Canceled Women’s Worlds tough to swallow
No matter the circumstances, the Women’s World Championships being canceled this year is bad for hockey.
That it’s happening during one of the lighter schedules ever for some elite players, though, makes it an even tougher pill to swallow.
Hockey Canada and the IIHF announced last week this year’s Worlds in Halifax would be canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
The tournament was set to open on March 31. Instead, when the National Women’s Hockey League’s championship ends on Friday night — the PWHPA already wrapped up its inaugural tour this weekend — elite women’s hockey in North America shuts down until fall.
Since many of the players on the national team rosters skated with the PWHPA, which had a limited, inconsistent schedule, they played less hockey than ever before. Since the CWHL folded, many of those players chose not to play in the NWHL, protesting what they saw as unfit conditions.
“The climate of Women’s Hockey took a toll I guess on us this year on a lot of new landscape, this was unfortunately completely out of our control and anyone’s control, so it’s not something we can dwell on or certainly place the blame on,” said Hockey Canada women’s national team director Gina Kingsbury. “I think the only thing we can do moving forward is ensuring continuing to build on this momentum that the PWHPA has created, that HC has been able to provide with mini camps and continue on this growth moving forward to next year. Unfortunately this was out of our control and we just have to move forward at this time.”
The vast majority of Team USA and Canada played in the PWHPA this season, where the Dream Gap Tour had seven official events, far less game action than they’ve had in the past.
In between that was the Rivalry Series between the United States and Canada, and a couple of scrimmages. But even those featured select rosters, and several PWHPA players didn’t participate, leaving them with only a couple of events.
Players who might have skated in upwards of 20 games and international competition were left with fewer than 10 in some cases.
The calendar being cut short with no Worlds means the future is in flux for when those players get back into games next.
“You gotta be cautious,” Team USA’s Brianna Decker told reporters at the PWHPA event this weekend in Arizona. “It stinks for us, we all worked so hard all season, but you gotta be smart. It’s a safety thing and obviously I’m in support with the IIHF.”
The pro league the PWHPA players were hoping would develop hasn’t materialized, and the NWHL hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Players have mentioned the next season of the PWHPA still barnstorming.
“Not taking anything away from the severity of the situation, but it’s kind of a ‘kick us while we’re down’ situation,” Sarah Nurse told reporters at the PWHPA event this weekend in Arizona. “Last year at the world championships, we found that our league was folding. Then the Four Nations Cup (in Sweden) was canceled.
“It can’t really go down any more for us. There’s no way but up for us.”
According to a source, some representatives of the PWHPA met with some NWHL representatives — not including NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan — recently, but both remain far apart from anything that looks like working together.
That’s the future, though; in the present, women’s hockey season is almost over.
What it looks like when it starts up again?
Good question.