It’s December 12, 2023, and all six Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) teams have completed their respective training camps. Anticipation and excitement is building across each fanbase, just itching for the puck to be dropped in this new chapter of women’s athletics.
Final rosters were also announced on this day, giving fans a glimpse as to what their team will look like and who they will be cheering for. Established players are being celebrated, and young rookies have their chance to make their mark. Overall, this is the day when the brand and identity of these teams were first introduced.
Fast forward to this summer and many changes have been made, but maybe not at the pace fans were expecting. For example, from the Toronto Sceptres 26 player roster from the league’s inaugural season, they currently have only eight players on the roster. Eight.
Surprisingly, that number is tied for the highest number of players with the Minnesota Fleet. The Montréal Victoire have seven players, the Boston Fleet have six players and both the Ottawa Charge and New York Sirens have four players.
Development amongst players is key to the sport, but there is something to be said about having familiar faces on the ice for fans to recognize. The players that kickstarted the league, who fans fell in love with, provided passion to the game and who gave teams an identity to cheer on.
Especially given that the PWHL dropped the puck for the first time 18 months ago, it is a quick turnover for fans who grew to love the players who introduced them to women’s hockey.
For the Sceptres, a team that has yet to secure a championship, it feels as if a large amount of roster changes have been made that erase the personality of the team.
Imagine telling a Sceptres fan watching that 2024 season progress and players make their mark that only eight players would remain currently on the roster in a year and a half. Probably the biggest question that would be asked by that fan is “why would a brand new team be dismantled so quickly?”
The Sceptres are looking to get out of the doghouse that has prevented them from advancing to the Walter Cup Finals or winning a championship. Alongside being eliminated from the 2025 playoffs to the Frost again, they also had 10 players leave the team via signing or trade since this past June. That is a high number of exits for fans to adjust to.
Now, the largest reason why this happened is because of the league’s expansion signing period and draft that allowed PWHL Vancouver and Seattle, the newest additions to the league, to start to mold their rosters for the beginning of the season.
The other five teams had to surrender their tenured and star players as well, this was not a cross that only Toronto had to bear. However, whenever news broke that player after player who introduced this city to the PWHL had been moved, it felt as if the team’s identity was weakening, what once made it special was now gone.
Yes, players come and go off of rosters all the time. That is the nature of professional sports, it would be irresponsible to assume that every player stays with a given team for the duration of their career; it is not an entitlement.
However, it is the manner in which players were swapped and swiped between teams during the league’s five-day expansion signing period and draft that feels as if those inaugural rosters are no longer valuable.
Many of those players who left were fan favourites who lit up Toronto home ice with their play, were featured in many theme nights and provided lighthearted off-ice content that related to many fans, like Sarah Nurse, Carly (CJ) Jackson and Kristen Campbell, to name a few.
Part of the reason why some of those players were selected by Toronto management were because of their personalities and how they could build a successful, positive culture to the team as it evolved as the team grew.
For example, Nurse was loved for her “Nursey Nights” initiative that aims to introduce and include young girls to women’s hockey. Jackson was arguably one of the most entertaining players to follow on the Sceptres given their bubbly personality and dedication to welcoming queer athletes to sport. Without those familiar faces representing the Sceptres on and off the ice, there is a void that ripples throughout the organization.
With this many changes to the team, Sceptres management have another task to prioritize on their to-do list that they cannot ignore: ensure their new roster connects with fans.
Creating a new identity is more than just signing pucks and jerseys, it also involves creating content that fans can enjoy and telling player’s stories that are relatable.
There are still remnants of the team that provide this, such as Emma Maltais’ social media presence and Natalie Spooner’s love for the city of Toronto. Blayre Turnbull is still serving as the team’s captain and biggest voice, not to mention incoming hometown players like Emma Woods, Ella Shelton and Elaine Chuli who can make their mark on fans.
Regardless, management is responsible for creating a new identity for a team that is still relatively new in professional sports. While that is an exciting opportunity with many possibilities, it is still a lot of notable turnover in a very short time.
In the time being, fans are left gazing at their jerseys with their once favorite Sceptres’ name on the back that now just serve as a reminder of what the team once was.