TEAM TRIUMPH

Looking to make their mark on Montréal’s hockey legacy, the city’s PWHL team is unveiling a triumphant new name that captures the pride and passion of La Métropole. Here comes the Montréal Victoire.

Montréal doesn’t just make hockey history—the city shows out for it. In early March 1875, what the Montréal Gazette referred to as a “very large audience” turned out at Victoria Rink to watch the first indoor hockey game ever played. Nearly 150 years later, a capacity crowd of 21,105—the largest attendance ever for a women’s hockey event—packed into the Bell Centre this past April to see the PWHL Montréal squad take on Toronto. Tickets didn’t just sell out fast—they sold out T-Swiftly fast: In less than 20 minutes, the same Montréal Gazette reported, fans snatched up every last seat in the largest sports arena in North America (so the attendance record should last a while). In a season of validating highs, that record reflects Montréal’s passion for PWHL hockey and stands as a powerful symbol of the team and the league’s greatest triumph.

All of which make the team’s new name, announced earlier today, that much more fitting: Meet the Montréal Victoire.

Write that with the accent aigu and pronounce it en Français. Because this identity is an expression of the francophone city’s pride in its hockey and cultural traditions. “Early on, we decided the name would be French, and French only,” says Amy Scheer, the PHWL’s Senior Vice President of Business Operations. The name won’t be anglicized; no matter where outside the 514 the team may play, its identity will be pure Grand Montréal. After playing the inaugural season without traditional nicknames, the league wanted to ensure the new team name and identity conveyed a deep connection and sense of place. “We wanted to inspire a true pride of place for the players and people of Greater Montréal,” says Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league’s Vice President of Brand and Marketing. “The name had to feel confident and triumphant —it couldn’t feel small.”

That’s a tall order in a city steeped in hockey glory (no other city comes close to its record  24 Stanley Cups, 35 Cup Final appearances, and 60 players in the Hockey Hall of Fame) and the site of sports perfection (gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic history here in 1976)—which is why the Victoire signifies something larger than a notch in the W column. The name speaks to an attitude and state of mind: A passion, pride of place, and a sense of fellowship embodied by two other French phrases, esprit de corps and joie de vivre. 

Montréal’s fans didn’t just come together to cheer on their yet-to-be-named squad; they celebrated them in every sense. Between periods at home games, DJs took over the sound system. When the lights went down, the crowd got up and got down, transforming each 17-minute intermission into a multi-generational dance party. “It’s like the rink was turned into a club,” says Jayna Hefford, the Hockey Hall of Famer who serves as the PWHL’s Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. “All of that flows from a passion for hockey you can feel. It makes it pretty special.”

The league made the decision to name the team ahead of season two to honor those passionate fans. When Hefford introduced the Victoire and the other PWHL names on Breakfast Television this morning, it was the culmination of an ambitious, accelerated identity development process in collaboration with Flower Shop, a New York-based creative agency. Together, they were able to complete in under a year what takes most teams twice as long. “We knew the importance of it. We felt it,” says Alastair Merry, Flower Shop’s co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. “We had a deadline, but we took the time, care, and craft to get this right.”

The development process fortuitously coincided with the team taking the ice and the bold spirit of the team and fans showcased with aplomb even in the team’s early days.  PWHL Montréal’s inaugural season was a goldmine from which to capture insights and inspiration, starting with watching Montréal play and witnessing firsthand why Marie-Philip Poulin, one of three finalists for league MVP, has the nickname Captain Clutch and Erin Ambrose was named the PWHL’s best defender in her first professional season. The process captured the celebration in the stands, interviews with fans and players and studying hundreds of team names, past and present, at every level and in every sport. Then, developing an initial lineup of options that captured the unique essence of Montréal’s team, fans and community. “The name generation approach was quality, not quantity,” says Merry. “There were strict criteria to hit.” The name had to be intuitive and easy to grasp,  distinctive, enduring or even timeless, deeply rooted in the city’s French culture and proud history. 

“The name also had to inspire elevated design and infinite creative possibilities,” says Bhatt-Shah. “It had to have the potential to come alive in the locker room, in the stands and within the community in an intentional and powerful way.”

When the league’s lawyers did copyright searches, they knocked out a number of entries that turned out to be trademarked or tied up in legal complications. In the end, Victoire emerged, fittingly, as the true victor, a name befitting of its team and fans. Daniele Sauvageau, the team’s General Manager, believes the name is layered with meaning and represents true depth of character. “La Victoire symbolizes the culmination of hard work, perseverance, and overcoming challenges. It validates one’s efforts in contributing to a greater good,” she says.

All were excited by the name Victoire, but expressing the name visually proved to be an elusive challenge, requiring numerous rounds of revision and revisitation. After all, the logo would have to be striking on jerseys and jumbotrons, blown up on billboards, and animated on screens. Things fell into place when the design team scrapped its effort to create a contemporary graphic, says Merry, who oversaw the Flower Shop’s designers. “Instantly, we realized this should actually feel sophisticated, elevated.” Quickly, the emblem began an exciting evolution into a chic art deco design comprised of several distinct but complementary motifs: The main V figure evoking the two-fingered victory sign and the wings of the Goddess of Victory; a subtle, almost hidden M and a demure fleur-de-lis repping Montreal, the province of Québec and its French cultural heritage. 

The wordmark uses Larken, a confident, flowing font whose serifs convey a vintage elegance. Anchored by a deep burgundy red and Oxford blue, the color palette is lightened by an elegant beige-white and sky blue. The overall effect is to connect the identity to a storied past. “Nobody else can match Montréal’s tradition of success,” says Hefford. “That triumphant culture is always going to exist there. “

And so will the Victoire. “In my mind, this is a forever thing,” says Montréal’s Director of Team Business Operations, Marie-Christine Boucher. “This will be the team’s name for as long as the PWHL exists. We’re so proud of this. And it is important. As a player, when you put on the Victoire jersey for the first time, it’s a competitive edge. It’s going to help us reach new heights and bring it to another level.” 

After a first season that stoked the passions, we are proudly bringing a winning name and the thrill of Victoire to our fans.

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