Professional Women’s Hockey League in Ottawa

[rocketphish]

Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa announced as franchises in newly named Professional Women's Hockey League
September draft and free agency will stock teams that begin play in January

Myles Dichter · CBC Sports
Posted: Aug 29, 2023 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Three Canadian franchises are included in the newly named Professional Women's Hockey League that laid out details of where and how it will begin play in January 2024.

Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa will join franchises in Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York area in a 24-game schedule. Players will be allocated to those cities through a September free-agency period followed by a draft.

"Today, we look ahead to a phenomenal future for the PWHL," said Jayna Hefford, a former Canadian national team player and the PWHL's senior vice-president of hockey operations. "We have never seen more excitement and demand for women's sports, and through the launch of this league, the top women's players in the world will have the opportunity to reach even greater heights."

Teams will begin building their rosters with a 10-day free-agency period beginning Sept. 1-10, followed by a draft on Sept. 18.
The league is coming together quickly after members of the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association (PWHPA) ratified a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with owners in July.

The eligibility pool for the draft and free agency will include PWHPA membership in addition to former Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) players. However, current and graduating NCAA and U Sports players — such as Canadian star Sarah Fillier — may only be acquired through the 15-round draft.

Teams may sign only three players in free agency. The first-round draft order will be determined by a lottery, while subsequent rounds will follow a snake format.

Along with the ratification of the CBA, Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, one of the new league's financial backers, bought out and folded the PHF, a rival outfit featuring seven franchises which had been set to raise its salary cap to $1.5 million US this coming season.

The PWHPA was formed in the aftermath of the Canadian Women's Hockey League's 2019 collapse and features nearly every North American national-team member.

Over the past four years, the union has fought for a sustainable professional league complete with the bells and whistles befitting the world's top players.

The PWHL promises to provide that.

Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin told CBC Sports in April that although its stars would be heavily promotes, the league would not be possible without the collective sticking mostly together.

"The group I've been around for the last couple years, they're all the best and for me I'm just trying to follow them. … When you surround yourself with strong people, it makes it easy to look good," Poulin said.

Since 2019, the PWHPA rebuffed potential mergers with the PHF despite plenty of discussions and the urging of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Instead, PWHPA players competed on the Dream Gap Tour, a barnstorming series of weekend events funded partly by corporate sponsors.

All the while, the PHF steadily grew. In addition to its quickly rising salary cap, the league began poaching players from the PWHPA and overseas, including young Swiss star Alina Muller and four-time Olympic goalie Noora Raty of Finland, who signed with the Metropolitan Riveters. Recently retired American star Brianna Decker and Canadian Hall of Famers Angela James and Geraldine Heaney held coaching and management roles.

But in one fell swoop in July, the league ceased to exist, blindsiding much of its membership with a Thursday night Zoom call.
"At first, I honestly thought it was a dream because I had no idea what was going on. But then after there was a couple of other calls, I realized that, 'Oh crap, no, this is for real and the PHF is no longer a thing,'" recalled Buffalo Beauts forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis to CBC Sports.

Player salaries in the new league will reportedly range from $35,000 to $80,000 US, a small step backward from what PHF players were set to earn. Six players on each of the six teams will be signed to three-year contracts worth "no less than $80,000 per league year," per Tuesday's press release.

But included in the CBA is health insurance, a retirement plan, commercial rights, maternity leave and much more.

Nurse told The Canadian Press after the CBA was announced in July that the document was "the most important thing" in creating the new league.

"In my professional playing career, I've seen a few leagues come and go because of that lack of player protection and lack of communication between the league and the union," she said.

In another development, multiple reports say former NHL executive Brian Burke has been hired to become the PWHL Players Association's first executive director. Burke, who last served as the Pittsburgh Penguins president through April, has a lengthy track record of involvement with women's hockey dating to 2013 when he was a CWHL board member. The Hockey News first reported Burke's hiring.
Burke has a law degree from Harvard, and takes over for Jayna Hefford, who previously served as the union's chief consultant. Hefford had to step aside from her union duties because she is now part of the new league's executive team.

Multiple PWHPA players told CBC Sports at April's world championship in Brampton, Ont., they hoped a pro title would reach the same status as international gold.

The 2024 world championship will be held April 4-14 in Utica, N.Y. The U.S. is the reigning champion after beating Canada 6-3 in the gold-medal game.

"That's the goal. That is the goal for sure. One day we'll get there. Obviously, it'll still be an honour to always represent your country, but that is going to be really important, that next step," Canadian defender Renata Fast said.

Tuesday's announcement marks one step closer toward that goal.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwh...ment-1.6950056

[J.OT13]

Looking forward to seeing more details on the individual teams. I'm assuming it will start with league ownership of the teams, eventually OSEG may get involved. No doubt they'll play out of the Civic Centre.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Looking forward to seeing more details on the individual teams. I'm assuming it will start with league ownership of the teams, eventually OSEG may get involved. No doubt they'll play out of the Civic Centre.

This is unexpected news. The Civic Centre would be perfect. Though I could see them playing somewhere like Jim Durrell or the Sportsplex, as that would be cheaper.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa signs on as part of new professional women's hockey league

Ken Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Published Aug 29, 2023 • Last updated 9 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Ottawa will be part of the Original Six as a newly structured professional women’s hockey league takes its first strides in January.

The announcement by the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which will also feature teams in Toronto, Montreal, Minnesota, New York and Boston, was made official in a Tuesday conference call.

The new PWHL, financially backed by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and former women’s tennis star and trailblazer Billy Jean King, is optimistic that the new league will finally end years of infighting and uncertainty within the ranks of women’s professional hockey.

“I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re announcing today,” said PWHL board member Stan Kasten.

While the Professional Hockey Federation, including the Toronto Six franchise, continued to operate for the past several seasons, it did so without most of the top players in Canada and the United States competing.

Determined to fight for legitimate salaries and benefits, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association boycotted the PHF.

PWHPA members have toured North America for the past several seasons, playing in highly-competitive “Dream Gap Tour” games that have drawn far larger crowds than those turning out for either PWHL or PHF games.

In June, however, Walter bought out the PHF, bringing the PWHPA players back into the fold for the new PWHL, which is promising salaries in the range of $35,000-$80,000 and professional working conditions.

“It’s a historic moment that we’re in,” said Hefford, the PWHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations, who represented Canada internationally for 17 years and competed in five Olympics. “Never did I dream of something like this. I dreamed of what I could see, which was the NHL. To be able to have something like this today that we’re launching is so significant for our sport.”

Scheduling details have not been finalized for the first season, but all six teams will play a 24-game schedule, featuring 12 “home” and 12 away games, running from January to June. In future seasons, the plan calls for a 32-game schedule, starting in November.

The league did not announce home arenas for the teams and it’s possible that some “home” games could be played in neutral site arenas. Ticket prices will be revealed at a later date.

The Canadian Tire Centre could serve as home for the Ottawa franchise, but the PWHL acknowledges that in an ideal world, they would like to play in smaller venues.

“Working around the problem of building availabilities in every city has been complex,” said Kasten. “It’s going to continue to be complex and that’s going to take us some time. I would expect we would have a schedule to put out at some point in October.”

The PWHL is expected to announce the general managers for the six franchises later this week. To start, each team will sign three players, which will be followed by a 15-round draft. Additional players — each squad will carry 23 players — will be added via free agency.

Long-time National Hockey League executive Brian Burke is the PWHL’s executive director.

“It’s the most exciting day in the history of women’s hockey, in my opinion,” said Burke.

kwarren@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-hockey-league

[J.OT13]

The CTC would be a strange choice. Way to large of a venue in a less than ideal location. The long established 67s struggled at the CTC while the Civic Centre was closed.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The CTC would be a strange choice. Way to large of a venue in a less than ideal location. The long established 67s struggled at the CTC while the Civic Centre was closed.

Slush Puppie would be perfect were it in Ottawa. I think they would struggle to bring Ottawonians across the river as it stands.

