Las Vegas Pro Women’s Hockey Team Reveals Name and Logo, Underwhelm Ensues
When we broke the news Las Vegas was getting a pro women’s hockey team, we never imagined the team name would create all the excitement of a municipal zoning hearing, but here we are.
Introducing the Vegas Vanguards!
Both fans of women’s professional hockey are excited AF.
A “vanguard” is a group of people leading the way in a particular field or movement. The term comes from the military, referring to the troops at the front of an advancing army.
If you want to get technical about it, “vanguard” is a collective noun. It’s a group, so the plural isn’t necessary.
You wouldn’t call a team The Elites or The Resistances or The Coalitions.
Setting that aside, what’s inspiring about a name that sounds like a company providing retirement planning services?
Here’s some of the thinking, if you can call it that, about the team’s new name and logo.
They explain the symbolism of the fox, the star and the letter “V,” but what’s the relationship between a fox and “Vanguards”?
On the bright side, while Vegas Vanguards is a terrible name, it’s not hysterically terrible. For example, it’s not as bad as the Detroit Clutch. We are not making this up.
That’s who the Vanguards play in their debut at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 6, 2026.
The Vanguards branding was developed by women-led Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) design teams, with assistance from creative agency Doubleday & Cartwright, whoever they might be.
One can only imagine the number of meetings and PowerPoint decks involved with creating this team name and logo. The sheer number of times the terms “authenticity” and “core values” and “brand storytelling” were mentioned must’ve been staggering.
Four PWHL teams got names and logos simultaneously. There was the aforementioned Detroit Clutch (named after an auto repair shop, apparently), as well as the Hamilton Havoc and San Jose Sea Lions.
As our fellow youths say, oof.
Vegas Vanguards accomplishes a few things. It doesn’t offend anyone, as is the case with most things created by committee. Also, it doesn’t rhyme with anything sexist an opposing team’s fans might chant.
The Vegas Riches or Vegas Stunts would’ve been much, much worse.
A fox is a pretty straightforward mascot.
You can buy Vanguards merch on the PWHL site.
We sort of question the wisdom of offering Vegas Vanguards scissors right out of the gate, but we are not a pro sports merch expert.
According to the official announcement about the name and logo, teams will wear city-branded uniforms during the inaugural season. The new logo will appear on redesigned jerseys in season two.
While we personally have zero interest in puckball, we wish our PWHL team, the Vegas Vanguards, all the success in the world.
We hope they’ll soon be able to hoist the Walter Cup, which we absolutely knew was a thing before we just Googled it to make sure our reputation as a noted sports expert is fully intact.
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