When one is better than two
Single professional women’s hockey league would strengthen the game, players say
KAMLOOPS — American star Hilary Knight is among the players at these IIHF women’s hockey world championship who would like to see the sport’s two professional leagues become one.
Easier said than done, it would seem.
The National Women’s Hockey League ended its first season with its championship game March 12 in New Jersey and in the closing minutes of its broadcast, teased at possible expansion to Montreal and Toronto, both strongholds of the rival Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
The CWHL, which was founded in 2007, had its finale March 13 in Ottawa and league commissioner Brenda Andress said those overtures regarding Montreal and Toronto were a “very strategic move.”
The NWHL has already coaxed Knight and other U.S. Olympians to jump from the CWHL Boston Blades to their loop’s Boston Pride.
The Pride won the NWHL title this season. The Blades went from the CWHL champions in 2014-15 to a last-place 1-23-0 club this past campaign.
The four-team NWHL pays its players salaries, topping out at $25,000 a player. The five-team CWHL handles expenses, but is pledging salaries for the 2017-18 season.
It’s complex. Women’s hockey seems to be growing, but one can’t help but wonder if the fan base is becoming confused.
“Could we see one league one day? I hope so,” said Knight, 26, who is from Palo Alto, Calif., and played her NCAA hockey at Wisconsin. “I know I’ve talked to many fans who have voiced their concerns to me about how there are two leagues and about how it would be great if all the great players could play all in one league.
“So, whoever is in charge of that, get it going. We will show up and compete, and do whatever we’re supposed to do.
“Whenever you’re an elite athlete, you’re extremely competitive and you’re a control freak in certain areas. When you don’t have full control of the reins and you can see this great product but it can’t get to the next level without other people’s help, it’s sometimes frustrating.
“Hopefully the right person can find a way to unite the leagues and we can all be happy.”
It’s easy to suggest there’s an appetite for a league featuring all the top Americans and Canadians, plus a handful of high-end players from other countries.
There were media reports that more than 325,000 people in this country online streamed Canada’s gold-medal win over the U.S. at the Sochi 2014 Olympics.
The Canadians averaged crowds of 4,755 in their three-game preliminary round at the worlds this year.
A crowd of 4,082 was announced for the Clarkson Cup CWHL finale between the Les Canadiennes de Montreal and the Calgary Inferno, although reports put actual attendance at closer to 3,000.
“It’s a product that could sell,” said Canadian defender Jocelyne Larocque, 27, who plays in the CWHL with the Brampton Thunder.
“Ideally, both leagues would come together and form one league. That would be best for the players.”
The NHL spearheaded Les Canadiennes and the Pride playing an exhibition game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., Dec. 31 as part of the NHL’s Winter Classic activities. The game was hastily arranged, receiving little promotion ahead of time. Attendance for the 1-1 draw was never announced; a Montreal Gazette report called it “sparse. … There was one-tenth the turnout of the Alumni game later in the afternoon.”
There is a chance the two leagues could square off again in an NHL-led Winter Classic exhibition, admitted CWHL director of marketing and communications Sasky Stewart by email. The Toronto Maple Leafs are slated to host the Detroit Red Wings Jan. 1, 2017, at BMO Field and the Maple Leafs began a partnership with the CWHL Toronto Furies in 2012.
“I can’t comment on where those discussions are at simply because our operations department is handling it and I’m not across it at this stage,” Stewart wrote. “With the outdoor game coming to Toronto, though, with one of our NHL partner clubs, we are hoping it becomes a reality again.”
As for the two-league situation, Stewart wrote: “We never expected two leagues. We always wanted to have one league. One league is better. Women’s sport in general needs to be together and stick together.”