PHF Purchased, Teams to Be Folded Into New PWHPA League

[BowWowWow]

A good interview with Toronto's signee Renata Fast, if you have ~20 mins to devote to it. Among other things, Fast talks about the team colors - she hopes they're blue and white - and the players drafted from Europe.

With a glance at eliteprospects pages, so far Toronto is the most Canadian team, as mentioned in the interview, and Minnesota the most American. Ottawa and Boston are pretty even, while New York is largely Canadian. Boston, MN, Montreal, and Ottawa each have 3 European draftees.

 

[BowWowWow]

We should rank these teams based on their rosters......get your thinking caps on.

So far, my unscientific ranking is:

1. Boston
They bring in Knight, Muller, Rattray, and Gabel and have great goaltending. With their draft strategy, they scored some players picked a little later than predicted, like Jaques, and they seemed especially confident in what they wanted.

2. Montreal
They have Poulin, Stacey, O'Neill, and nice defense including 2023 grad Poulin-Labelle. Also, I'm partial to them because of Yale 2023 grad Dalton - plus fellow NCAA grad draft picks David and Bizal. The goaltending looks amazing.

3. New York
Roque is such a great center, and they have D like Bourbonnais, a point-producing defender while at Cornell, and a lot of depth.

4. Toronto
Many Team Canada players are there, along with Compher, Connors, and others, and the D seems excellent. They still need another goalie and maybe more variety, given they've relied on Team Canada but couldn't draft the whole Canada team!

5. Minnesota
Coyne Schofield and Heise look to be terrific for MN. I'm unsure how their defense will shake out (except for Stecklein being in the top pairing)! They have two experienced goalies.

6. Ottawa
Though they did not generally get the biggest names in the draft, they said to press they were happy with their draft and it went according to plan. Jenner and Clark as free agents seem great. Will be cool to see the Czech players coached by MacLeod, there as well as on their national team.

As FiveHoleFrenzy says, of course, who's to say until they hit the ice and come together!

 

[BowWowWow]

Some colors are being shown for the 6 teams by their social media accounts. From sportslogos.net: "The account for the team from Boston showed green, Minnesota purple, Montreal dark red (or maroon), New York teal green, Ottawa red, and Toronto light blue." The colors that would complement these for the teams (like black, white... in Ottawa?) aren't clear yet.

The Boston color so far aligns with the Boston Celtics, and Minnesota somewhat the Vikings, though they're different purples and greens. Toronto's blue is lighter than for the Maple Leafs or Blue Jays, as well. Some identities are starting to form.

 

[Lindsay]

https://youtu.be/KvMcE8kR00g?si=Hq519N8ZZJo_VMKa


PWHL draft day video, about 10 minutes. Heise, Muller, Ambrose, Jaques featured.

 

[shelfit]

https://youtu.be/KvMcE8kR00g?si=Hq519N8ZZJo_VMKa


PWHL draft day video, about 10 minutes. Heise, Muller, Ambrose, Jaques featured.

Fantastic video. Best 13:35 of my day so far. I got choked up watching. This is an emotional moment for those of us who have been involved in our sport for so long. Let's hope the future continues to bring progress and growth at the professional level. I was never satisfied with having more than one group that tried professional women's hockey because it felt fractured instead of united. I hope this step will bring unity to our game at this level. If things go well, the hope is more teams in the future will give more professional opportunities for the best of the best to play and earn a living as pro hockey players, and that's what I want to see for the professional level. I don't want to see it being a half-assed pro league where the players have to have a day job to survive. Here's to the future! I wish this league and everyone involved nothing but good luck and success going forward!

 

[BowWowWow]

A great video, thanks! It's good that they included Ambrose alongside the drafted college players for the veteran perspective.

Also, I stumbled on the website of the PWHLPA, where (at the bottom) you can find the collective bargaining agreement. The PWHL recently announced, as well, that it formed the Respect Hockey Culture Center partnering with several other leagues. It will offer mental health care and a place "to report on incidents of bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination," according to its press release.

 

[BowWowWow]

The PWHL announced rosters for training camps: here's the PWHL release. Camp invites include Becca Gilmore (OTT), Lauriane Rougeau (TOR); from among PHF All-Stars, Mikyla Grant-Mentis (OTT), Madison Packer (NY), Kaleigh Fratkin (BOS), Leah Lum (MTL), Patti Marshall (MIN), and Saroya Tinker (OTT) - alongside Maddie Rooney (MIN), just a few that stood out! Hailey Salvian noted Ottawa's working on its offense in particular, and Toronto needs a backup goalie, possibly Carly Jackson.

This may turn out to be incorrect, but the American teams' home venues are said to be, according to The Hockey News:
- a venue either at BU (Walter Brown Arena) or in Lowell for Boston
- Xcel Energy Center for MN, with just a portion of the seats making that part more filled
- Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT for NY

 

[Scott_TG]

The PWHL announced rosters for training camps: here's the PWHL release. Camp invites include Becca Gilmore (OTT), Lauriane Rougeau (TOR); from among PHF All-Stars, Mikyla Grant-Mentis (OTT), Madison Packer (NY), Kaleigh Fratkin (BOS), Leah Lum (MTL), Patti Marshall (MIN), and Saroya Tinker (OTT) - alongside Maddie Rooney (MIN), just a few that stood out! Hailey Salvian noted Ottawa's working on its offense in particular, and Toronto needs a backup goalie, possibly Carly Jackson.

