By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
It was only recently that women hockey players in this country began to be paid for their sport.
Now the National Women’s Hockey League is midway through its second season and the Boston Pride tops the table. The three teams below them are the Buffalo Beauts, the New York Riveters and the Connecticut Whale.
It is a faster-paced game than what is played on NHL ice, with less pauses to fight. And while NHL rosters tend to be dominated by Canadians, here American women lead the way.
Which only makes sense, as Team USA has won the world championship in each of the last three years.
While the Pride are undefeated, sitting at 11 wins from 11 games, the remaining three teams have played largely balanced games against one another.
League founder and commissioner Dani Rylan built the league on a strong business model, the likes is seen across all of professional sports. This attracted team owners, investors and sponsors. ESPN’s online streaming service ESPN3 has aired matches, and Dunkin Donuts gave the league a multi-year sponsorship deal.
But to make it over the hump that every new business faces, some concessions had to be made. The most notable was a pay cut early into the 2016-17 season. The 10,000 dollar minimum player salary was cut in half last November.
This is seen as an unfortunate yet necessary step from management. The first women’s league to pay its players does not intend to fold. The goal is to return to the original salary next year. But before that can be accomplished, the league must see financial improvements.
The league will continue to provide all uniforms and equipment to its teams. This too is a first for post-collegiate women’s hockey leagues in America.
The sports world certainly benefits from having a salaried women’s hockey league. What remains to be determined is just how far it will go.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
