July 31st, 2018 will mark Andress’ final day as Commissioner, after spending the last 12 years of her life solely dedicated to the creation and development of what is now the longest-serving professional women’s hockey league worldwide.
Beginning in 2010 as the CWHL’s Executive Director, Andress held the very first CWHL Draft for the world’s first professional women’s hockey league at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Olympic gold medalist and one of Sudbury, Ontario’s finest, Tessa Bonhomme was selected first overall by the Toronto Furies.
Often finding herself listed rather high up in The Hockey News Magazine’s Top 100 People of Power and Influence, Andress has certainly done her fair share of work within the CWHL to validate that ranking. Although team expansions and broadcast deals were of utmost importance to Andress, she finally achieved her longstanding goal of paying the players of the CWHL in the 2017-18 season.
“It has been an incredible honor and privilege to lead this league,” said Andress. “I am proud to have had the opportunity to build the organization into what it is today. While it’s time for me to move to the next stage of my career—I leave the league both viable and operationally strong, and at an extremely exciting time in its development. I have every confidence that the CWHL will continue to attract the world’s best players and deliver an exceptional and competitive hockey experience to fans on and off the ice.”
Based out of Toronto, ON. the CWHL now consists of four Canadian teams, one team based in the United States and one team out of China. A new commissioner will be announced soon, with opening night puck drop on the CWHL’s 12th season set to occur in early October.
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