Team Birds

On November 21st, the PWHL hockey team, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, played their first game ever at home against the Seattle Torrent in front of a sellout crowd. Aside from an exciting game, I was curious as to why “Goldeneyes” was chosen as the team name. In thinking about the Anaheim Ducks, that name seemed rather generic, when “Coots”, “Mallards” or “Pintails were certainly available. How professional sports teams are named may indeed be interesting and warranted an investigation.
The PWHL Vancouver Goldeneyes owners sought something in the natural environment to reflect Vancouver’s surroundings. As Ali Bologna, the PWHL’s Senior Director, Brand & Marketing, stated: “The name Goldeneyes draws inspiration from the Common Goldeneye, a striking bird native to British Columbia’s coastal waters … Known for its piercing yellow eyes and lightning fast reflexes, the goldeneye is a creature of precision, agility and resilience, qualities that mirror the game of hockey and the athletes who play it”.
Not all teams with birds as the name have such a visionary origin. The Toronto Blue Jays, earned their name through a public naming contest in 1976. Toronto based teams have traditionally had blue as the team color and bird-themed names were popular in the 1970s. Similarly, the Pittsburgh Penguins name was a contest winner. With the arena, nicknamed the “Igloo” due to its shape, Penguins was a natural fit. Anaheim’s original owner, the Walt Disney Company, named the team “The Mighty Ducks”, after the movie released in 1992. Football team, the Baltimore Ravens, earned their name in a 1996 fan contest, with Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “The Raven”, being the inspiration as well as the fact that Poe lived, worked and was buried in Baltimore. The 2025 NFL Superbowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles name has a more inspirational origin. In 1933, owners Bert Bell and Lud Wray were inspired by the Blue Eagle logo of the National Recovery Administration, a centerpiece of President Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to address the Great Depression. A favorite bird of ours, the Oriole, was named for the black and orange colors of the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore who lived in the 17th century. The MLB team adopted the name and colors in 1954. The St. Louis Cardinals were called the “Perfectos” in 1899. A sportswriter overheard a fan say that the red uniform trim was a “lovely shade of cardinal”, resulting in “cardinal” becoming a team nickname. A year later the Perfectos became the Cardinals. National Basketball Association team, the New Orleans Pelicans, were named after Louisiana’s state bird, Teams in Louisiana have been using the name “Pelicans” since 1865.
I admire the vision and connection to nature in the PWHL Vancouver Goldeneyes choice of name. If you look at the team logo, the golden eye is the heart of the design, symbolizing the team’s focus, clarity, vision all the while paying homage to the common goldeneye. If you were wondering, the Goldeneyes won their first game 4 to 3 in overtime.