It is still unclear what the exact schedule for the new circuit will look like. However, it seems that the inaugural puck drop will take place “on or around” January 1, we learned from a reliable source. Several details remain to be clarified regarding the launch of the league – for example, if only one match will be played on the day or if all six teams will be in action. Due to the lack of a precise timetable, tickets are not yet on sale. However, the league is accepting $50 deposits through Nov. 14 for priority access to tickets “when available.”
Thirty-two players will converge on the metropolis over the coming days to attend the first training camp of the Montreal team of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. They will hit the ice on Saturday, November 18, after undergoing physical tests and medical exams. At the end of around two weeks of work, a roster of 23 athletes and 2 reserves will be established, in compliance with the rules laid down by the league. As for the Montreal club, we expect that the 15 players selected in the September draft will be present, in addition to the 3 concession players previously hired – Marie-Philip Poulin, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Laura Stacey – and of 14 invited players. Among these, let us mention the presence of Quebec Olympian Mélodie Daoust as well as six former members of the Montreal Force: Catherine Dubois, Sarah Lefort, Brooke Stacey, Catherine Daoust, Brigitte Laganière and Marie-Soleil Deschênes.
Every day, LPHF teams announce the signing of new players. The least we can say is that Danièle Sauvageau, general manager of the Montreal team, does not seem stressed. As of Friday, only six players had an agreement in their pocket, including the three “founding” players mentioned above. For comparison, Boston has 18. Since the draft, Kristin O’Neill, Kennedy Marchment and Jillian Dempsey have agreed to three-year, two-year and one-year contracts, respectively. No announcement has yet been made about Erin Ambrose, selected in the first round of the recent draft, but no hitch seems to be reported in the negotiations with the franchise. The defender is currently in California with the Canadian team as part of the Rivalry Series.
The Montreal team confirmed on Friday what had been known for several weeks already: Éric Houde, ex-Tricolore player, will become one of head coach Kori Cheverie’s assistants. At present, the coaching staff is not yet completed, we learned, nor the administrative staff. Given the structure chosen by the owners of the circuit, everyone hired is actually employed by the league, which lengthens the selection process. Danièle Sauvageau and Kori Cheverie are, however, those who recommend applications to the league.
No announcement has yet been made regarding the permanent home of the Montreal team. Everything indicates, however, that its main home will be the Verdun Auditorium, an amphitheater with just over 4,000 seats which already houses the Center 21.02, one of the most important places for the development of women’s hockey in the world. Local matches could also be played at Place Bell in Laval. The league had also announced, since its creation, that matches could be organized in “neutral” sites, outside the six basic markets.
A few weeks ago, several media outlets reported that six names had been secured by the league in the U.S. copyright database. Social networks were ignited by the idea of seeing the birth of the “Toronto Torch”, the French translation of which is, at the very least, unfortunate. In the same batch, we also found the “Montreal Echo”, or the Echo of Montreal, in French. However, no decision has yet been made, we are assured, and another name could be chosen. It is not excluded that the public will be involved. The Echo could therefore resonate… or not. For now, none of the six teams yet have an official name, nor do they have a logo. Only colors were assigned to each formation: Montreal thus inherited burgundy, which is reminiscent of the Maroons of the 1920s and 1930s.
