It is a “mad dash to the starting line” for the PWHL, which plans to drop the puck on its first season in January as “several important announcements” have yet to materialize, according to Mark Colley of the TORONTO STAR. Despite admitting yesterday that team names and logos “may not be ready for opening day,” Toronto F Sarah Nurse and the PWHL are “urging fans to be patient” with the process. Nurse: “This whole entity has been turned around … in the last six months. When people talk about jerseys and team names and logos and things like that, and locations, all that stuff is still happening as we speak. It’s gonna be absolutely amazing, but obviously it takes time.” PWHL SVP of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford said that the league will “play games every day of the week,” but “but not every week -- and no public schedule has been announced.” PWHL Advisory Board member, and Dodgers President & CEO, Stan Kasten added “most, if not all, games will be broadcast on linear TV,” but the league “has no broadcasting deal yet.” Kasten said that when the league first announced its goal of starting in January, he was told by industry friends that the timeline “wasn’t feasible.” But he and others “insisted on the six-month turnaround as a commitment to the players.” Nurse said that she is “confident the infrastructure of the PWHL will allow for the league to run professionally, with enough staff to do things right” (TORONTO STAR, 11/14).
DELAYED IDENTITY: The CP’s Donna Spencer reported each PWHL club will play a 24-game regular season starting in early January despite not having an official opening date or TV deal announced. In October, the league named former WNBA and NFL exec Amy Sheer as its SVP of Business Operations. Kasten said that Sheer “needs time to review unannounced decisions on the league’s business operations.” Kasten said he does not “have a date for any of those things.” Kasten: “The reason for more delay for the last couple of things that we really are close on, like 98 per cent on, is my fault because I have asked her once she got here to take a fresh look with her and the staff that we now have. Just look everything over again one last time before we commit to it.” Kasten added that it is “possible players will start the season without names or logos on their jerseys” (CP, 11/14).
A BAD FIRST IMPRESSION: In Boston, Emma Healy reported each team will open the inaugural season with “two sets of jerseys” (one light and one dark) that include the “city’s name in a block font displayed diagonally across the front.” Each city has also been assigned a “distinct color scheme,” but beyond that, the jerseys feature “no individual branding that is unique to each team, largely because logos and team names have yet to be finalized.” Healy noted fans “flooded the replies of PWHL Boston’s uniform announcement” on X, criticizing the team and the league over the jersey designs. Many complained of an “apparent lack of effort that went into the designs,” and others noted that the jerseys “don’t pay homage to the cities they’re meant to represent.” PWHL execs said that the uniforms are “not final and will change over time” (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/14).
READING THE FILINGS: In Toronto, Ken Campbell noted that “Torch” was the name filed by the league with the U.S. patent and trademark office, but there has been “nothing official yet” announced by the league. A PWHL spokesperson said that the team “continues to be known as PWHL Toronto until further notice.” PWHL GM Gina Kingsbury said, “Whatever we end up being named, we’ll make sure it becomes an identity.” Adding, “We’ll sell it how it needs to be sold and we’ll believe in it. That’s the least of our worries right now. Our identity will shine through, regardless of what we’re called.” Campbell noted the other names registered were the “Montreal Echo, Ottawa Alert, Minnesota Superior, Boston Wicked and New York Sound” (TORONTO STAR, 11/13).
