#Brenda Andress

[yolowoho]

[ID - Melissa Burgess‏ tweets “statement from #NWHL commish @DaniRylan on #CWHL commissioner's departure: "Brenda Andress is a champion of women’s hockey — a pioneer who created an enormous legacy in the game we care so deeply about. On a personal level, Brenda has been a great friend and confidant.

"While I look forward to continuing positive discussions with her successor, everyone at the NWHL joins me in congratulating Brenda on her work in building the CWHL and starting the #SheIS initiative. We wish Brenda the best of everything in her next chapter.”]

[queeraspuck]

The You Can Play Young Professionals Network is proud to present "It Takes A Team - A Conversation About LGBTQ Inclusivity in Hockey". Join us for an evening of conversation with influential leaders who will be discussing the challenges and successes of LGBTQ inclusivity in hockey. This event will include an introductory keynote by the Calgary Flames' President of Hockey Operations, Brian Burke, to be followed by a panel discussion moderated by TSN1050's Andi Petrillo. Panelists include the Toronto Maple Leafs' President, Brendan Shanahan, CWHL Founder/Commissioner, Brenda Andress, and New York Riveters centre, Harrison Browne.

Doors are at 6:00PM. The conversation begins at 6:30PM and continues throughout the evening.

All proceeds from “It Takes A Team - A Conversation about LGBTQ Inclusivity in Hockey" will go towards providing You Can Play educational programming for student athletes at select universities in the Greater Toronto Area in 2018.

In case you’re in Toronto on November 9th and have $30 that you want to spend.

[womenshockeynews]

Great interview. Definitely a little shade for the NWHL.

[giornalepop]

SPOGLIAMOCI COSÌ, SENZA PUDOR... COMMEDIA SEXY DI QUALITÀ

SPOGLIAMOCI COSÌ, SENZA PUDOR… COMMEDIA SEXY DI QUALITÀ

Spogliamoci così, senza pudor… è una commedia sexy a episodi del 1976, genere congeniale al regista Sergio Martino, sempre molto bravo a gestire situazioni comiche e al tempo stesso piccanti. Il soggetto e la sceneggiatura sono di Raimondo Vianello e Alessandro Continenza, da ricordare pure le musiche di Enrico Simonetti. Gli interpreti, di altissimo livello, rappresentano il meglio della commedia…

[greathockeywriting]

This should be a must-read for all hockey fans.

[unofficialwohoradio]

Remember when we weren't sure if Brianna Decker would play pro hockey this season? Yeah...well we were wrong.

This week we went absolutely bonkers because Packaglino got engaged, Brenda Andress announced her retirment as CWHL commish, they quickly announced an interim replacement, and we try to make sense of the news of the women's hockey teams in China.

And we plan a wedding.

Links: China's Medal Quest

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[brandoncarlo]

cassie campbell: listen you guys need to be adults about this and sit down and talk about the future of your leagues and this sport. Your feud with the NWHL is juvenile

brenda andress:

[oneleague]

At this point it’s more than a movement.

Cassie Campbell has talked about it, and then left her position at the CWHL. Players in both the NWHL and CWHL have tweeted and talked about it. Even Gary Bettman has talked about it. If the adage is ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire,’ there’s plenty of smoke.

It is the wish among those involved in women’s hockey to see one professional league in North America that sees the best players competing with and against each other every year.

It used to be this way. Up until three years ago, the CWHL was the only North American league around for women who wanted to play after university. The NWHL came along with salaries and split the landscape.

A lot of people in women’s hockey would agree that the NWHL was necessary. It moved the game to American markets that were ignored, and, more importantly, gave a push to the status quo. The NWHL forced the CWHL forward, and vice versa. There has been more progression in the last three years than in the eight previous years the CWHL existed as the only option.

But those people now are calling for one league.

[theicegarden-blog1]

As the folks of women’s hockey Tumblr already know, this is real, and it is happening. 

[theicegarden-blog1]

More big breaking news out of the CWHL today. Stay tuned for our coverage.

YO

[thelegacyproject]

Brenda Andress | Commissioner of Canadian Women’s Hockey League & Founder of Passion Productions

Brenda Andress, also known as the “Thought Leader ” is currently the Commissioner of the Canadian Women’s National Hockey League. Brenda leads the CWHL as they create the first women’s professional hockey league. Brenda has always dedicated herself to her dreams with the strength of passion that enabled her to achieve them and now brings this expertise to the CWHL.

My Definition Of Success:

“ Yes my definition has changed immensely over the years.  When I was younger I measured success by my accomplishments and the amount of money I had.  Life lessons teach you directly if you are willing to learn.

I Am Driven By:

“ MY Passion for life, laughter and family.”

