VANCOUVER, BC - It was an exciting day for PWHL Vancouver fans with the unveiling of the official team name and logo. The team will be called the Vancouver Goldeneyes and they will hit the ice for their first PWHL game on Friday, November 21 at the Pacific Coliseum.
Per the team’s promotional materials, the Goldeneye is a bird that’s native to Vancouver’s waterways, coastlines and mountain vistas. It brings strength, speed, and precision in motion. There is a unified spirit within the Goldeneye. It’s calm on the water, but somewhat ferocious when it needs to be.
The revealing of the name and logo seems to have brought a sense of identity to the Vancouver PWHL club.
“It’s great,” Madison Samoskevich told The Victory Press. “I think it’s so cool. It’s such a good looking logo. This is my first time seeing it and the colors are great, the golden eyes, everything and what it resembles, it’s really cool and I’m just so excited.”
The Goldeneye shares a connection to the city of Vancouver and having a visible logo puts everything into focus ahead of the inaugural season. Getting on board with the name and logo was a no-brainer for players, coaches, staff, and marketing team
“What’s really cool is these birds really can have clear vision,” General Manager Cara Gardner-Morey told reporters on Thursday.
“They soar really high, they can dive really deep. They’re really resilient, but they’re also territorial and they do everything in unity. Very synchronised, that’s what you’re going to see on the ice. Everybody on the same page, fast and fierce. There’s a lot that’s going to resonate.”
The Goldeneyes logo is the yellow birdseye “encircled by wings, pointing to the Pacific Northwest (and) features a color palette of the team’s primary colors, Pacific Blue, Coastal Cream, and Earthy Bronze, with hints of Sunset Gold and Sky Blue.”
“I think all the colors look great together. It’s like an orangey brown, I love that color, so I’m excited for the merch they release and stuff. I think the colors go well together. It’s just a really nice looking logo,” said Samoskevich.
Despite the name and logo launch, the Goldeneyes will not wear branded jerseys this season. As previously announced, the league’s two new teams will be wearing jerseys with the city name diagonally across the front in the style the first six teams wore in their inaugural season. There is the potential for part of the Goldeneyes logo to be placed somewhere visible when players are on the ice this season.
“I think they're going to put some part of the logo so we can have it on the jersey,” Gardner-Morey said.
“Truthfully the way production goes, you have to order stuff years in advance to get them in on time. It was a timing issue with getting things branded versus getting things in production and getting here in time for the season.”
The Goldeneyes logo will feature at center ice at the Pacific Coliseum. Vancouver will be the only PWHL team with a permanent center ice logo. Players will have their first opportunity to see the Goldeneyes logo when they have their first practice on Monday, November 10.
Vancouver head coach Brian Idalski, who arrived in town with his wife earlier this month, can’t wait to get behind the bench with his new team. Coming from college hockey, Idalski is not used to having to wait well into the season of changing fall colors to coach.
“It’s just another step closer to being for real,” Idalski told reporters at the unveiling in downtown Vancouver.
“Getting on the ice and getting after it. These are some of the steps through and we’re happy to have that. For me, let’s get on the ice and get after it.”
It’s early days, but players like Samoskevich are already imagining what it will feel like when the first chants of ‘Goldeneyes, Goldeneyes’ ring through the Rink on Renfrew.
“It’s going to be such a special and really exciting moment to hear that in the stands,” Samoskevich said.
“Hearing the fans yell that, I’ll probably get a little emotional. It’s so special."
The 22 year-old forward is already loving everything Vancouver has to offer. Having arrived on the west coast two days ago, Samoskevich is quickly adapting to the mild wet coast.
“I got rain boots. That was my first purchase,” she said.
“It’s such a beautiful city. The culture in the city, it’s something that I’m really excited about. I’m used to New York, Boston, those cities, but it’s nothing like those cities. It’s a beautiful city, kind of quiet. I already love it here.”
The work now shifts to preparing to host fellow expansion team the Seattle Torrent on Friday, November 21 at the Pacific Coliseum.
(Photo: PWHL Vancouver Instagram)
