All of Quebec will have a female force on the ice this winter.
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) unveiled, Tuesday in Montreal, the name, logo and jersey of the new professional women’s hockey team, the Force, which will be based in Montreal, but whose games will be played in many towns in the province.
For its inaugural season, the Force will play its home games across the province. Thus, Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Saint-Jérôme and Sept-Îles will each host two games, according to a schedule to be unveiled in September.
La Force thus becomes the second Canadian team after the Toronto Six.
lily flower
The logo is likely to mark the imagination, since it is the letter F in which is embedded a fleur-de-lis. The team’s main color is brown, reminiscent of the historic Montreal Maroons team.
Although itinerant, the Force will be based in Montreal, more precisely in Verdun at Center 21.02, the high performance hockey center for female athletes directed by Danièle Sauvageau.
So far, 16 players have signed contracts with the team, including forwards Ann-Sophie Bettez, Kim Deschênes, Jade Downie-Landry, Catherine Dubois, Alyssa Holmes, Samantha Isbell, Alexandra Labelle, Sarah Lefort, Kristina Shanahan and Brooke Stacey, defenders Catherine Daoust, Christine Deaudelin, Kaity Howarth and Brigitte Laganière, as well as goalkeepers Tricia Deguire and Marie-Soleil Deschênes. The rest of the roster and coaches are yet to be announced.
ESPN holds broadcast rights to the league for two years in the United States and international rights for portions that include TSN in Canada. French language coverage of the PHF and the Force must be announced before the start of the season.
The PHF league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force and Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup.
A divided environment
However, the world of professional women’s hockey remains deeply divided, while the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) still brings together the majority of Canadian and American stars. She continues to work on a league project with possible endorsements from Billie Jean King and Mark Walter, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Women’s hockey is always looking for a long-term financially profitable league to showcase its big stars as true professionals.
An attempt to unify the two projects — encouraged by the NHL — failed earlier this year.
The Women’s World Hockey Championship is currently taking place in Denmark and 34 players from the PWHPA are participating — 21 with Canada, 13 with the United States. Only seven members of the PHF participate with Finland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The PWHPA has some of the biggest names in North American women’s hockey — including Olympic gold medalists Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight, Amanda Kessel, Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner.