The Skilled Girls’s Hockey League (PWHL) introduced Air Canada as its newest sponsor forward of its inaugural sport on Monday, January 1 in Toronto, Ont. Air Canada would be the official airline of the brand new ladies’s hockey league and its six groups — three in Canada and three in the US. 

“We’re delighted to crew up with Canada’s nationwide service as an Inaugural Premier Companion and Official Airline to the PWHL,” Amy Scheer, PWHL senior vice chairman of enterprise operations, mentioned within the league press launch. “We really feel privileged to fly with Air Canada, a connection that displays our shared values and the large potential for the league, its gamers and our future stars, as we take the game to new heights.”

The take care of Air Canada grants the corporate jersey branding rights for the PWHL Montreal crew, in addition to mental property rights for all six PWHL groups and the league itself. The deal specifies broadcast, in-venue, and in-market property. Air Canada will present journey assist for the league, its gamers and promote the PWHL in its advertising and communications channels.

“To companion with the PWHL and be a part of this historic second in hockey historical past is extremely thrilling and significant to all of us at Air Canada,” Andy Shibata, vice chairman of name at Air Canada, mentioned. “As Canada’s nationwide service, and a longstanding supporter of Canadian sports activities, this partnership displays the love we share with our prospects for hockey, in addition to our work in championing gender equality within the aviation business.”

The press launch included the primary official point out of a broadcast deal, or sponsorship reasonably and on Friday the league introduced its broadcast plans. The league may have nationwide broadcasts in Canada via partnerships with CBC / Radio-Canada, TSN and RDS, and Sportsnet. The league additionally introduced regional offers in the US with MSG Networks and NESN.

“The visibility supplied throughout our broadcast and streaming schedule is unprecedented in ladies’s hockey and reinforces the rising curiosity in our sport,” PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten mentioned within the press launch on Friday afternoon. “Accessibility of PWHL video games all through our inaugural season is a huge win for followers in every single place. We felt it was a precedence to interact a magnitude of dedicated companions on quite a lot of constant platforms.”

To that finish, all PWHL video games will likely be made accessible on the league’s YouTube channel and extra broadcast companions could also be introduced all through the season, as the present agreements with regional networks enable out-of-market distribution. The press launch explicitly talked about Sportsnet Pittsburgh as different networks which may be granted entry to hold PWHL video games. These will likely be decided on a case-by-case foundation, the league introduced. 

Retired PHF defender and 2023 Isobel Cup champion Saroya Tinker confirmed her involvement as a part of the published crew by way of social media earlier this week. 

“Right this moment, I’m so extremely excited to announce the subsequent step in my profession, as your latest @cbcsports @TSN_Sports @Sportsnet Analyst,” the Yale graduate posted. “Catch me January 1st on CBS Sports activities for PWHL Toronto vs. PWHL New York.” 

This will likely be Tinker’s first foray into the published sales space. She’s going to be a part of CBC Sports activities host Andi Petrillo, ladies’s hockey reporter for The Athletic, Hailey Salvian, and TSN reporter and Olympic gold medalist Tessa Bonhomme. Daniella Ponticelli and Cheryl Pounder, will be a part of the broadcasts as commentators and analysts whereas Anastasia Bucsis (SportsNet) will conduct unique rinkside interviews and updates.

The Inaugural Season

After solely formally launching on August 29 of this yr, it is an bold lead-up to the opening sport on January 4, 2024. Nonetheless, issues are falling into place for the North American ladies’s hockey league. 

Final month, the league introduced the PWHL Toronto will host the PWHL New York for the first-ever PWHL sport to happen at Mattamy Athletic Heart in Toronto. The 4 remaining groups will play their first video games all through the weekend. 

“We mentioned January, I do not assume we ever mentioned January 1,” Hefford instructed CBS Sports activities final month. “It looks like a extremely nice strategy to kick off 2024. I do not assume we might be extra excited to do it on January 1.

Forward of the schedule’s launch, there was hypothesis that the PWHL would possibly take part within the NHL Winter Traditional occasion hosted by the Seattle Kraken. Hefford instructed CBS Sports activities that the PWHL and the NHL did focus on collaborating for the Winter Traditional. 

“There was positively a dialog round that and if that was the proper alternative and approach kickoff league. What we landed on was that we needed to launch in our residence markets,” Hefford mentioned. “We predict it is necessary for the followers in these markets that they get to see their crew for the primary time.”

NHL Collaboration

Nonetheless, the PWHL has maintained an in depth relationship with the Nationwide Hockey League and will likely be featured within the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto. 

Given the connection between the NHL and the USA Hockey and Hockey Canada ladies’s packages over time, we will assume we’ll see massive names from each packages represented. It will even be good to see representatives from different elite ladies’s packages like Crew Czechia and Crew Finland. 

