ANALYSIS – The Toronto Sceptres logo and name was revealed on September 9, 2024. A few days prior, it was revealed that the Toronto Sceptres’ primary venue will be at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Sceptres also represent an exciting development with current and/or upcoming professional women sports teams in the city of Toronto.
Toronto Sceptres Logo, History, and Venue
The Sceptres was part of the original six PWHL teams last year as the team was called the PWHL Toronto team. They also replaced the Toronto Six as the main women’s ice hockey team in the city after the PWHPA bought and took over the PWF, resulting in the creation of the PWHL.
The name, the Sceptres, can be seen above from the Toronto Scepters X Account on September 9, 2024, which states that it is “an ornamented stick that is borne in the hand as a symbol of power and strength.”
There are two things to note of the name. One is that it is linked to royalty that is used by the queen and the kings in the United Kingdom, past and present. There are also links to the royalty with Queen’s Park, being a TTC Station that is close to the Ontario Legislative Building (for those outside of North America, Toronto is the capital city of the province of Ontario, while Ottawa, also a city in Ontario, is the capital city of Canada).
The second point is that the name “Sceptres” is a Canadian way of spelling the word, as the American way of writing the name is “Scepters.” Of all the names introduced by the PWHL, this might be the hardest to get used to, as many sports fans had to look up what the word “Sceptres” meant.
However, what might be concerning is how close the logo looks to Taylor Swift’s logo used in her music videos.
The Sceptres logo itself looks fine, with the image looking detailed, with the orb seen at the top of the sceptre. One can see for example how detailed the T and the S is in the logo. However, the bigger concern is how the logo looks very similar to the Taylor Swift logo, which has the T and S without the orb. It does not look as refined as the T and S of the Toronto Sceptres ice hockey team, but it looks surprisingly similar. The PWHL responded to the similarity by saying this to the Toronto Star:
“We admire Taylor Swift’s dedication to female advancement and empowerment, values that the PWHL proudly shares,” PWHL said in a statement to the Star. “While we welcome the comparison to Taylor, our logo started with the Sceptre symbol at its core, with the top and bottom points of an ornamented rod. From that starting point, the Toronto Sceptres logo was born.”
The colours of this logo looks great with the yellow or gold with the well-known blue colour of the Toronto Sceptres. The blue colour is also used for other Toronto sports teams such as the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Argonauts, and of course, the male NHL counterpart, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, the logo does look very similar to the Taylor Swift logo seen in the music video.
For some people, this would be a negative as the logo does not stand on its own. The name on the other hand is quite distinct, as no team comes to mind that is named the Sceptres. However, it is likely that a lot of people will at least initially spell Sceptres wrong as it is not a word many people hear often.
READ MORE: 2024 PWHL Draft: PWHL Toronto Defenders and Goaltenders
The Toronto Sceptres Will Play at Coca-Cola Coliseum
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It is has been confirmed that the Sceptres will play at the Coca-Cola Coliseum for the 2024-25 PWHL season on September 3, 2024 by the Toronto Sceptres X Account. The Sceptres played their inaugural season as PWHL Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre with a few select games at Scotiabank Arena. This is a great decision, as it was very hard for fans to watch the games of their local team, with tickets selling out in record time at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Sceptres was able to play at Coca-Cola Coliseum in the 2024 PWHL playoffs, where they hosted three games against PWHL Minnesota (Minnesota Frost), but lost the series three games to two. The most notable game the now named Sceptres team played in was in game two when the Sceptres won the game 2-0 at home.
READ MORE: A WNBA Toronto Team: What It Means for Canadian Basketball?
The Coca-Cola Coliseum is also home to the Toronto Marlies AHL team since 2005. The most notable game for the Marlies was winning their first and so far, only Calder Cup trophy in Toronto with a 6-1 victory in game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals against the Texas Stars. The venue will also be home to the Toronto WNBA team that will start play in 2026.
This is pure speculation, but it is safe to assume though that the Sceptres will try to get a few games played at Scotiabank Arena just like they did in the 2023-24 PWHL season.
What To Look Forward in Toronto Women’s Sports
READ MORE: AFC Toronto Logo and Stadium: York Lions Stadium
The Toronto Sceptres is the second pro women’s sports logo to be revealed this year. Earlier this year, AFC Toronto revealed the crest and logo of Toronto’s first-ever top-tier professional women’s soccer team.
There might also be another reveal of a professional sports team. It has been revealed that the Toronto WNBA team is hoping to reveal their logo and name by November or December of 2024 according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
Photo Credit: Toronto Sceptres X Account on September 9, 2024.
