We now know the team name of Vancouver’s expansion franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. According to Karissa Donkin of CBC Sports on Thursday, the franchise will be called the Vancouver Goldeneyes. At first glance, the name is similar to the Winnipeg Goldeyes of baseball’s Northern League. For the record, a goldeye is a type of fish found in Canada and the northern region of the United States, while a goldeneye is a bird found frequently in the waters off the coast of British Columbia.
The Goldeneyes are one of two expansion franchises in the PWHL this season. The other is the Seattle Torrent. The Goldeneyes will play the Torrent in their first ever game at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 21. It is interesting that the Goldeneyes will now be the primary tenant of Pacific Coliseum. The arena played host to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks from 1970 to 1995.
The Goldeneyes are one of four Canadian franchises in the PWHL. They are joined by the Toronto Sceptres, Ottawa Charge and Montreal Victoire. The Goldeneyes have four Canadian Olympic gold medalists on their roster from the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. They are Ashton Bell of Deloraine, Manitoba, Emerance Maschmeyer-Lacasse of Bruderheim, Alberta, Sarah Nurse of Burlington, Ontario and Claire Thompson of Toronto, Ontario.