Less than a year after it was removed, the Niagara IceDogs have allowed a controversial rink board advertisement that uses femininity to put down their Ontario Hockey League opponents to be reinstalled.

But the OHL, which is primed to launch a new program educating players and staff about respect for women, says it is coming down.

The ad, installed directly below the visitors' bench in the city-owned Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, shows a row of men's legs in bright pink tutus.

A nearly identical ad became a lightning rod for debate on social media after The Spectator first drew attention to it in a tweet Jan. 31. Two days later, IceDogs president Denise Burke said the team had no intention of pulling it. She also characterized it as light hearted humour and said she failed to see how it was misogynistic or sexist "in any way."

By Feb. 4, however, the image in the ad had been swapped out for a row of babies' legs in diapers. No explanation was ever given by the team, which is responsible for advertising in the arena, or the OHL.

Fast forward to the 2016-17 season. Sometime between Oct. 1, when the Hamilton Bulldogs first visited the IceDogs, and Nov. 3, a new tutu ad was installed. The only difference between this one and the original is that it shows five sets of men's legs rather than four.

Contacted Tuesday, Ted Baker, the OHL's vice-president, said he wasn't aware a new ad had been installed. He also said the league would look into it, and he didn't want to make any assumptions as to the message the advertiser was trying to get across.

In a followup email Wednesday, he told The Spectator the IceDogs had addressed the matter internally. "The rink board is temporary while an alternative is being produced by the advertiser," he added.

Neither Burke nor an IceDogs spokesperson responded to requests for comment.

The ad's installation — and subsequent decision to remove it — comes just weeks before the OHL is scheduled to launch a new leaguewide initiative to educate players and staff about respect for women. The On Side program deals with topics such as sexual violence, hazing and healthy masculinity and will be delivered by a coalition of agencies, including Hamilton's SACHA Sexual Assault Centre, in OHL cities across Ontario, Michigan and Pennsylvania.