AP goes behind the scenes of the inaugural PWHL to chronicle the “birth of women’s hockey.”
AP goes behind the scenes of the inaugural PWHL to chronicle the “birth of women’s hockey.”
TORONTO (AP) – An hour before one of the most important matchups in women’s hockey history, the New York players were surprised by a commotion as they entered the locker room.
Meet Billie Jean King. “I just wanted to say hi,” said the former tennis star and gender equality champion, before apologizing for the interruption.
Wearing the purple jacket adopted by the Women’s Professional Hockey League, which King helped launch, she congratulated the players on achieving their dreams and recalled important moments in women’s sports. “I think today is the birth of women’s hockey. Now is the time,” King said. “It’s special. Thank you for playing. Thank you very much.\”
King made a similar stop in the Toronto Room, where he announced the team’s starting lineup ahead of Monday’s six-team PWHL opener.
New York Women’s Professional Hockey League player Savannah Norcross braids Brooke Hobson’s hair in the locker room in New York before the PWHL opener in Toronto, Monday, Jan. 7. January 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)
It was a moment in the making after previous races failed due to funding, vision and infrastructure issues. The decision was made six months ago when Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter (King is also a minority owner of the Dodgers) spent hundreds of millions of dollars to create the league in an eight-year business plan.
Toronto captain Blair Turnbull couldn’t think of a better person to address his team than King. “I think we all said, ‘Wow.’ There was a moment when I said: ‘This is happening’. We are here,” Turnbull said.
For New York’s Abby Rock, the first American hockey player to represent the United States in the Olympics, it was hard not to bother King. “He pleased us,” Roque said. “I said, ‘No, thanks for everything,’ because she’s done so much for women’s sports, women’s hockey and this league.”
The PWHL, a player-centric approach that emerged after the collapse of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2019, brings together the world’s best players for a 72-game schedule and playoffs through May. The concept came to fruition following a partnership with King & Walter, which acquired the Premier Hockey Federation, formerly known as the National Women’s Hockey League, spinning off the league last June. Founded in 2015, the NWHL was the first women’s hockey league in North America to pay its players, but the league has struggled to meet what some players consider professional standards. Three hours before Monday’s game, Brian Burke, executive director of the Women’s Professional Hockey Association, reflected on the importance of the game being played at the renovated Maple Leaf Gardens, once home to the NHL and CWHL’s Maple Leafs. anger. The former NHL executive recalled attending a Fury game where 86 tickets were sold when about 16,000 people were in the stadium. Toronto has now sold out all 12 games played at the renovated 2,500-seat Mattamy Athletic Center.
Teresa Talotta paid a scalper $200 for an $85 ticket. One of the reasons she attended was because my daughter was playing a youth game during halftime and the PWHL limited tickets to one per parent. Another reason was to support women’s hockey. “This is history. I was waiting for him,” said Talota. When the doors opened, fans lined Carlton Street. A lot of what you miss in the game is waiting in long lines to buy goods. Demand was so high that Royce Cohen, the league’s chief executive, said Toronto had sold almost its entire month’s supply. Royce spoke to a crowd of 8,318 in Ottawa on Tuesday for the PWHL’s second game, a record attendance for a professional women’s hockey game. Minnesota is expected to sell out the lower bowl for its opening game in the home stadium of the NHL Wild. Montreal has sold out nearly every game in its 4,000-seat facility. New York, which plays in Bridgeport, Conn., and Lowell, Mass., are the two teams behind in ticket sales.
Toronto rinks may already be too small, but cost is an issue. The next largest hockey arena in the city, the Coca Cola Coliseum, home of the AHL team, rents for $130,000 (Canadian) per event.
“I expect there will be a lot of discussion throughout the season about the need for a larger building for our league,” said PWHL Board of Directors member Stan Kasten. “We have a much weaker market and it will take some time, but this is a successful product.”
The PHWL expects star athletes like Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield of the United States and Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse of Canada to be in the spotlight during the Winter Olympics every four years. And there is hope that a new star will be born.
On Monday, former PHF goalkeeper Corinne Schroeder stole the show with 29 saves in New York’s 4-0 win. Schroeder, who was called and missed three times by Team Canada, held off Canadian Olympian Kristin Campbell, who stopped 24 shots.
The result was Rachel Dobson and her seven-year-old daughter Charlotte. Despite being more than an hour away from Toronto, Dobson once bought two season tickets because she wondered why she couldn’t watch women’s hockey on TV in Charlotte.
“I wanted to show him that he can reach for the stars,” Dobson said. “That person can do anything.”
Hockey Hall of Famer and PWHL executive Jayna Hefford idolizes Wayne Gretzky and remembers having the opportunity to see him play in a Canada Cup game at Maple Leaf Gardens.
“What’s special about this is that we can do this with this building and the history that’s here,” Hefford said. “Now we do it ourselves.”
Hours after the win, New York GM Pascal Daust tried to put the chaotic day into perspective. Daust was happy with the win, unhappy with the way New York dominated the second period and happy with King’s presence. Referring to a text message from the PWHL’s first general manager congratulating him on winning a game, he said the result is bigger than a person.
