The Detroit Clutch officially unveiled as new PWHL team name

I just want to give a nod to Illich Sports and Chris Illich has been amazing and Ryan Gustafson who has been the utmost of support for us at the PWHL. So just wanted to make sure we had our first official piece of gear. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you all so much for coming out on behalf of the Detroit Clutch. We are so excited to have you all here this morning. We have Executive Vice President of Business Operations of the CWHL, Amy Scheer. And then we have two Detroit Clutch defenders. We have Melissa Channel-Watkins and Sydney Bard. And with that, I will pass it along to Amy from Fort Lauderdale. And we'll get to questions right after this. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for being here. I know it's a little bit early. This is a really fun day for us in Detroit. Obviously, we've had our takeover tour here for three years, and we've known we've been coming here for quite a long time, and after three years and really working behind the scenes with a lot of people in this room, it's wonderful to now officially give Detroit a team name, the Detroit Clutch, and we've got two wonderful players here who will help bring this name and brand alive in Detroit. So, thanks for coming. We appreciate your, obviously, interest and your coverage of our team in Detroit, the Detroit Clutch. With that being said, I'll leave it open if anyone has any questions, but a big day for here after three years, finally having a team name and having ourselves ready to go and ready to play. Yeah, you know, Detroit's an interesting city. It's known for so many things, right? It's automotive, it's music. You have such a great sports legacy here. There's so much to pull from when you think of Detroit and everything that it's known for. I think we wanted to try to find a name that represented the city, you know, one that talked about the grid of the city, the city that's been able to build and rebuild. Thank And we felt Detroit Clutch did that. It speaks to the automotive side, the precision, the innovation, the vision of the city. But it's also such a great sports term, right, rising to the occasion. And so we felt it was a term that represented the people of the Metro Detroit area, but also a pretty cool term for our athletes as well. you. This question is either for Melissa or Sydney, but when you guys first saw the team name and logo, what was y'all's initial reaction? I mean, I really loved it. I think the detail that Lee put into the logo is incredible. Like Amy was saying, it kind of takes in pieces of all parts of Detroit. And growing up, being from here, it's really special. You get the automotive part. You get the music part. Like, there's all little details in the logo that I think are incredible. And I'm really excited to start repping this logo here pretty soon. Yeah, I'm just going to echo Channel on that. I think it's a perfect depiction of what Metro Detroit is and someone who, you know, didn't grow up here but has been to the takeover games before and had the ability to, you know, see the community come out to our games. Thank you. Now they can rally behind something I think that's super important and something that they can identify with. And, yeah, we're just super lucky to be a part of it and part of that rollout and see our fans kind of encapsulate, you know, the clutch and however they see fit when they come to the games and are in the stands with us. Season's coming up. Just thoughts and feelings surrounding that with the new team name and you're representing one of the 12 teams in the PWHL. For either Amy or the players, whoever wants to answer, just want to hear the emotions going in behind that. You're going to Vegas. You come back here on the 12th. Yeah, I think it'll be really fun. I mean, I'm super excited. I played two Takeover Tour games here, and the crowd's always incredible. That's incredible. You don't really expect it, but when you come running out and you see girls wearing the same jersey you did growing up, it's something that's super special to me. And now those girls have something to strive for. So it's more than just the team that's on the ice. It's about the girls, too, who have the opportunity now to play in this league. Thank you very much. And I cannot wait for our home opener. Like, I'm getting goosebumps right now thinking about it. Like, I'm so excited to see the packed house that we're going to have and all the fans rallying around us for that game. Yeah, I think our offseason, it's been a long time coming. So I know myself and all of our teammates are really ready to hit the ice and get to training camp. And I think the clutch is a perfect name to try to embody, you know, the first time that we come together as a collective. And like Channel was saying, for, you know, the little girls who have the chance to now look at a pro sports team here in their own city. Very well known, obviously, for their youth programs, but now to have, you know, that professional level that they can strive for and come see us play. Like, that's what it means for us for them