My Highlights:

“ The highlights of my life are my children and Grandchildren and the ability to share in their love and watch them grow into their own lives.  My career highlights are watching my staff grow and become what they were meant to be in life.  The YWCA and WXN award given by women for women was also a highlight.”

The Difference Between Good And Great:

“ All people are great at what they do, when they choose to be what they were born to be.  When you are trying to be someone else, you are only impersonating them and therefore only good at being them and not great at being you.”

A Key Talent:

“My talent and strength is to listen to me and allowing myself to be guided by the voice inside.  “YES I CAN” So many times we return to the scene of the crime at a point in our life only to hear our inside voice say; “I knew I should not have done that, or taken that job, or dated that person”   I am responsible for me and my journey and no one else.  The art of letting go of that which keep us from obtaining our goals. I follow what makes me feel alive and happy and let go of the things in life that we carry that bogs me down. And the most important strength I have is to realize that everyone around me is bringing a message and my job is to hear it and then act on it with truth and integrity.”

How I Use My Mind:

“LOL…My mind uses me and I challenge it to tell me the truth and not what it believes.  A small question, of, is that true, when a thought enters your mind can be the difference in you being calm or upset.”

Lessons I Have Learnt:

“That life is short and you’re in charge. YOU CHOOSE, you might be given all types of lessons and detours of hardship, but you still get to choose what happens to you and how you act and react to that curve ball.”

Performing At My Peak:

“I close my eyes breath in and out and with each breath I say; “breath in love, breath out love”  then next I say; “ do not believe their words or your thoughts, only my heart talks of truth”

[fuckyeahhockeyladies]

CWHL Welcomes 113 New Players in 2017 Draft

One hundred and thirteen players representing nine countries were selected in the 2017 CWHL Draft on Sunday and will join the Boston Blades, Calgary Inferno, Kunlun Red Star, Markham Thunder, Les Canadiennes de Montreal, Toronto Furies, and Vanke Rays for the 2017-18 season. Held at the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Doc Seaman Centre in Toronto, the newest draft class represents 65 different USports and NCAA programs and features players from around the world, including Canada, USA, China, New Zealand and Turkey, among others.

Forward Courtney Turner (Union College; Milton, MA) was selected first overall by Boston Blades general manager Jessica Martino. Forward Kristyn Capizzano (Oakville, Ont.; Boston College) went second overall to the Toronto Furies, followed by defenceman Nicole Kosta (Quinnipiac University; Mississauga, Ont.) to the Markham Thunder, forward Mélodie Daoust (McGill University; Valleyfield, Qué.) to Les Canadiennes, and defenceman Taryn Baumgardt (Quinnipiac University; Innisfail, Alta.) to the Calgary Inferno.

The first round concluded with the CWHL’s two newest teams making their first picks. Kunlun Red Star selected goaltender Noora Räty (Espoo, Finland) sixth overall while the Vanke Rays added forward Cayley Mercer with the seventh selection.

“The 2017 CWHL Draft represents an exciting time for our League. In the eighth year of our draft, we added another talented group of NCAA and USports graduates who will help grow our game,” CWHL Commissioner Brenda Andress said. “These passionate players will complement our existing rosters, and their additions show the growth of the CWHL. I wish every one of these players the very best of luck as they get set for the next step in their hockey careers with our seven great teams.”

This year’s draft set a record in prospect attendance, with 31 players on site for their selection.

CLICK HERE for the full list of this year’s CWHL draft picks.

[ferduh]

todays tea? cwhl commissioner brenda andress saying "we know this plan is sustainable, it won't just be paying them for one year. we have a plan in place and each year we will grow those stipends." ......... like she lowkey went off.....

[incorrectwomenshockeyquotes]

It's not that I don't see your frown, it's that I don't care enough to ask why it's there.

Brenda Andress

[yahoo-puck-daddy-blog]

CWHL downplays Chinese influence in player payments

NEW YORK – Brenda Andress, commissioner of the Canadian’s Women Hockey League, had steadfastly assured her players through the years that the league was on a path to paying them.

She did so when others scoffed at the idea of a pro women’s hockey league. She did so when the National Women’s Hockey League, a U.S.-based rival, began paying its players in 2015, and she did so when the NWHL was forced to abruptly cut salaries the following year due to falling revenues.

“We’re right on target with our strategic plan,” said Andress to Sportsnet in March 2017. “But I’m not a fortune teller. We want to make sure that when we pay our players, we’re not going to take money back from them or discontinue paying them.”

Perhaps Andress didn’t see this moment coming in her crystal ball: The league announced last month that, for the first time, it would offer a salary to its players. The CWHL will pay players a minimum of $2,000, a maximum of $10,000 and a salary cap of $100,000 for each of the CWHL’s seven teams during their 28-game season. That’s money on top of the meal stipends, equipment costs and insurance that’s also covered by the league.

