CWHL interim Commissioner Jayna Hefford said if the league can increase its visibility, it will be able to "increase the interest in the game, the awareness of the game, to get more people out to watch because we have this fascinating product," according to David Alter of the CP. Under former CWHL Commissioner Brenda Andress, the league "expanded from four teams to six." It also expanded into the U.S. and China and "secured Canadian broadcast rights with Sportsnet." Hefford "aims to pick up where Andress left off." Women’s hockey continues to have "two competing leagues in North America." In addition to the CWHL, which is a "non-profit organization that began paying its players last season," there is the NWHL, which "operates on a for-profit model." Hefford said, "It’s a difficult situation because operationally the two leagues operate very differently. In my mind, I’m trying to simplify it that we need all of the best players in one league and there has been all of this talk about one league. But what one league really means could be very different to me, to you and to the next person." Alter noted there has been talk about the "need for the NHL to step in." Three CWHL teams have "affiliation agreements with three NHL teams" -- the Toronto Furies with the Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadienne with the Canadiens and the Calgary Inferno with the Flames. Hefford said that she has "not talked with the NHL about a broader partnership." Her focus is "solely growing the league she has been installed to lead" (CP, 8/26).
