The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was established in August 2023, and Boston, unsurprisingly, was named as one of the six original franchises. In October 2023, possible PWHL team names were leaked after discovering that the US Trademark Database revealed that PWHL Holdings Inc. had applied to secure a handful of names. However, even by the start of the season in January, none of the teams had been given an official team name or logo.

The name trademarked for our local team was Boston Wicked. It, among most of the other team names, received immediate backlash. And while it’s understood that new sports franchises typically apply for multiple names, meaning this could just have been one of a dozen suggestions, Boston Wicked is wicked especially bad.

As I mentioned, the season is well underway, and Boston’s current home jersey features a forest green background with gray and white accents, and its away jersey includes a light-color background with forest green accents. It’s not definite that Boston will keep these colors once a team name and logo have been decided.

Since they lack an official team name, I came up with a bunch that I personally find all to be better than Wicked. A few have geographical relevance, others have historical significance, and some just sound good. Let me know what you think!

Boston Pride

This was the team name of the Boston franchise from the (now disbanded) PHF and, in my opinion, the most obvious choice. It was arguably a perfect name and it really ought to carry over to the PWHL. We could stop the list now if they just went back to this name and logo.

Boston Cubs

This is sort of an easy, but lazy, suggestion. The NHL team is the Bruins, and if they won’t use Pride, why not stay within the Ursidae family and call the Women’s team the Cubs?

Boston Comets

Ever heard of Maria Mitchell? Born and raised in Massachusetts, she was the first female American professional astronomer! In 1847, she discovered a comet that was later known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet” in her honor. She was also involved in several social issues as a professor, especially relating to women’s suffrage and education. This team name could be a good ode to her and her discovery.

Boston Green Dragons

With fantasy-like team names, you run the risk of them sounding too unprofessional, but when done right, they can really work. This one actually has historical significance though, as The Green Dragon was the name of the secret meeting place of the Sons of Liberty in Boston!

Boston Robins

I know the chickadee is the state bird of Massachusetts, but I feel like I see robins all over the city. It’s also got pretty good assonance happening. and who doesn’t love a good poetic sound device?

Boston Buzzards

Speaking of poetic sound devices, I really like the alliteration here. Bit of a stretch regarding actual relevance to the area though. The history of Buzzards Bay says that it was first named by colonists who saw a large bird that they called a buzzard near its shores. The bird was actually an osprey. Boston Ospreys doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

Boston Rebels

While it would pay homage to the local soldiers of the Revolutionary war, it is a little generic. Apparently Massachusetts put more soldiers in the field than any other colony every year (except 1779-80) with many coming from the Boston area. UPDATE: Not sure we could realistically use this after reading that this is the name of the fictional professional football team from The Game Plan.

Boston Bullfrogs

You don’t hear many amphibious sports team names, but this one could be cool and unique. It would be partly an ode to Frog Pond, but it’s a little too close to Boston Common Golf, the new TGL team. Side note: I kind of think they nailed the design and logos for Boston Common Golf. 

Boston Elms

This one is kind of boring, just being the state tree of Massachusetts, but the Liberty Tree was fairly significant in Boston. I don’t know why, but I think there could be something here.

Boston Ducks

Between the Make Way for Ducklings and the Duck Tours, Boston could bode well having a professional team named after the waterfowl.

Boston 76ers

This is a less serious suggestion, but several teams do repeat names among the four major sports, i.e. Rangers, Kings, Panthers, Jets, etc. The Boston historical relevance being that on March 17, 1776, the 11-month Siege of Boston came to an end as the British evacuated the city, celebrated today as “Evacuation Day”!