The IIHF picked the worst week for a jersey fight

The two best women's teams in the world play their first game of the worlds on Nov. 6, and a week out, nobody can say for sure what they'll be wearing. That's not a scheduling quirk. That's the IIHF picking a merchandise fight with the two teams that sell its tournament, and picking it at the worst possible time.

What the fight is about

It's money, and it's the crest. The IIHF wants control of the commercial rights to national-team jerseys. A year ago it announced True Hockey as the exclusive uniform supplier for its events starting this season. Nobody has said whether that deal was ever finished.

Hockey Canada wears Bauer. USA Hockey wears CCM. Both point to the IIHF's own bylaw 24.3, which says member associations "retain all rights related to their national team logo, emblem and uniform design."

So the IIHF called an extraordinary congress in May to change its statutes. Both federations went to the Swiss court where the IIHF is based and got temporary injunctions. The court revoked them in September, and both have appealed.

Here's the catch. True Hockey can't use either federation's marks or designs. If the IIHF wins this round, Canada and the U.S. could take the ice in generic sweaters that just say "Canada" and "USA."

Why it's the wrong week for it

The tournament is in Denmark. Canada opens against Sweden and the U.S. opens against Switzerland, both on Nov. 6. Before that, the two play one last tune-up in Plymouth, Mich., tonight.

These teams just gave the IIHF exactly the storyline it wants. Canada beat the U.S. 5-3 in Windsor on Wednesday and ended an eight-game losing streak in the rivalry. The rematch in Denmark sells itself. The IIHF is trying to sell it in practice jerseys.

Hockey Canada kept its statement short. "Wearing our Maple Leaf is incredibly important to our national team athletes," it said, and added that it's hopeful of "a positive resolution with the IIHF's new administration." USA Hockey hasn't commented.

The part nobody's saying out loud

Try picturing this fight at a men's best-on-best, with McDavid in a blank sweater. You can't, and that's the tell. The women's worlds got to be the test case, and nobody at the IIHF seems to have asked how that looks.

It's also been a week for the federation. The same IIHF just lost in court on Russia, and its new president inherited both fights at once.

The W read: The new administration folds before the opener and Canada and the U.S. wear their own crests in Denmark. If it doesn't, the most-watched women's game of the fall will be played in sweaters that look like a beer league, and the IIHF will own every photo of it.