Danielle Marmer, Bruins scouting assistant, named GM of Boston's PWHL team

BOSTON - Boston's newest pro hockey team has named a general manager - and she comes from the Bruins' staff. Danielle Marmer, a native New Englander, will lead operations for Boston's team in the newly founded Professional Women's Hockey League.

Marmer worked as a player development and scouting assistant for the Bruins, the first woman to have an on-ice role with the team. Raised in Vermont, Marmer played hockey for Qunnipiac University and later served as the school's director of player development and hockey operations. She was also an assistant coach for Connecticut College's women's hockey team. 

There are six founding teams in the newly founded PWHL and all announced general managers on Friday. Their hiring comes on the day the PWHL opens a 10-day free-agent period in which teams are allowed to sign three players, and followed by a 15-round draft on Sept. 18.

"I know you want a competitive team that vies for championships year after year, that's just how Boston is," Marmer said. "And I'm committed to building a team that this city will be proud of."

Boston, New York City's tri-state area and Minneapolis-St. Paul were the U.S. sites selected as homes for the yet-to-be named teams. The Canadian franchises will be based in the nation's three largest northeastern centers of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

Teams will play a 24-game schedule, which is expected to overlap with the women's world championships in April, with the playoff expected to run into June.  

The PWHL is banking on long-term stability by placing an emphasis on large population centers and media markets in a bid to gain traction in a crowded North American sports landscape, and after many of its predecessors have failed. What's different this time is the league bringing together many of the world's top players, coupled with the financial backing of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra, and the prominence of retired tennis great Billie Jean King, who is a PWHL board member.

Though the PWHL is privately owned, the league is expected to partner with the NHL and its teams based in their respective markets. Commissioner Gary Bettman has been a longtime supporter of women's hockey and said the NHL would back the sport once it has one professional league.