CWHL comes out of board battle
After a messy split with venture capitalist Graeme Roustan and the departure of past directors, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League introduced its new board on Friday.
Stephanie Bowman, a member of the Bank of Canada’s board of directors and an experienced fundraiser.
Allyson Fox, who played for the Brampton Thunder and is now a lawyer.
Kevin Gilmore, sports business consultant and former executive with the Montreal Canadiens.
Jeff Haltrecht, a business strategist.
Julia Holland, a risk management specialist.
Karen Rubin, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee with a background in not-for-profit operations.
Kim Smither, a marketing consultant.
Vicky Sunohara, former Canadian national team player and a member of the board of directors for the Canadian Sports Institute.
Richard Venn, founding partner of the private equity firm Further Global Capital Management.
“The board, as a whole, brings extensive skill, experience and passion to the CWHL, in areas such as finance, legal, risk, governance, human resources, public relations and marketing and, of course, the game of hockey itself,” the league said in a release.
Roustan quit as governor this week, citing a lack of faith in the current leadership, including chair Laurel Walzak, an associate professor at Ryerson University. Art Mannarn, recently retired from CIBC as an executive vice-president, continues as vice-chair.
Roustan, who owns Roustan Media, publisher of The Hockey News, was the last of 11 executives or directors to leave over the past year. Others include former Maple Leafs president Brian Burke and former Olympian Cassie Campbell-Pascall.
The directors are supposed to help with raising money — by writing cheques, holding fundraisers or introducing the league to potential sponsors.
The league, overseen by interim commissioner Jayna Hefford, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and former CWHL player, operates on a budget of about $3 million a year. It includes travel and accommodation, including for the team in China. Most players earn between $2,000 and $10,000 a season, with team payrolls capped at $100,000.