[rocketphish]

Few details but lots of excitement for new Ottawa pro women's hockey team
Gold medal winner says it would be 'awesome' to play for hometown fans

Dan Taekema · CBC News
Posted: Aug 30, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Ottawa's professional women's hockey team doesn't have a mascot, arena or even a name at this point, but excitement is already building among fans — including one local star.

Starting this January, Jamie Lee Rattray could be regularly playing in front of a hometown crowd.

The Olympic and world championship gold medal winner and Kanata native plans to enter next month's draft for the new six-team Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).

"It'd be awesome to go back home and play professional after playing my junior career and minor hockey there," Rattray said.

"I think the fans are really going to take hold of it. There's gonna be some really good hockey players coming through Ottawa."

Montreal and Toronto round out the rest of the Canadian locations for the league's Original Six, along with Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York area.

They were announced by the PWHL on Tuesday, but beyond that, specific details were scarce.

The first season will feature 24 games, some held at neutral sites in collaboration with the NHL.

The league doesn't have a logo or any team names yet, but board member and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten said they're expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Rosters are also expected to come together in the next month, with a draft scheduled for Sept. 18.

Ticket prices haven't been determined and broadcast details have yet to be worked out. Kasten said the goal for the first season is to make sure every game is at least streamed online.

The trophy teams will play for also hasn't been named yet.

Venues are another big question. Kasten said they'll likely play both bigger and smaller buildings, including minor league and junior arenas, which he said "for us right now is a better size" than NHL facilities.

It's not clear what that means for Ottawa. The Senators did not return requests for comment.

A representative for Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which owns and manages the OHL's Ottawa 67's, said at this point the company doesn't have anything to share.

Carleton University said its athletics department hasn't been approached by the PWHL, while University of Ottawa did not respond to questions.

Asked why Ottawa was selected to host a team, Kasten pointed out it's the nation's capital and home to an NHL team.

He described it as a "great hockey city" with the kind of building availability the league needs.

"There's a lot of interest … not just in hockey, but in women's hockey," he explained.

"Of all the markets, they might have been as enthusiastic as any in wanting us to be there and when you're enthusiastic, you work hard to help," Kasten said, adding that was a point in the city's favour when it came to scoring a team.

Hockey is "Canada's game" and Ottawa has always embraced it, according to Michael Tarnowski, academic chair with Algonquin College's school of business and hospitality.

Watching the sport grow has been exciting, he said, adding his daughter is a hockey player and the pair have made an effort to watch any time pros or the women's national team have hit the ice in the city.

"I think there's been a following for women's hockey," he said, adding the games could tap into a new segment of fans. "I think definitely, there is opportunity here."

Imagine the boost to the women's game if the local PWHL team could participate in double headers with the Ottawa Senators ahead of home games at the Canadian Tire Centre, he speculated.

Rattray, who played in the former Canadian Women's Hockey League, said players have fought for years to build their game and secure more support.

With proper resources and a chance to play professionally without juggling jobs and ice time, it's only going to get better and that's going to mean an amazing experience for fans, she said.

"I think they can expect a lot of action, a lot of fast-paced hockey. Just come out and buy a ticket and enjoy it."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...pwsl-1.6950729

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Slush Puppie would be perfect were it in Ottawa. I think they would struggle to bring Ottawonians across the river as it stands.

If only we had a bridge that connected Slush Puppie to the 417. Maybe a frequent bus route linking that area of Gatineau with Blair.

[rocketphish]

Professional Women's Hockey League reveals general managers for all 6 teams, sets draft order
Minnesota wins draft lottery, will pick 1st overall in Sept. 18 event

The Canadian Press
Posted: Sep 01, 2023 9:12 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Gina Kingsbury says she would have loved to play in a professional women's league. While she didn't have that opportunity during her storied playing career, she is looking forward to making sure that others do.

Kingsbury was one of six general managers named Friday by the Professional Women's Hockey League for its inaugural season, which begins play in January. Kingsbury will take over the front office of Toronto's team, with Danièle Sauvageau assuming the role in Montreal and Michael Hirshfeld leading Ottawa.

