The New Jerseys
On September 27th, the Metropolitan Riveters unveiled new jerseys for their fifth season in the NWHL. This just a day before their first preseason game against Long Island University. This is set to begin their inaugural season as a Division I team in the NEWHA.
With the termination of the teams’ partnership with the New Jersey Devils, it was expected that the Riveters – who have changed their jerseys three previous times – would opt to ditch the red kits that were mainly used to pay homage to the Devils. They ultimately decided to change it to something that individualizes them a bit more. The new jerseys are very military-esque, closely tying back to the origin of “Rosie the Riveter.”
The sweaters are white, with blue sleeves and the only red to be seen is right around the collar much like their season one jerseys. In a NWHL press release, the league explained the three white stripes on the sleeves that break up the blue. “The stripes on the Riveters’ new jersey serve as an homage to the women who worked in factories constructing aircraft, munitions and other war materials. Without them, an Allied victory in World War II would not have been possible, which is one of the reasons why Rosie the Riveter has become an enduring symbol of female empowerment.”
It was also noted that their gloves and pants would be blue to match, pulling away from all black that again. This was probably due to the termination of the Devils partnership. The NWHL twitter account has also hinted at new all-green jerseys for the Connecticut Whale. The Minnesota Whitecaps have already been spotted wearing their black and white jerseys from their years before joining the NWHL. Needless to say, all around the league things will probably look a little bit different than last year.
An Offseason of Change
This is one set of a lot of changes that have been made this offseason. Another is the rebranding of the NWHL website itself. Something that was often a source of frustration for fans, as it was an incredibly hard site to navigate, was the website. Fortunately, this year it seems much sleeker. The ability so see preseason exhibition games against local college teams was also added.
The Minnesota Whitecaps fell to the Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s hockey team 5-1 last weekend, which speaks for itself. The Whitecaps seem to be putting together the toughest squad in the NWHL this year. The Riveters will take on the Long Island University Sharks team tonight. This will be their first official game as a college hockey team. With this being said, there will be a little less pressure on the Riveters than there was on the Whitecaps.
The game will be played at IceWorks in Syosset, New York, the Sharks’ home rink at 7:45 PM. The game will be streamed through their website here. Despite not having their full squad and it being a preseason game, I would expect the new Riveters team to show up. After all, they do have a lot to prove after last season and this offseason.
Twitch Partnership
All following NWHL games will be streamed on their Twitch account. This is a new partnership between the league and streaming service. Overall, this is big news for the league as it is the first time a streaming service will pay a broadcast rights fee to the NWHL. The deal is included in the NWHLPA’s revenue split agreement, meaning the players will receive 50 percent of the revenue.