The Professional Women’s Hockey League on Tuesday unveiled the San Jose Sea Lions, California’s first PWHL team, the league said. The club will play its home opener against the Minnesota Frost on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. PT at SAP Center. CBS Bay Area also reported the name, colors and debut date.
Why it matters: San Jose is one of four expansion teams, with Detroit, Hamilton and Vegas, that the league announced in May 2026 and that will begin play in the 2026-27 season. Season tickets and single-game tickets are on sale, the PWHL said.
The league said the logo and palette use coastal blue, sunset orange, tidal navy and sea mist, and that the sea lion emblem is meant to evoke “intelligence, playful expression, agility, and fierce protection of their colonies.” The name also nods to the San Francisco Sea Lions of the 1946 West Coast Negro Baseball Association, whose roster included Toni Stone, described by the league as the first woman to play baseball regularly in a major men’s professional league. Defender Rory Guilday said, “I also love that the sea lion is in the shape of a wave; that’s really clever.”
“As we developed California’s first PWHL team, it was important to create a brand that would resonate across San Jose and the many distinct communities that make up the Bay Area,” said Amy Scheer, the league’s executive vice president of business operations. CBS noted the launch comes as the Golden State Valkyries have won a WNBA title and Bay FC has drawn large crowds. Women-led PWHL design teams developed the identity with logo work from Doubleday & Cartwright, the league said.