Kingsbury said leaving a high-level position at Hockey Canada, where she said she was "very happy," shows her commitment to building the women's game at the professional level.

"My gut was telling me I could probably have a greater impact here than I could even have at Hockey Canada," Kingsbury said in a video conference. "I've always had the belief that it's not the role that you play but the impact you can have, so I reminded myself of that when I was leaving a vice president position for this job."

The PWHL also released its order for its Sept. 18 draft. Minnesota will have the first overall pick, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. The order will be revered for even-numbered rounds, and there will be 15 rounds in all.

Former U.S. team captain Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota), Danielle Marmer (Boston) and Pascal Daoust (New York) were also named general managers by the new league.
"We were looking for people who brought great hockey knowledge to the table," PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. "People that brought a collaborative approach, that brought a real emphasis on culture and leadership that they could help build out their rosters in their own markets."

They were on the job immediately with the start of free agency and the upcoming draft in Toronto later this month.

Kingsbury was vice president of hockey operations at Hockey Canada and had been GM of Canada's women's team since 2018. She helped the women's team to back-to-back women's world hockey titles in 2021 and 2022, as well as Olympic gold last year in Beijing.

As a player, Kingsbury helped Canada win gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. The centre was also part of three champion teams and three silver medallists at the women's world championship.

"Gina's contributions to Hockey Canada have helped create lifelong memories for millions of Canadian hockey fans and we join them in congratulating her on today's announcement," Katherine Henderson, incoming president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada, said in a release.
"We are excited to work with Gina and the PWHL to support the upward trajectory of women's hockey and ensure it continues to grow and inspire the next generation of participants and fans."

Kingsbury acknowledged that there will be challenges growing a team in Toronto, where the entertainment dollar is already stretched pretty thin.

"But when you look at the demographics of women's hockey, Toronto is a hotbed," Kingsbury said. "So many young girls play hockey in Toronto. That's what gets me really excited, to be in a city that has a long history of women's hockey and has a tremendous amount of growth possibilities."

Sauvageau also has deep connections to Canada's national women's program. She coached Canada to its first women's hockey Olympic gold in 2002 and established a women's high-performance hockey centre in Quebec in 2019.

Having a high-level professional team in Montreal has been a longtime passion for Sauvageau, who held the GM role for the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association's Montreal region from 2020-23 and was head coach from 2020-22.

"This position is a pinnacle," Sauvageau said. "Growing the game over the last few years, I'd rather not say how many, it is a pinnacle to now have a professional league and obviously a professional team here in Montreal."

Hirshfeld served as the executive director of the NHL Coaches' Association for the past seven years.

He began his career working in Toronto as a corporate lawyer and spent 14 years in the investment business before joining the hockey world.

"I think I bring a unique skillset, a different perspective," Hirshfeld said. "I think that could be really valuable to a new league that's starting up."

Hirschfeld, who says he's not afraid to seek out the advice of others for help, says he has already talked to people with a wealth of hockey experience in the Ottawa market, including current Senators coach DJ Smith, former 67s and current Arizona Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny and former Senators coach and Toronto assistant Guy Boucher.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwh...pt-1-1.6954276

[rocketphish]

Ottawa's pro women's hockey team to share TD Place Arena with junior 67's

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Sep 02, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read

Ottawa’s newest pro team officially has a place to play, and a new GM to get the puck moving for the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

The as-yet-unnamed hockey team will play at the TD Place Arena (formerly Civic Centre Arena) in the Lansdowne Park complex. It will share the venue with the junior Ontario Hockey League team, the Ottawa 67’s.

TD Place Arena has a seating capacity of around 8,000. The arena, then called the Civic Centre, was the first home of the Ottawa Senators from 1992-95, while the team’s Kanata centre (now known as the Canadian Tire Centre) was being built. The Civic Centre was also briefly home to two World Hockey Association franchises in Ottawa in the 1970s.

“The facilities in Ottawa, I think, are going to be best in the league,” new general manager Michael Hirshfeld said in a news release from the fledgling league. He added that a new dressing room will be constructed for the PWHL team at TD Place Arena.