It’s a start, and the news was met with adulation from the players and fans.

“Although it’s a small step forward, it is a strong step in the right direction,” said Karolina Urban, a former CWHL player, via The Athletic. “The CWHL made its mandate to pay its players and to ensure sustainability.”

For Andress, it was validation.

“It’s been phenomenal for us, especially the player reaction. It’s so exciting for us, because it’s an historic moment we’ve all been working towards for the last five or six years. We’re just ecstatic that we went slow, and that we have something in place that will be sustainable. I’m so happy to give something to the women that have supported us for so long,” said the commissioner, at a “Declaration of Principles” event featuring 17 hockey organizations in New York on Wednesday.

“We promised this year. We kept our promise. That’s what the CWHL is all about.”

Would that it t’were so simple…

The CWHL had been telling players “wait until next year” for bit, according to one anonymous player who spoke with Habs Eyes On The Prize: “We’ve heard for the last few years that the following year we were going to get paid, so we were wondering if it would actually happen…”

So what changed?

China happened.

The timing of this decision by the CWHL coincides with a historic expansion to China by the league, which is welcoming the Vanke Rays and Kunlun Red Star next season. Whether or not this expansion into fertile revenue grounds was the catalyst for the players getting paid is something that’s in dispute: Andress downplays the timing of it, while many others in the hockey world find no coincidence in it.

The financial influx of revenue, and potential revenue, from two teams in China is palpable. Especially in the case of the Red Star, which has backing from Xiaoyu Zhao, a banking executive, and Billy Ngok, an oil and gas investor, according to The Victory Press. These Chinese teams are the starting point toward having a competitive women’s team to ice at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

Andress wouldn’t tell the New York Times if there was “any direct financial investment from Chinese hockey parties” in the CWHL, only that the partnerships helped open new doors to sponsorships for the league.

That influx of revenue is also palpable for the players that have decided to skate with the Chinese teams next season. USA Hockey star Kelli Stack and Finnish national team star goalie Noora Räty were the two most prominent names. Stack left the NWHL for the opportunity. Räty had not played before in the CWHL.

The international players joining the Chinese teams were promised a salary well before the CWHL announced it was paying its players.

“All we can tell is we’re not hired as an athlete, we’re hired as ambassadors. I’m an ambassador for the sport in China and for the Kunlun Red Star team. I’m not actually paid to play, but that’s just kind of my side [job]. What we are paid to do is actually grow the game in China,” Räty told Sportsnet.

According to a source with knowledge of the league, the “off ice” salaries of the China-based players were a catalyst for getting the rest of the CWHL players paid – once it became apparent what players like Stack were making as “ambassadors,” it almost mandated that her peers in the league receive some slice of the revenue pie. Since the pie had grown significantly over the summer.

Andress reiterated that the Chinese teams were part of a larger upward trend for the league.

“If you look back to last year, the many times I was interviewed, China was not on the map and the board said we were going to pay the players this year. Did it help? Did it add to it? Did it open up brand new doors for us? Absolutely, and not unlike Calgary did when it entered the league,” said Andress.

The trick for the CWHL is the same one other leagues, including the NHL, have to manage: How do you balance the revenue cash cows in China with the rest of the league? Will they get preferential treatment from the League?

Andress says no. “We’ve had to keep that balance over the last 10 years. Les Canadiennes is a phenomenal fan base and a good revenue team. I don’t know if we have to keep anybody reined in,” she said.

The CWHL paying its players is another step in a steady, patient journey to success and sustainability. It’s in the partnerships it’s made with NHL teams, like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. It’s in the association it has with the NHLPA. It’s in getting important games featured on Sportsnet.

It’s a league that now stands in contrast with the NWHL, less than a year removed from the ugly standoff with players over salary cuts and a league without the same bold-type partnerships as its rival.

“I’m excited for them,” said NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan on Wednesday at the “Declaration of Principles” event, on the CWHL paying its players. “It’s such a great step for the game, and I’m glad they were able to make it.”

I asked Rylan if she was concerned that the CWHL had stolen her calling card, after having been positioned as “the pro women’s league that pays its players” for the last two years.

“No. I believe all women should be paid for doing what they’re best at. I’m glad they were able to get there,” she said.

For Andress, the last few years have been about getting there, and then staying there.

“I think ourselves, the board, the players and myself, we always believed that it would happened. We never strayed from that. A lot of times in life, people are asking you to go quicker. ‘Why aren’t you doing this yet?’” she said

“When you believe in something, you want it to last. You want your word to be there. You want to have people trust in what you’re saying.”

–

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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