By Hailey Salvian, Shayna Goldman and Sean Gentille
Logos are nice, but a professional sports team’s look isn’t complete until we see the jerseys — and on Thursday, the PWHL dropped a half-dozen in our lap.
Which of the six new kits — the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres — is our No. 1? How do the rest measure up?
The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian, Shayna Goldman and Sean Gentille once again teamed up for the definitive ranking.
1. Montreal Victoire
Hailey rank: 1
Sean rank: 2
Shayna rank: 1
Hailey: I already loved the look of Montreal’s branding, ranking it first the last time we did this. And the jerseys delivered. The logo looks great as a center crest and I love the colors, particularly the baby blue striping on the waist and socks. As much as I love the burgundy primary jerseys, the sand-colored away jerseys (are we calling them sand?) might be my favorite of the bunch. Adding the fleur-de-lys to the numbers is a great touch, too. Très bien!
Shayna: Montreal crushed it, first with the logo and color scheme and now with the entire uniform. It feels super fresh and classic at the same time between the logo, striping and color scheme. The baby blue striping around the numbers on the arms adds such a fun pop of color to it, too — especially on the away jerseys. Plus it’s fun that one of six teams took a different approach from the standard white away jersey.
Sean: Montreal’s logo was great to begin with, and it pops even more as a center crest. I like the strategic use of light blue and the fleur-de-lys, too. Also, I’m calling the away jerseys “cream” instead of sand. Might technically be “crème.”
2. New York Sirens
Hailey rank: 2
Sean rank: 1
Shayna rank: 3
Sean: It shouldn’t be a surprise to see who I have at No. 1. I liked New York’s logo the most out of the three of us, so it follows that the jerseys would hit, too. I think the league’s choice of colorways was strong overall — most of them are unique without clashing, which can be a challenge — and the Sirens embody that principle. Teal, navy and orange play well together. Using the latter on the outlines for the crest and numbers was a nice touch.
Shayna: I am not the biggest fan of the Sirens logo, but the jersey pulls it all together better than expected. The teal-navy combination absolutely slaps. Using orange with teal is bold, but it actually really clicks and adds some warmth to their scheme.
Hailey: I’m a simple person. I see a teal New York women’s sports team jersey and I love it. That said: The orange outline around the numbers is my favorite detail on the jersey. The only reason New York is No. 2 for me is that I prefer Montreal’s logo. I wonder if I’d like the Sirens’ logo more if we lost the sound-wave-looking S, but I still love the look overall.
3. Toronto Sceptres
Hailey rank: 3
Sean rank: 3
Shayna rank: 5
Hailey: The Sceptres logo has been among my favorites since the branding was announced a few months ago. I love the primary blue for the home jerseys and the yellow numbers and striping work for me. However — and this is probably a nitpick — I don’t love the yellow collar. I also don’t like how my phone keeps autocorrecting ‘Sceptres’ to American spelling, but that feels like a me problem.
Sean: This is another logo that seems too good to mess up, and another interesting, aesthetically pleasing color palette. I don’t mind leaning on gold, if only to create some separation from the other pro hockey team in town. Solid and straightforward.
Shayna: It’s giving St. Louis Blues. The color schemes are so similar that I wish Toronto went with a different striping pattern to strengthen its identity. The logo is really sharp, but the away look feels bland somehow.
4. Boston Fleet
Hailey rank: 4
Sean rank: 4
Shayna rank: 2
Shayna: I’m really high on the Fleet logo and I feel like the rest of the kit just completes the look really well. Dark green is an underutilized color in professional hockey and pairing it with a light blue feels really fresh and unique. The navy strengthens Boston’s nod to the Hartford Whalers. At first, I thought having black pants would have elevated this look, but I appreciate the consistency in the branding of the Fleet and the ties to the ocean they’re trying to embrace. That can be seen down to the wave detailing in the numbers, which may be my favorite number detail of these six teams.
Sean: The sublimated wave in the logo is one of my favorite bits of detail in the bunch, and I think the striping at the bottom of the jersey is a differentiation point. I also (again) like the navy — but there’s a big gap between the top and bottom three for me, and it starts here.
Hailey: Boston’s colors work for me, and I actually like the logo more now that I see it as a crest on a jersey. The angles of the ‘B’ are sharp, and the waves — which match the color of the striping — look great. I still think Montreal, New York and Toronto are the top-tier overall looks, but Boston is in a middle tier of its own for me. The green home jersey is going to grow on me, too, I know it.
5. Minnesota Frost
Hailey rank: 5
Sean rank: 6
Shayna rank: 4
Shayna: I’m so torn between Toronto and Minnesota at four and five. I give Minnesota the slightest edge because of the two-toned purple. I love seeing more purple in hockey and the lighter shade feels like a new twist, instead of just going purple and gold like the Vikings. The problems, I think, all stem from the logo, which leaves this jersey with a lot of empty space across from it.
Sean: Too samey. We love purple, but two different shades aren’t necessary, and there’s a little too much unused space to the right of the crest. If you ever wondered why we don’t see many isosceles triangles in logos, there’s your answer.
Hailey: The design details focusing on Minnesota being cold limits the jersey more than any other team’s. It’s just kind of an ‘F’ with icicles. However, unlike Sean, I love the purple.
6. Ottawa Charge
Hailey rank: 6
Sean rank: 5
Shayna rank: 6
Shayna: I was hoping the jersey was going to save Ottawa’s underwhelming logo. That just isn’t the case. The charcoal-gray-yellow combination looks really sharp together, but it makes the red look even more out of place. I normally prefer brightly colored sweaters that catch your eye on the ice, and think dark shades like black are getting overdone. But maybe Ottawa should have darkened up their scheme and let their logo (and striping) brighten it up. A charcoal jersey with gray, yellow, and maybe even red accents would have tied this whole look together. It would have made a lot more sense with the name/logo, and given the Charge a bit more individuality. Integrating gray helps separate Ottawa from just being a Calgary Flames knockoff — which was my initial impression when the logo was unveiled — but now seeing the entire look together, I think the red is the problem.
Sean: And here’s the twist. I might be less impressed with Ottawa’s logo than I was back in September, when I compared it to something you’d see on a software company quarter-zip, but I don’t mind the color combo here. “Red, gold and gray is timeless,” says the University of Maryland grad.
Hailey: I love Ottawa, so I’m trying not to be harsh, but I don’t like the logo and that’s my biggest issue with the jersey. It looks like a spiky version of the Senators’ heritage ‘O’ logo, which I also didn’t really like. I actually like the colors here, especially the charcoal on the shoulders and outlining the numbers. And while the number details don’t do much for me, I kind of like the little sparks here.
(Photos courtesy of the PWHL)