Hirshfeld was among six general managers named by the league Friday. The other GMs are Danielle Marmer (helming the Boston franchise), Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota), Danièle Sauvageau (Montreal), Pascal Daoust (New York) and Gina Kingsbury (Toronto).

Hirshfeld, a former corporate lawyer, is well-known in hockey circles, mostly in managerial functions. He was executive director of the NHL Coaches’ Association (NHLCA) “where he provided support in a variety of areas to coaches of all levels across the NHL and AHL.”

The GMs hit the ground running Friday.

The player selection process officially kicked off Sept.1, and teams will have until Sept. 10 to sign three free agent players.

The majority of the teams’ players will be chosen in the 2023 PWHL draft in Toronto on Sept. 18. The league said Friday the initial draft order will be Minnesota, Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. The order reverses in even-number rounds.

The league is supported financially by business and philanthropic leaders Mark and Kimbra Walter, and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten.

Team names and branding have yet to be announced.

The inaugural 24-game PWHL season is slated to begin in January.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ith-junior-67s

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Ottawa's pro women's hockey team to share TD Place Arena with junior 67's

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Sep 02, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read

Ottawa’s newest pro team officially has a place to play, and a new GM to get the puck moving for the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

The as-yet-unnamed hockey team will play at the TD Place Arena (formerly Civic Centre Arena) in the Lansdowne Park complex. It will share the venue with the junior Ontario Hockey League team, the Ottawa 67’s.

TD Place Arena has a seating capacity of around 8,000. The arena, then called the Civic Centre, was the first home of the Ottawa Senators from 1992-95, while the team’s Kanata centre (now known as the Canadian Tire Centre) was being built. The Civic Centre was also briefly home to two World Hockey Association franchises in Ottawa in the 1970s.

“The facilities in Ottawa, I think, are going to be best in the league,” new general manager Michael Hirshfeld said in a news release from the fledgling league. He added that a new dressing room will be constructed for the PWHL team at TD Place Arena.

Hirshfeld was among six general managers named by the league Friday. The other GMs are Danielle Marmer (helming the Boston franchise), Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota), Danièle Sauvageau (Montreal), Pascal Daoust (New York) and Gina Kingsbury (Toronto).

Hirshfeld, a former corporate lawyer, is well-known in hockey circles, mostly in managerial functions. He was executive director of the NHL Coaches’ Association (NHLCA) “where he provided support in a variety of areas to coaches of all levels across the NHL and AHL.”

The GMs hit the ground running Friday.

The player selection process officially kicked off Sept.1, and teams will have until Sept. 10 to sign three free agent players.

The majority of the teams’ players will be chosen in the 2023 PWHL draft in Toronto on Sept. 18. The league said Friday the initial draft order will be Minnesota, Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. The order reverses in even-number rounds.

The league is supported financially by business and philanthropic leaders Mark and Kimbra Walter, and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten.

Team names and branding have yet to be announced.

The inaugural 24-game PWHL season is slated to begin in January.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ith-junior-67s

Nice to see and will add some entertainment to Landsdowne. I guess the ticket prices will be similar to the 67s and it will cannibalize some of their market.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Nice to see and will add some entertainment to Landsdowne. I guess the ticket prices will be similar to the 67s and it will cannibalize some of their market.

I haven’t seen anything about ticket prices, but I bet they will be higher than the 67s, as this is a pro league. Probably closer to the AHL than junior.

Hopefully they find a market. The previous teams in Toronto and Montreal were drawing way less than junior hockey. A lot of crowds in the hundreds. Hopefully this league has more visibility, aided by the NHL. Though this team playing at Lansdowne suggests that the Sens aren’t involved. Hope I am wrong.

[J.OT13]

They confirmed on CBC that they will play at the Civic Centre.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by phil235

I haven’t seen anything about ticket prices, but I bet they will be higher than the 67s, as this is a pro league. Probably closer to the AHL than junior.

