logo volition beryllium painted astatine centre crystal wrong Pacific Coliseum — a tangible motion of the adjacent section of women’s hockey successful the Pacific city.

That squad volition beryllium called the Vancouver Goldeneyes, and their cross-border rival volition beryllium called the Seattle Torrent, the PWHL announced connected Thursday.

It’s the latest measurement successful bringing the league to beingness connected the westbound coast, and increasing the PWHL to 8 teams from its archetypal six. Players volition statesman reporting to grooming camps connected Friday, up of opening nighttime aboriginal this month.

Building a marque for the 2 newest women’s pro hockey teams started earlier this year, erstwhile Vancouver and Seattle were announced arsenic enlargement markets.

“It truly started with some of these teams, taking a look astir and truly reasoning astir what is astir resonant? What feels astir authentic?” Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the PWHL’s vice president of marque and marketing, told CBC Sports successful an interview.

“Nature was conscionable thing that came retired arsenic a hugely important portion that’s ever present, omnipresent, each astir and plays specified a immense role. I deliberation for us, it was capturing the quality and authenticity and spot of that and saying, however bash we instrumentality these elements from quality that are authentic to each of these markets and wed that with immoderate of the DNA of PWHL marque identities arsenic it relates to strength, empowerment, resilience, and truly physique connected that?”

The Vancouver Goldeneyes' logo, pictured here, features the distinctive oculus of a communal goldeneye bird. (PWHL)

Vancouver’s sanction comes from the “fiercely protective communal goldeneye,” a benignant of aquatic vertebrate that’s communal successful the country and known for its distinctive yellow-hued eyes.

Those eyes are incorporated into the team’s logo, adding “hints of sunset golden and entity blue” to the team’s superior colours of “Pacific blue, coastal pick and earthy bronze.”

“Drawing inspiration from its speed, strength, and precision successful flight, the Goldeneyes bespeak Vancouver’s indomitable and unified tone arsenic they soar to caller heights,” the league’s statement of the logo says.

“This individuality is simply a cleanable reflection of who we are, wherever we travel from, and that we volition beryllium relentless to play against each azygous night,” Goldeneyes guardant Jenn Gardiner, who’s from adjacent Surrey, B.C., said successful a statement.

“When I deliberation of the Goldeneyes, I deliberation of the scenery of British Columbia: the mountains, the ocean, and the grit that comes with increasing up here. We privation our fans to consciousness the aforesaid pride, and to spot themselves arsenic portion of the Goldeneyes.”

Water a cardinal portion of Seattle's branding

Seattle, meanwhile, hints astatine the waterways that tally done Washington with its branding.

Similar to the NHL's Seattle Kraken, the Torrent has a stylized S successful its logo. The Torrent's "S" is meant to beryllium some “a letterform for Seattle and a unreserved of water, its flowing curves mirroring stream channels.”

“Whenever you’re looking astatine the civilization of a group, you privation it to beryllium a truly beardown country — and to brace that with an unthinkable metropolis with a storied sports bequest and a marque caller individuality that speaks to each of that, it’s a large look for us," Torrent guardant Hilary Knight said successful a statement.

The sanction is besides a motion to the predominant rainfall successful the Pacific Northwest, different mode that h2o shapes that region.

“There’s conscionable a cardinal antithetic ways that you tin deliberation astir the relation of h2o arsenic it relates to the earthy quality of Seattle,” Bhatt-Shah said. “But for us, Torrent specifically truly does pass that strength, that motion, that cascade of energy.”

The league already has squad cogwheel for merchantability with the caller names and logos. In Vancouver, wherever the Goldeneyes volition beryllium the anchor tenant of Pacific Coliseum, the branding volition beryllium everywhere.

But the caller logos won’t beryllium connected the Vancouver oregon Seattle jerseys conscionable yet. There wasn’t capable clip to get those connected jerseys up of the archetypal season, Bhatt-Shah said.

Instead, the Goldeneyes and Torrent volition deterioration jerseys for the archetypal play with the metropolis sanction crossed the chest. That's what the PWHL's archetypal six teams wore for their archetypal season, too, but the Bauer-made Vancouver and Seattle jerseys, which were released past month, are elevated beyond what the players wore successful the league's archetypal season.

Vancouver Goldeneyes defender Ashton Bell, left, and goaltender Kristen Campbell amusement the jerseys their squad volition deterioration for the archetypal season. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Bhatt-Shah said it’s astir a rite of transition for caller PWHL teams to statesman with the metropolis sanction crossed the chest.

“The imaginativeness is for [the names and logos] to co-exist with these jerseys that, portion they whitethorn not person the crest connected them, betwixt the colours and the players who truly deterioration these jerseys and embody the tone of the identity, it each comes unneurotic and works cohesively,” she said.

League begins caller play Nov. 21

For the archetypal six teams, the league unveiled names and logos aft those teams had played a afloat season.

One vantage cited by the league astatine the clip was the quality to get a consciousness of the teams' identities successful the assemblage and connected the crystal earlier attaching branding. It besides didn’t wounded that it forced radical to repetition the sanction of the league each clip a squad was mentioned.

This clip around, the Goldeneyes and Torrent are starting with branding successful place. Bhatt-Shah said determination were “conversations with assemblage members,” including unit who are from Vancouver and Seattle, to benignant retired what should beryllium incorporated into the branding.

She said they besides tried to incorporated instrumentality feedback.

“Our fans crossed the league thin to beryllium precise passionate and precise vocal, which we love,” Bhatt-Shah said.

The PWHL opens its regular play connected Nov. 21 with the Toronto Sceptres visiting the reigning Walter Cup champions, the Minnesota Frost, followed by the Torrent successful Vancouver that aforesaid night.

Each squad volition play 30 games, with a lengthy interruption successful the mediate for the Olympics.