Pride form partnership with STÄRK Hockey

The Pride will have some new gear in 2020-21.

Today, the NWHL’s Boston Pride announced a new partnership with equipment company STÄRK Hockey. Boston is one of two privately owned teams in the NWHL.

From the team’s press release:

For the 2020-21 season, Boston Pride players will be supplied with customized sticks from STÄRK, built from their preferences in patterns, and grips, among other specifications such as shaft length and flex. On the ice, players will wear the highest quality Pride-branded STÄRK Hockey gloves and pants, and for traveling to and from the rink, STÄRK is providing personalized equipment, travel, and stick bags.

“From day one, we have been impressed with STÄRK’s attention to detail in designing hockey equipment specifically for girls and women,” said Pride president Hayley Moore in the release. “Their level of dedication is unparalleled.”

STÄRK has parted ways with the traditional marketing of most hockey manufacturers who tend to market towards teenage boys. The company has launched a ‘Made for Girls’ movement which was product-tested by over 200 girls and women between the ages of 12 and 20. Former CWHL and NWHL player and current PWHPA member Jess Jones is listed on the site as a product expert.

In 2018, the Pride forged a partnership with equipment manufacturer Warrior Hockey. It is unclear whether or not the team and Warrior extended that partnership into the 2019-20 season, but the Pride’s home rink is still the Warrior Ice Arena in Boston. Throughout the 2019-20 season, the Pride secured several partnership deals, including Legal Sea Food.

The Pride finished the 2019-20 regular season atop the standings with a record of 23-1-0. They were to play the Minnesota Whitecaps in the 2020 Isobel Cup Final before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to cancel the final. Thus far this offseason, the Pride have signed 16 players, 11 of whom were on the 2019-20 roster.