Hopefully they find a market. The previous teams in Toronto and Montreal were drawing way less than junior hockey. A lot of crowds in the hundreds. Hopefully this league has more visibility, aided by the NHL. Though this team playing at Lansdowne suggests that the Sens aren’t involved. Hope I am wrong.

Did a quick google to see what AHL tickets are priced at as I was surprised they go for more than Junior. Junior is arguably better hockey. I mean both are obviously better than women's hockey though the overall product has good potential to be a family friendly event. Bur I don't see $30 tickets working. Outside of Habs and Leafs you can watch the Sens most games for less than that.

[rocketphish]

Jenner, Maschmeyer, Clark Sign With PWHL Ottawa
Canadian national team members Brianne Jenner, Emerance Maschmeyer and Emily Clark have all signed with the PWHL's Ottawa franchise.

Ian Kennedy, The Hockey News
September 5, 2023 | 50 minutes ago

Ottawa's PWHL franchise made the first official splash in free agency signing a trio of Canadian national team members in Brianne Jenner, Emmerance Maschmeyer, and Emily Clark.

All three agreed to three year contracts through 2025-2026. Salary terms will not be disclosed per the PWHLPA.

“We are thrilled with the three players we have signed as the inaugural players for the Ottawa franchise,” said Mike Hirshfeld, general manager of PWHL Ottawa in a league press release. “We truly believe that we have signed three incredible hockey players. As important to us, we are focused on making Ottawa a best-in-class organization in the PWHL, a place where players want to come and play. Building a culture is important to us and we believe these three players are incredibly well-respected and will help us to lay the foundation of the type of organization we aspire to be.”

Jenner, 32, who hails from Oakville, Ontario, spent last season in the PWHPA scoring 19 points in 20 games with Team Sonnet. Jenner has two Olympic gold medals and three World Championship gold on her resume, including being named MVP at the 2022 Olympics. Following her NCAA career at Cornell, Jenner spent four seasons playing with the CWHL's Calgary Inferno winning a pair of Clarkson Cup titles.

“This is a dream come true,” said Jenner. “I'm thrilled and honoured with the opportunity to help build a franchise in Ottawa and help establish a culture and atmosphere here that will be a foundation for years to come. I couldn't be more excited to get to Ottawa and become a part of the community."

“It is an honour to welcome one of this generation’s greatest players to Ottawa and we are thrilled that she will be joining us as an inaugural member of our franchise,” said Hirshfeld of Jenner. “Her accomplishments to date are incredibly impressive and we are excited to watch her lead our team over the next few seasons. We strongly believe her leadership and work ethic will lay a foundation for all of our players and our entire franchise and create the type of team culture and commitment that we believe is extremely important.”

Maschmeyer, 28, played 10 games last season with the PWHPA's Team Scotiabank posting a 2.83 GAA and .922 save percentage. The Alberta product and Harvard graduate spent three seasons in the CWHL prior to joining the PWHPA and has seven World Championship medals (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze) including being named the 2016 Best Goaltender, and also won an Olympic gold with Canada.

“It is an absolute honour and privilege to be one of the first-ever players signed to the PWHL,” said Maschmeyer. “It’s important to recognize that I wouldn’t have reached this point of signing a professional contract without all the determination of the women and pioneers of the game who came before me. I am thrilled to be joining the Ottawa organization as we build a strong-charactered, Championship caliber team.”

“We believe Emerance is one of the top goalies in the world and believe she is heading into the best years of her career,” said Hirshfeld. “We are excited to have her on our team. In doing our research, people around the game were unanimous about all the intangibles she brings to the table like a positive, infectious personality, an amazing teammate, and a leader. She will be an important part of the culture we are trying to build in Ottawa.”

Ottawa's third signing is 27-year-old forward Emily Clark whose international remume with Team Canada includes an Olympic gold and silver and seven IIHF Women’s World Championship medals (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze).

The Wisconsin alumni was second in PWHPA scoring last season behind only Marie-Philip Poulin scoring 23 points in 20 games for the Secret Cup champion Team Harvey's.

