After nearly a month, the NWHL’s newest franchise has announced its team name.
The sixth team in the NWHL will take the ice as the Toronto Six.
Over the last month, the team has been piecing together the organization. It began on April 22, when the NWHL released that professional women’s hockey is coming back to Canada.
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Owners Johanna Boynton, Miles Arnone, and Tyler Tumminia partnered up with team president Digit Murphy to start navigating where the team will play, how the team will engage in the community, and of course, recruiting players. Murphy hired former Buffalo Beauts general manager Mandy Cronin as their GM. They are still in the works of finding a home-base arena and a coach, but they have signed 13 players to the roster thus far.
Along with the announcement of the team came five big signees, including Shiann Darkangelo, Taylor Woods, Kristen Barbara, Emma Greco, and Elaine Chuli. Now, eight other players have followed suit and have signed with the Six. 12 out of the 13 signed are Canadians.
What the Six Stands For
Toronto kept their fans waiting in anticipation for this name drop. When they announced the new franchise, they asked for name suggestions followed by a vote. “Six” received the most votes, making it a no brainer for Toronto to go with it.
The nickname “Six” has a plethora of meanings. Canadian singer and Toronto native Drake put the city on the map in pop culture by popularizing the GTA with the nickname “the Six” as it has a lot of meaning to the city.
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For starters, the area code for Toronto is 416. On top of that, Toronto has six boroughs in the city which include Etobicoke, York, East York, North York, Old Toronto, and Scarborough. The nickname also has ties to the league and hockey in general. The Six are the sixth team to join the NWHL. There are also six players from each team on the ice at once. As for the team colours, Red and Gold each have their own meaning. The red of course represents Canada’s national flag, being the first and only Canadian team in the league. Gold represents the gold standard for Canadian women’s hockey.
Inside the TO6 logo, you can find a gold maple leaf that not only represents Canada but also the Golden Horseshoe region in Ontario. The maple leaf also has a notched mark within it, shaped like a hockey stick in the white space, as well as a sharp edge like a skate edge.
Logos Around the NWHL
Toronto Six chairman Ty Tumminia said in a statement to the NWHL, “We wanted a bold, clean, and modern brand for the team, for the game, and for the city.” It is no surprise that Toronto went with a unique and modern name. If you take a look around the league, each of the team names are rather original. The Buffalo Beauts name is as original as it gets. The name gives off a fun and modern vibe. Beaut is a recognizable hockey term used by players these days, meant as a compliment. The Boston Pride has never been done before.
The Connecticut Whale paid homage to the iconic and well-liked Hartford Whalers who played right down the road from them years ago. The Minnesota Whitecaps play off of being from the state of 10,000 lakes and its frigid weather. The Metropolitan Riveters is a nickname and logo that stands out as unique. The logo is based on Rosie the Riveter who was the subject of an advertising campaign during World War II, recruiting women to work in the defence industries. Rosie the Riveter became the most iconic image of working women.
Women’s hockey is a unique market, therefore it only makes sense for the NWHL to have modern team names and logos. In order for women’s sports to make a splash in the professional world, executives must get creative.
Team names and logos are a great start.