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TORONTO — The NWHL’s first Canadian team will be named the Toronto Six.
The name, logo and colours for Toronto’s entry into the women’s hockey league were unveiled Tuesday.
The name was inspired by a Toronto nickname popularized by Drake, as well as the number of players on the ice for a team.
The Six received more votes than any other name in an online poll, the league said in the statement, adding that jerseys will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The NWHL has operated for five seasons in the United States.
Commissioner and founder Dani Rylan said following the collapse of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2019 that her league would expand to Canada.
Of the 13 players who have committed to play for Toronto, a dozen are Canadian.
Roughly 200 players in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association refuse to play in the NWHL, saying that is not the league they envision for themselves.
The PWHPA includes North American women’s hockey stars Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin and Natalie Spooner, as well as Finnish goaltender Noora Raty.
The PWHPA organized tournaments and exhibition games throughout North America last season in the Dream Gap Tour.
The union plans to centralize its players out of five hub cities in 2020-21, including Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.
The NWHL and PWHPA have each made announcements in recent days regarding players who have committed to their respective organizations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020.
The Canadian Press