What is the PWHL and why was it founded?
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is intended to make full-time professional ice hockey possible for women. Six teams from the North American heartland of ice hockey are starting as founding members of the league. They come from New York, Boston and Minnesota in the USA as well as Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa in Canada.
In the past, female ice hockey players in North America had to continue working despite being professional in order to secure their income. That should change with the new league. It follows the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), which failed in 2019. Around 200 female professionals subsequently refused to join the competing National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in the USA. In a joint statement shared on social media, the players called for a “sustainable professional league for women’s ice hockey.” Among other things, they complained about low salaries of around $2,000 per season and the fact that they had no health insurance.
What speaks for the new league?
In contrast to the past with leagues in Canada and the USA, there will now be a joint league that offers the best conditions for professional women’s ice hockey. Before 2019, the CWHL and NWHL had competed in search of top talent and sponsors, which had led to financial difficulties. In 2021, the two leagues were temporarily merged under the umbrella of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).
In comparison, the newly founded PWHL has significantly better financial conditions as all six franchise companies are owned by the Mark Walter Group. The US entrepreneur Walter is a billionaire. He owns the top baseball team Los Angeles Dodgers. He is also co-owner of the English Premier League football club Chelsea. With Billie Jean King, former tennis star and icon of the equality movement, the PWHL also has a famous personality in its ranks as a board member.
What do the players earn?
In the PWHL there is a collective agreement concluded between the league and the players’ association. This guarantees annual salaries of between $35,000 and $80,000 – excluding bonuses. The eight-year contract provides for an annual salary increase of three percent. Even though the income seems minuscule compared to the million-dollar salaries of the NHL men’s elite league, the collective agreement is being celebrated as a milestone in women’s ice hockey.
Why don’t the teams have names yet?
The new league was created in a hurry, so only the locations of the teams have been determined so far, but not their names. After the takeover and dissolution of the PHF in July 2023, the PWHL was officially founded last August. The player squads and support teams were then quickly put together at the six league locations. Names for the teams were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October. These are not yet known. The PWHL announced that the teams would only appear with the city names on the front of their jerseys in the inaugural season. Teams are expected to receive complete names and logos in time for the league’s second season.
When will the first champion be crowned?
The league’s opening game took place on January 1, 2024, and tennis legend Billie Jean King was at the opening ceremony in Toronto. The team from Canada’s largest city lost 4-0 to the team from New York at home. There are 24 games on the regular season schedule for each team, after which the champions will be played in the playoffs. It will be determined by the end of June at the latest. Since most of the players also play for their respective national teams, the PWHL will take a break during the Women’s World Cup in the USA from April 3rd to 14th.
Who are the star players?
Taylor Heise, who plays for Minnesota, is one of the PWHL’s most promising talents. The 23-year-old was the best player in US college ice hockey in 2022 and led the national team to the USA’s 10th World Cup title in 2023. Hilary Knight, who plays for Boston, is nearing the end of her career. Knight became Olympic champion with the US team in Pyeongchang in 2018 and won a total of nine world titles. In 2023 she received the new “Player of the Year” award from the IIHF World Ice Hockey Federation.
Marie-Philip Poulin captained the Canadian team to Olympic gold at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The 32-year-old is playing for the first championship in the PWHL with the team from Montreal. The 28-year-old Canadian Sarah Nurse is currently one of the best ice hockey players in the world. The striker, who currently graces the cover of a well-known ice hockey video game, is taking to the ice for Toronto.
Daryl Watts was set to earn a record $150,000 in the second year of her contract with the Toronto Six in the PHF. But then the league was discontinued. In her first PWHL season, the Canadian will not earn nearly as much in Ottawa. The striker takes it calmly. “Ten years from now, this league will have a lot more money than the PHF had,” Watts said.
The text was adapted from English