New era brings a new name for NWHL

Switch to Premier Hockey Federation just latest move for league

The National Women’s Hockey League is history. Welcome, Premier Hockey Federation.

North America’s first women’s professional hockey league to pay players a salary adopted the new name Tuesday as part of a rebranding to reflect the changes to its management structure and the influx of private ownership as the league enters its seventh season.

“The league has come a long way since its inception in 2015, and we believe that this is the right time and the right message as we strengthen our commitment to growing the game and inspiring youth,” commissioner Ty Tumminia said. “It really mirrors what we are doing. Everything about us is new as we’re heading into this new era.”

The decision to change names also provided the six-team federation an opportunity to make a social statement by removing gender from its title.

“We felt it’s time for our players to be defined by their talent and skill,” Tumminia said. “It’s not like they’re female phenomenal. You’re just phenomenal.”

In billing the change “No Labels, No Limits,” the league also focused on having its new title be more inclusive by respecting the various gender identities of its players and fan base. The logo will be black and white and feature three stars forming the silhouette of a crown overtop the initials “PHF.”

The new season opens on Nov. 6.

The rebrand follows a series of changes made over the past year in a bid to achieve financial stability and move beyond the investor-based, startup model the NWHL first operated under as the vision of founder and former commissioner Dani Rylan Kearney.

Since Tumminia replaced Rylan Kearney in October, the league introduced a new management structure headed by a board of governors, added staff and completed the sale of all of its franchises to private owners. Initially, the league controlled all of its teams and was essentially run by Rylan Kearney from its New York headquarters.

The influx of new ownership, investors and sponsors led to the NWHL’s announcement in April that it was doubling its salary cap to $300,000 (U.S.) for each team despite coming off a coronavirus-shortened twoweek season in which its playoffs were postponed by nearly two months following a COVID-19 outbreak among its players.

The PHF has teams based in Boston, Toronto, Monmouth Junction, N.J., St. Paul, Minn., Danbury, Conn., and Buffalo, N.Y.

After expanding into Toronto last year, the PHF has announced it intends to add a seventh team in Montreal for the start of the 2022-23 season.

As for removing gender from the title, Metropolitan Riveters captain Madison Packer said it levels the playing field.

“Respectfully, I don’t know if men always understand, especially for me, because I encounter it a lot,” Packer said. “We play with the same-sized puck, in the same-sized rink, the same nets … So to remove that label, not only remove it but in the logo erase the ‘W,’ I think is empowering.”