“I couldn’t be happier to be a part of the PWHL Ottawa franchise and I am looking forward to building on the strong women’s hockey history in the nation’s capital,” said Clark. “Having played there before, it was evident that the fans are passionate and that this is a hockey city. This is a dream come true and I cannot wait to get things started in Ottawa!”

“We are absolutely delighted to have Emily join Ottawa as one of our inaugural franchise players,” said Hirshfeld. “We love her complete 200-foot hockey game and strongly believe she is only getting better as a player and is heading into the prime years of her career. As important to us, in performing our due diligence, everyone we talked to raved about her as a teammate and a leader and we believe she will be an integral part of the culture we are trying to build in our locker room.”

With the signings, Ottawa's free agency period is now complete, and the team can prepare for the September 18 PWHL Draft where Ottawa holds the 5th and

Agreements during this time. The 2023 PWHL Draft is scheduled for Sept. 18 where Ottawa holds the fifth and eighth overall picks.

https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwh...th-pwhl-ottawa

[rocketphish]

Trademark filings hint at 6 possible PWHL team names
Applications include Toronto Torch, Montreal Echo and Ottawa Alert

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports
Posted: Oct 26, 2023 2:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago



The new Professional Women's Hockey League has filed trademark applications for six possible team names.

Applications to trademark Toronto Torch, Montreal Echo, Ottawa Alert, Minnesota Superior, Boston Wicked and New York Sound were all filed by PWHL Holdings, LLC on Wednesday, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's database. The trademark applications were first reported by DetroitHockey.net.

The league hasn't yet announced team names for its first six franchises, and the trademark applications don't necessarily mean these will ultimately be the names the league chooses.

PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten told CBC Sports earlier this month that teams will have names by January 2024, when the league is expected to begin play, but team logos are less certain.

"I don't know about logos," Kasten said at the time. "But we'll see. We might. We might surprise everyone. Or we might not surprise everyone. We're just not ready to announce anything yet but when we are, we will."

The PWHL unveiled a league logo earlier this week that includes a stylized W, representing women, with two sticks crossed and a puck to create the visual of a faceoff.

"This element was chosen to illustrate a new beginning in women's hockey, in the same way a faceoff takes place at the beginning of every game," the PWHL said in a news release.

While the PWHL's logo is purple, a colour chosen because it "signifies power and is often associated with ambition, both symbolic of PWHL players and the league's formation," each team is using a version of the logo with a unique colour — blue for Toronto, red for Ottawa and maroon for Montreal.

At least one of the possible team names has a storied history in Canadian women's hockey.

The Ottawa Alerts were a successful women's hockey team throughout the 1920s, according to Brian McFarlane's book, Proud Past, Bright Future: One Hundred Years of Canadian Women's Hockey.

In it, he describes how the team won the Eastern Canadian championship in 1922 and played a series against a women's team from North Toronto, drawing about 4,000 fans to at least one of those games.

The University of Ottawa and Carleton University also play for the Alerts Cup during the annual Colonel By Classic, a celebration of the city's women's hockey history and the Alerts, who were Canadian champions six times in the team's 15-year history.

Other possible team names hint at prominent local geography. The Minnesota Superior likely refers to Lake Superior, the Great Lake that touches Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario, while the New York Sound may be a reference to the Long Island Sound between New York and Connecticut.

Teams will open training camps on Nov. 15, with more than 180 players set to attend across the six teams. But the PWHL still has lots to do before the players hit the ice.

In addition to team names, the new league still has to announce the schedule for each team and the venues where those teams will play and practise.

"The thought of standing up one team in an existing league in six months is kind of nuts," Kasten told CBC Sports earlier this month.

"And here we are trying to stand up six teams in a new league, none of which existed when we began. And yet, we're going to do it. I've never felt more confident than I do today that we are going to have our first games in January and have our first season in 2024."

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/pwh...ames-1.7009072

[rocketphish]

Ottawa Alert a tribute to women who helped break the ice a century ago
Proposed name for capital's new PWHL team harkens back to hockey history

Alistair Steele · CBC News
Posted: Nov 04, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago



When news broke late last month that the nascent Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) had filed trademark applications for six team names including the Ottawa Alert, James Powell felt a sense of déjà vu.