This may turn out to be incorrect, but the American teams' home venues are said to be, according to The Hockey News:
- a venue either at BU (Walter Brown Arena) or in Lowell for Boston
- Xcel Energy Center for MN, with just a portion of the seats making that part more filled
- Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT for NY

Bridgeport is not NY

 

[BowWowWow]

Bridgeport is not NY

Right, maybe they should be called the Tristate team, like Tristate Whale? Personally I'm excited they may be close to me (I live in New Haven).

 

[Scott_TG]

Right, maybe they should be called the Tristate team, like Tristate Whale? Personally I'm excited they may be close to me (I live in New Haven).

They are doing the league a disservice by calling them a New York team and basing them in Connecticut. The New York fans aren't traveling to Bridgeport on a regular basis and they will have trouble getting locals to embrace a team branded for New York. This is more of the same hubris and shortsided thinking from the PWHPA crew

 

[harrow18]

And Lowell is NOT Boston. Terrible idea if they go that route. Use the Warrior arena or something in Boston

 

[top cheese]

Warrior is too small. Boston Pride regularly filled it, if PWHL is to be successful and grow their fan base, they have to accommodate more spectators, so they can pay EVERY player a living wage, not just the top 6 or so on each team as it is now.

 

[Scott_TG]

Warrior is too small. Boston Pride regularly filled it, if PWHL is to be successful and grow their fan base, they have to accommodate more spectators, so they can pay EVERY player a living wage, not just the top 6 or so on each team as it is now.

How are they going to grow their fan base playing away from the city centers? No one from where they are marketing the team as being from is going to go see them play.

Either the investors believe in this league enough to take the loss on the bigger buildings in the population center where they are marketing the team, or they should have located the teams in markets where they can afford to play in big enough arenas in the population center.

Or they could invest in building/renovating arenas that suit their needs. With all the building in Coney Island I'm sure the city would let them tear down the Abe Stark rink on the boardwalk and let them build something new with a few thousand seats. They'd be sharing the parking lot with the Brooklyn Cyclones too.

They look like a joke calling a Lowell team "Boston" and a Bridgeport, CT team "New York"

 

[Russell Jaslow]

Bridgeport is not NY

If it were in Greenwich or Stamford, that would be one thing. But Bridgeport?! You’re entering Boston Red Six territory where no one would be caught dead chanting, “Let’s go New York.”

 

[BowWowWow]

If it were in Greenwich or Stamford, that would be one thing. But Bridgeport?! You’re entering Boston Red Six territory where no one would be caught dead chanting, “Let’s go New York.”

There are a lot of Yankee fans in Bridgeport, though I'm sure it's a mix - there is even a NY Times detail of a map! Pittsfield in MA also has Yankee fans. True enough, though, CT isn't NY, nor is Lowell Boston. A further report (in The Athletic) indicates teams may start in January with just the name of the home city/state across the jersey and then they'll get logos later. Along with the question of year-1 venues, this possibility makes the league feel like a work in progress of course.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

There are a lot of Yankee fans in Bridgeport, though I'm sure it's a mix - there is even a NY Times detail of a map! Pittsfield in MA also has Yankee fans. True enough, though, CT isn't NY, nor is Lowell Boston. A further report (in The Athletic) indicates teams may start in January with just the name of the home city/state across the jersey and then they'll get logos later. Along with the question of year-1 venues, this possibility makes the league feel like a work in progress of course.

Which is why I used the word "entering."

Funny, I was going to make a sarcastic comment about whether they will have nicknames by the start of the season. I guess it would not have been so sarcastic... Ridiculous. The PHF had some great nicknames. Freaking use them!

 

[Scott_TG]

Which is why I used the word "entering."

Funny, I was going to make a sarcastic comment about whether they will have nicknames by the start of the season. I guess it would not have been so sarcastic... Ridiculous. The PHF had some great nicknames. Freaking use them!

But if the PHF branding survives, how will everyone know it was the PWHPA players who won?

Never forget their egos are the most important thing, even over the success of the league and health of the sport

 

[Russell Jaslow]

But if the PHF branding survives, how will everyone know it was the PWHPA players who won?

Never forget their egos are the most important thing, even over the success of the league and health of the sport

Yep. No doubt it's the egos preventing them from carrying any of the PHF nicknames over.

 

[BowWowWow]

I'm not sure... I don't think a lack of PHF, or CWHL, nicknames or logos would be about the players' egos. Rather, it would be about the ownership wishing to market this as a totally new league - and for the first time "best-on-best." While working on the collective bargaining agreement as previously reported, the PWHPA players did not know about the buyout in progress. So, they haven't had control of the overall decision-making. This is not to say that discarding past logos is a good idea!

 

[BowWowWow]

Lowell and Bridgeport are confirmed for ~10 of 12 home games, according to this, along with rinks for the other 4 teams. Montreal: Centre 21.02 at Verdun Auditorium; Toronto: Mattamy (practicing at Ford Performance Centre); Ottawa: TD Place.

The Boston team is going to practice in Wellesley, and the New York team is set to practice in Stamford. The Minnesota team will practice at TRIA, playing its games at Xcel. Official word's said to be coming within a few weeks!