Ugly, generic jerseys overshadow U.S. and Canada at IIHF Women’s World Championship

ESBJERG and HERNING, Denmark — When Canada and the United States took the ice Friday to open the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship — the first major international competition since the Milan Olympics — most people weren’t talking about the games.People weren’t focused on the long-awaited return of international women’s hockey after a nine-month hiatus, or Team USA’s chances at a repeat gold medal, or Canada’s major roster shakeup.Instead, all eyes were on the shockingly ugly, stripped-down jerseys players were forced to wear: the result of a months-long conflict between Hockey Canada, USA Hockey and the International Ice Hockey Federation.The jerseys, and the situation that led to them being worn on international ice, are an embarrassment.This whole mess began in October 2025, when the IIHF announced a multi-year partnership with True Hockey to be the “exclusive supplier” of national team uniforms and apparel for all international events starting in 2026-27, which marked a significant change from the status quo.Under the previous long-standing agreement with Nike, the IIHF controlled on-ice branding while national federations — such as Hockey Canada and USA Hockey — retained their lucrative commercial rights to sell replica jerseys. At the Winter Olympics, for example, the Canadian hockey teams wore Nike jerseys on the ice, but the jerseys available to purchase, featuring the exact same design, were produced by Bauer. Team USA had its own deal with Nike that ran through the Olympics before signing with CCM.Now, with the True Hockey deal and a proposed bylaw change, the IIHF has moved to seize commercial control over on-ice jerseys, retail replicas and off-ice apparel.In May, both USA Hockey and Hockey Canada filed injunctions with a Swiss court to block the bylaw change and, in turn, the True Hockey deal.Existing IIHF bylaws state, in part, that “the exercise of IIHF commercial rights includes but is not limited to the supply of on-ice uniforms, the design of which shall be subject to the IIHF’s approval.” According to Swiss court documents obtained and translated by The Athletic, the IIHF intended to amend Statute 24.3 to expand that language to include “the supply and sale of on-ice uniforms.”The bylaws also state “for the avoidance of doubt, the IIHF shall not use (member national association) team jerseys for commercial purposes unless approval is provided by the respective MNA.”A judge ruled in September that the IIHF has broad commercial rights connected to its competitions, including the supply of on-ice uniforms. However, the Swiss court could not force the hockey federations to hand over their intellectual property.Neither Hockey Canada nor USA Hockey has granted trademark permissions, barring the IIHF from using their jersey designs or any of their official marks. Because the IIHF will not allow outside manufacturers on the ice, the standoff has left the two powerhouse teams sporting generic jerseys at a tournament that is meant to be a premier event in the women’s hockey calendar.“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in this industry,” said a licensing expert who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about a case they are familiar with.The end result here is an unprecedented situation where the best women’s hockey players in the world are wearing jerseys that might not even pass in a recreational league.Canada’s new primary look is a plain red jersey with white block lettering spelling “CANADA” across the chest. There’s also a white collar with a red map of Canada in the middle, along with some black and white striping and an unusual amount of negative space. The American jerseys are similar, with “USA” spelled across a solid navy chest, white shoulder yokes, and a silhouette map of the continental United States.Players have also not been permitted to wear off-ice gear with any logos whatsoever while at the tournament, which is unusual for a major event. Ahead of Friday’s game against Sweden, Canadian players warmed up outside Kvik Hockey Arena in plain black gear with all logos covered. The only logo visible on Canada’s jersey Friday night was a player’s Bauer shoulder pads that could be seen through the material in the mixed zone.True Hockey’s branding was conspicuously absent from the uniforms, apparel, rink boards and tournament backdrops, which raises questions about the state of the agreement. When asked about the status of the True Hockey contract, a representative for Graeme Roustan, the Canadian businessman who acquired True Hockey in September 2025, declined to comment. The IIHF has not returned multiple requests for comment by The Athletic.Roustan, who also owns the “Hockey News,” has been publicly critical of Hockey Canada’s Bauer contract on both LinkedIn and in publisher’s notes in the “Hockey News” magazine. In one note, he claimed the federation “left millions” on the table by renewing with Bauer and not taking open bids. “I would have made an offer from True, which I believe would have driven up the benefits to Canadians,” Roustan wrote in a September post.Whatever the financials may be, the result on the ice is indefensible. The quality of the jerseys — and this entire situation — is disrespectful to the players, and is the exact sort of minor-league drama that women’s hockey has tried to move beyond.There have been plenty of opinions on who is to blame, with the IIHF drawing the most criticism from fans on social media, and outgoing IIHF president Luc Tardif classifying the injunctions as a “lack of solidarity” in a September interview with TVA Sports.According to the Swiss court documents, as part of the True Hockey deal, only 15 percent of royalties would be distributed to the member national associations. That would mean Hockey Canada would only be entitled to a small portion of shared revenue, despite driving a majority of those sales along with its U.S. counterpart.It is understandable for the IIHF, whose mission is to promote and develop global ice hockey, to see this new jersey deal as an opportunity for other member nations to improve their bottom line. Through the royalty deal, Switzerland, for example, would be getting a cut of all jersey sales, which would include Canadian and American jerseys, not just the sale of their own sweaters. But it’s also not realistic to expect that USA Hockey and Hockey Canada would be OK with multi-million dollar losses. According to the September court filings, Hockey Canada estimated it could lose 21.2 million Swiss francs annually, which amounts to around $36.3 million CAD.Getting lost in the dollars and cents of it all misses the broader question: Why couldn’t a resolution be worked out sooner?The True Hockey contract was announced 13 months ago. The IIHF first attempted to amend its bylaws in May. And now women’s worlds are underway, the top stars in the sport are wearing generic jerseys, and somehow no True Hockey branding is in sight. In this situation, everybody loses.The same week the Canada and U.S. jerseys debuted, the NHL revealed its Hometown Remix jerseys to much fanfare. The Anaheim Ducks jersey, a nod to the “Mighty Ducks” movie franchise, sold out in a matter of days.Jersey sales are about making money, of course. But they’re also a way for fans to feel connected to the sport they love and the athletes they admire. There’s something joyless about these generic jerseys, which have largely inspired online ridicule.“We would love to have played in our logo and (played) in a little bit nicer jerseys,” said Canadian co-captain Laura Stacey. “We knew this was a possibility. We try to joke about it. We try to laugh about it, we try to keep it light. And most importantly, we try not to focus on it.”It’s disappointing that Stacey, who was wearing the “C” for the first time in her national team career, had to field questions about what her team was wearing, rather than discussing Canada’s 5-1 victory over Sweden. It’s a shame that after years of work, the very jersey Stacey had the “C” stitched on was devoid of Canada’s signature maple leaf, team crest and any design flair.And it’s certainly not the first time women’s teams have gotten the short end of the stick.The IIHF cancelled the women’s under-18 championship in back-to-back years during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, the 2021 U18 men’s worlds took place in Texas and the 2022 world juniors got underway in Alberta. When the U18s move to Texas was announced, Olympic gold medalist and world champion Blayre Turnbull tweeted at the IIHF: “Any update on women’s worlds or are we still at the bottom of the priority list?”The 2021 women’s worlds was also cancelled for a second year in a row, though it was eventually rescheduled for August 2021, when Canada won gold.Now, more than five years later, Stacey and her teammates are trying to win another gold medal. This time with a drastically different look.If the men’s world championship were kicking off the 2026-27 season, would Macklin Celebrini be in the same jersey as Stacey? That’s pretty hard to imagine.This article originally appeared in The Athletic.NHL, Sports Business, Opinion, Women's Hockey2026 The Athletic Media Company