Powell, a member of the Historical Society of Ottawa and author of the blog Today in Ottawa's History, had recently written about another pioneering women's hockey team with the same name. Well, almost the same.

The Ottawa Alerts — that's Alerts plural — burst onto the sports scene in 1915, a year into the First World War. With many of Canada's most accomplished hockey-playing men enlisting and serving overseas, there was suddenly room on the rink for the women.

The team drew young women from the Ottawa Ladies' College and the YWCA.

Women's hockey was nothing new in Canada. Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy (née Stanley), daughter of the governor general who would later lend his name to hockey's most coveted prize, famously hosted an all-ladies shinny game at Rideau Hall in 1889. (A rematch the following year produced the first known photograph of women playing hockey.)

Women's hockey flourished over the following decades, and there were plenty of local teams. Powell lists the Rideau Club Ladies, the Westboro Pets and the Vestas of Hull among the popular capital region clubs at the time.

The women's game was still seen as something of a novelty, however, and not everyone viewed it as a suitable pursuit for proper young ladies in the early 20th century.

"It was considered unladylike, I would put it that way," Powell told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning earlier this week.

But spectators soon learned that these women could really play. Following a 1916 road trip to Cornwall, Ont., a local newspaper described the Alerts as "good players and very good stick-handlers," Powell said.

They were tough, too.

"They didn't shy away from hits," Powell said. "It was really the quality of the matches that attracted the fans to the games."

In 1917, the Alerts travelled to Pittsburgh to take on the Polar Milk Maids, sweeping the three-game "world" series and gaining some international attention.

Toward the end of 1922, the Alerts joined the 18-team Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA). In their black and yellow sweaters and long skirts, the Ottawa team took on North Toronto in a two-game contest for the inaugural league championship in March 1923.

Ottawa won the cup with a total of six goals to North Toronto's two, with star player Shirley Moulds netting all but one goal for the Alerts. They won again the following year, and according to Powell the Alerts "remained a power in Ontario women's hockey through the rest of the decade."

They were also a big draw at home, winning new fans with their action-packed play on such storied local rinks as Dey's Arena.

"They were extremely popular," Powell told Ottawa Morning. "Thousands of fans came to their games. Many of the men initially came to mock, but when they saw the quality of the games that turned around pretty quickly."

The Alerts lost some of their star players including Moulds to rival teams, and after a disappointing disqualification from the 1930 championship, the team "disappeared from the sports pages of Ottawa newspapers, most likely another casualty of the Depression," according to Powell.

The LOHA folded a decade later.

The Ottawa Alerts may be long gone, but they were never forgotten.

Don Moulds said his aunt Shirley never talked about her hockey career. In fact, he only learned about her on-ice exploits after she died 50 years ago.

"I only got an inkling of her ability at hockey when a gentleman came up to me at her funeral [and] said that he had seen her play back in the '20s, and that she was as good as any of the junior boys at that time," Moulds told CBC.

Shirley Moulds excelled at many other sports including softball, tennis and later bowling. While she remained humble about those accomplishments, one of her great nephews researched her life's story, resulting in her induction into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Shirley Moulds was a lifelong resident of Fifth Avenue in the Glebe, and later worked for the federal government. She was also an avid Ottawa Rough Riders fan, and a devotee of quarterback Russ Jackson in particular.

"Aunt Shirley is still missed by all of us who were lucky enough to know her," Don Moulds said.

In another modern tribute, the women's hockey teams from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University now compete for the Alerts Cup. The winner-take-all game has been held intermittently since 2004.

While the name of Ottawa's new PWHL franchise hasn't been finalized, Powell said the choice of the Ottawa Alert would be a fitting acknowledgement of the pivotal role those pioneering women played a century ago.

"I thought it was delightful," he said. "It was a great nod to a historic team."

Don Moulds appreciates the gesture, too.

"I think Alert would be an excellent choice," he said. "I'm sure my aunt would be totally on board with it as well."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...-ago-1.7015481