to have, you know, someone to look up to. And, yeah, we're just lucky to be a part of that. I think it's cool for this team as well. There's three players on this team that played in Little Caesars hockey. And so it's nice to see that sort of red thread from the youth up into the pro team. Amy, just with coming into World Championships are going on right now, just with new teams kind of coming off that, what's kind of the idea of capturing and building momentum off what we're watching on TV right now over in Europe? Yeah, the Worlds are important for us. We've got 79 players competing in the World Championships. Every country in the Worlds is at least one. PWHL player, while my wish is that they all come back healthy, at the end of the day, it just goes to show the growth of the game. It goes to show that literally the PWHL is the home for the elite hockey talent in this world. Thank But I think it's really cool that... There are players from the 10 countries. Again, it just goes to show how women's hockey is growing. Thank you. And, you know, it'll be fun as we progress out of the group stage and to see how the games continue to go. But I think you could see the display of just how good the USA you. and Canadian teams are. And you really hope that as more players from other countries come over, I'm going to turn it over. They improve, they learn from our coaches, they learn from the players, and the game continues to grow. And I think that's our hope, is that more European players come over and continue to develop and grow the game, go back to their countries, here's what I've learned playing in the PWHL, bring back the skills, the way they've learned, and kind of pass that on. And so that's what you hope this league does, and that's what you hope the world's do as well. All right. All these players are friends off the ice. Obviously, when you put your different country jerseys on, things change. But you just hope that this league really helps grow the game around the globe. And women's hockey continues to get little girls on the ice and build that pipeline for what and who's next. From an off-ice perspective for Detroit, you obviously had the takeover tours here and did the draft here. Five months ago, whatever it was. Has there been anything about the buildup and kind of from more of the off-ice business? I think that's been surprising about kind of building something in Detroit that maybe you didn't expect. Obviously, it's a market you knew a ton about from the one-off events before. But now, what's it been like? Well, I'm probably most happy that we have Alicia Mullen sitting here, who is our team director here in Detroit. So we are in very good hands. I just think this city has such a great Sports legacy and obviously it's called Hockey Town for a reason and the fact that we have a team here now and to begin to build our own legacy and be part of the sports culture here is phenomenal. But we're in great hands with Alicia. We're in great hands on the hockey side with Meno and big things are going to happen here and this is a great community of sports fans. Honestly, for me, the best part about expansion, the best part about coming in with the team names is now handing it over to the fans and let the fans decide what are the traditions they're going to build, what are we going to see in arena, how do they bring the brand to life, right? Obviously, we'll do certain things from an event presentation standpoint, but the brand now is in the hands of the fans, and we will stay out of their way and let them have fun with it. So no surprises here. Detroit lives up to its name, and yeah, we're real proud to be here. Melissa, you know what it's like to be a PWHL champion, obviously with the Frost. So for you, what's it like being able to build a new culture with an expansion franchise, especially in your own home state and being able to really start and continue the expansion of this league as well? Yeah, I think the two Walter Cups that I won, I think I've learned a lot. It's a grind. And I always say now I have so much more respect for the NHL players when they go through their seven-game series because our three-game series, I'm like, whew, this is tough. But you learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about the team. And I think it's a team game for a reason. It's your first line. It's your fourth line. It's everybody that comes together. And I think the leadership group that we have here is incredible, and I think they're going to be able to find. The best out of every player, and I'm super excited for that. And to be able to do it in my hometown, I think it's a little bit more special. To bring a trophy back to Detroit would be something that I never knew was a possibility when I was growing up. So now that that's a possibility, it would be unbelievable to, you know, if there was a parade, if we won that, like, to experience that in your hometown is something I don't think I would ever forget. For one or two more questions before we call it down here, we have a few more surprises for you guys while you're here. So if that's all, thank you guys again so much.