“Placing the schedule collectively, clearly, is an enormous puzzle,” Hefford mentioned. Between potential alternatives with the NHL to Worldwide tournaments, the league needed to strike a fragile steadiness to be prepared for a January 2024 launch. 

The league tapped Jeremy Langer to help with managing the inaugural schedule. The one ladies’s hockey league within the North American market will run its common season from January 1 via Might 5. Langer is a particular advisor to the PWHL Board, the league confirmed and has supplied session on quite a lot of tasks, together with the league schedule. 

The PWHL will take part within the Thursday actions for the lads’s All-Star Weekend and resume league play on Saturday, Feb 3. Groups may also pause for the 2024 IIHF Girls’s World Championships happening in Utica, N.Y. in April. 

The PWHL Rulebook

One other overlap with the NHL will likely be mirrored within the officiating. Hefford confirmed the PWHL will use officers skilled and aware of the American Hockey League (AHL) and NHL rulebooks. Prior ladies’s leagues have used NCAA or IIHF guidelines. 

Hefford instructed CBS Sports activities the PWHL was suggested to make use of NHL and AHL officers. 

“Our aim all alongside was to match the professionalism that we all know that the gamers will convey and that we have dedicated to this league with the officiating platform as effectively,” Hefford mentioned. “And so with our relationship with the NHL and the AHL, we have been in a position to nice conversations with that a couple of technique round officiating and doubtlessly sharing officers who work in these leagues and be certain that we’ve got the most effective accessible [officials].” 

Utilizing a professional males’s rulebook is smart with regard to making sure there’s a deep pool of officers the PWHL can name on. Hefford bolstered that. 

“What was advisable to us, I suppose I’d say, is that if we’ll use a lot of officers usually work off the NHL rulebook, and we would like consistency, that is the rule that we must always work off of,” Hefford mentioned.

Nonetheless, there are particular methods wherein the ladies’s sport is officiated that differ from professional males’s hockey — particularly with regards to open ice hits and total physique checking. One can solely assume there will likely be a studying curve as officers get used to the variations the PWHL will make with respect to hits. 

Additional, ladies’s hockey doesn’t use the trapezoid — the world instantly behind the aim. Within the NHL, goalies could not play a puck beneath the pink aim line whether it is outdoors of the trapezoid zone. Neither the NCAA nor the IIHF use a trapezoid. After we spoke to Hefford final month, she was nonetheless unclear if the PWHL would use the trapezoid rule or not. 

The official league rulebook has but to be launched however hopefully will likely be made public quickly. 

Hassle in Paradise? 

Total, there may be rising pleasure for the PWHL, particularly amongst gamers who’ve needed a extra sustainable ladies’s skilled league in North America. PWHL board member Stan Kasten reviews the league is bank-rolled for the subsequent 10 years, together with incremental wage will increase specified by the historic collective bargaining settlement. Nonetheless, there stays an absence of issues the standard sports activities fan, ladies’s hockey or in any other case, are used to. 

Just lately, reviews prompt gamers haven’t been paid on time, the very factor that stalled the NWHL in its second season, particularly after a mass exodus of the exact same Olympians who left the Canadian Girls’s Hockey League (CWHL) for the NWHL forward of the 2015-16 hockey season. 

“Some gamers launched within the preliminary waiver interval weren’t paid the $500 per week assured within the collective bargaining settlement, and lots of signed gamers throughout the league have but to obtain any fee greater than a month after becoming a member of their groups,” Ian Kennedy of The Hockey Information reported earlier this month. 

Longtime NHL govt and PWHLPA govt director Brian Burke clarified the matter. 

“There isn’t a grand conspiracy right here. All gamers will obtain all funds due them. A number of the delay is because of incomplete paperwork, some on account of the truth that we’re all new at this! It’ll all be set proper,” Burke instructed ladies’s hockey reporter Melissa Burgess on December 18. 

The league additionally commented — “All issues between the league and Gamers Affiliation are being dealt with in knowledgeable and collaborative method.”

Last Verdict

Whereas particular crew names and branding would possibly arguably be creature comforts, the dearth of official information on broadcasting throughout North America leaves a lot to be desired. 

Whereas the league itself catches up, I for one have religion the standard on the ice will impress. PWHL Toronto has already bought out season tickets and PWHL Montreal’s residence opener in opposition to PWHL Boston on January 13 is already bought out. 

The PWHL won’t be an ideal product come Monday, nor will it hit each mark of knowledgeable league. Nonetheless, the PWHL has the goodwill, and most significantly the eye of the higher hockey neighborhood like we have by no means seen. What they do with it should decide their early success.