Women’s pro game gaining foothold with two leagues
BUFFALO, N.Y.
Kelli Stack greeted last year’s talk about a U.S.-based professional women’s hockey league with a familiar skepticism.
This was hardly the first time the 28-year-old U.S. national team forward had heard buzz about the possibility of earning a paycheque to play hockey, only to have the plan collapse before a puck was dropped.
“Every August would roll around, and people would say, ‘Oh, did you hear?’” the former Boston College star said.
The four-team National Women’s Hockey League has so far proved the exception for Stack, who participated in the league’s inaugural all-star game in Buffalo last weekend.
“In September or October, we didn’t know how long the league would last, if it would make a full year or what,” she said. “So to actually have it be real and to be a part of it, it’s hard to comprehend.”
Stack plays for the Stamfordbased Connecticut Whale, and makes a league-high $25,000. The minimum salary is $10,000 and there are 72 players getting paid, according to the league’s website.
The NWHL is the first to pay its players a salary, but it is not the only North American women’s league. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League is in its eighth season and follows a different business model. The fiveteam CWHL pays its coaches and general managers, while providing players prize money for winning the regular season and playoff titles.
For the first time, the CWHL intends to begin paying its players a regular salary, beginning next year.
The CWHL’s introduction of player salaries does not come in direct response to the NWHL’s emergence. It has instead been part of the league’s long-term vision to establish a sustainable model by developing a fan base and building ties with corporate sponsors, including four of the NHL’s seven Canadian teams.
“For us, it’s about growing the whole game, growing a community of hockey, so our plan is dead on target,” CWHL Commissioner Brenda Andress said. “It’s always a great question, what’s the definition of somebody saying, ‘I’m a pro league because I pay my players $5,000 or $10,000? Or am I a pro league when I pay them $150,000?”‘
The CWHL has made several inroads. Its all-star game in Toronto last weekend drew 7,000 fans and attracted a television audience of 109,000 on Canada’s Sportsnet cable network. Andress called that a “big, huge statement.”
By comparison, the NWHL drew about 900 fans to its AllStar game in Buffalo, and projected having about 2,000 more watching via a live online stream.
The NWHL was borne out of a Dani Rylan’s vision to establish a pro league on a business model based on what’s essentially a startup venture, relying on investors to fund its launch. Rylan, who is the league commissioner, announced last weekend that the league is financially ready for a second season.
Hoping to defuse an awkward situation that has hovered over preparations for the NHL AllStar Game, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday that career enforcer John Scott is welcome at Sunday’s showcase event.
Scott said someone at the NHL tried to talk him out of playing in the league’s showcase event Sunday, according to a first-person account by Scott that was posted Thursday by The Players Tribune.
Fans voted the six-foot-eight Scott as captain of the Pacific Division, but Arizona traded him to Montreal and he is now at the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate in St. John’s, N.L. Bettman said he had a nice chat with Scott on Thursday night.
“And he’s more than welcome to be here,” Bettman said. “We’re happy he’s here. The fans spoke, and we’re happy to reflect their will.”
The NHL allowed fans to vote for the captain of each of its four divisions as the league switches to a 3-on-3 format for this AllStar Game. Last season, Latvian fans rallied the Internet to vote native son and Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons into the AllStar Game in Columbus, Ohio.
Scott wrote that he accepted the league’s position that he didn’t belong in the all-star game – at first.
The enforcer has played for Minnesota, Chicago, the New York Rangers, Buffalo, San Jose and Arizona. He played in a career-high 56 games with the Sabres two years ago and scored a career-high three goals last season with the Sharks. Scott hasn’t averaged double digits in ice time during an NHL season.
“They didn’t mince words – This is not a game for you, John – but I understood all the same,” Scott wrote. “Honestly, on some level, I agreed. In the beginning, at least, I just wanted the entire thing to go away.”
Then Scott wrote someone with the NHL asked him: “Do you think this is something your kids would be proud of ?”
That incident only strengthened his resolve to play Sunday with some of the world’s best hockey players.
“Because, while I may not deserve to be an NHL All-Star, I know I deserve to be the judge of what my kids will – and won’t – be proud of me for,” wrote the 33year-old Scott, who has two daughters.