PWHL - Your level of interest

[The Crypto Guy]

I'd be shocked if over the next year or 2, we didn't have:

Toronto Maple Leafs women's team
New York Rangers women's team
Ottawa Senators women's team
Montreal Canadiens women's team
Minnesota Wild women's team
Boston Bruins women's team

Sharing team logos, team doctors and physios, and practice facilities.

That absolutely isn’t going to happen.

 

[Team_Spirit]

It took a few years but the plan is complete, HNIC replaced coaches corner with betting odds and the pwhl report

Feels bad man

 

[wetcoast]

The new PWHL (Professional Women Hockey League) begins today. There doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about it on this board.
What is your initial level of interest in this league?
I'm slightly curious at the start but I am dubious it will maintain my interest. What about you?

I saw the game on my guide and that was my first thought what are the rating and support going to be like.

I mean I wish them well and it would be great if a pro league took off but even on this board it's really hard to find a dedicated space to talk about it and that certainly isn't helping.

 

[pcruz]

Why though? The league and the teams have to prove to be profitable and successful before NHL teams shell out money and resources like this, and frankly it's not off to a good start. Why should the NHL prop up the league just because? Isn't that the opposite of the purpose of the league?

How come you to make the claim the league isn't off to a good start?

I'm genuinely curious.

You can't buy a ticket to any game in Toronto.

You can find tickets in Ottawa for Toronto visits, but none at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

NHL execs and former players are scattered throughout the league.

The salaries are relatively low and team expenses will have to remain controlled to make it a self-sustaining product.

The NHL has been doing a good job of promoting the women and showcasing them during the all star game for a few years now.

 

[Rob Brown]

How come you to make the claim the league isn't off to a good start?

I'm genuinely curious.

You can't buy a ticket to any game in Toronto.

You can find tickets in Ottawa for Toronto visits, but none at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

NHL execs and former players are scattered throughout the league.

The salaries are relatively low and team expenses will have to remain controlled to make it a self-sustaining product.

The NHL has been doing a good job of promoting the women and showcasing them during the all star game for a few years now.

My opinion is that the launch of the league was pretty poor - I posted in this thread about it earlier. You're talking about getting tickets to the inaugural game in Toronto, which seems a bit silly. Let's see how hard it is to get tickets in a few months.

Regardless, you didn't acknowledge anything else I said. What incentive do NHL teams have to pump money and resources into these teams that they don't even own, other than just doing them a favour? What would they be getting out of it? Doesn't the PWHL relying on the NHL and its teams contradict the entire point of a women's league? If the PWHL is to succeed then it has to succeed on its own, IMO, and that relies on women and girls going to games and tuning in on TV regularly.

 

[Puckstop40]

I have a daughter on the way. I am interested because I hope she likes hockey as much as I do, and it would be cool to have her see professional women’s hockey. It would also be nice for girls hockey to have something to work towards besides college and the Olympics.

 

[Golden_Jet]

How come you to make the claim the league isn't off to a good start?

I'm genuinely curious.

You can't buy a ticket to any game in Toronto.

You can find tickets in Ottawa for Toronto visits, but none at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

NHL execs and former players are scattered throughout the league.

The salaries are relatively low and team expenses will have to remain controlled to make it a self-sustaining product.

The NHL has been doing a good job of promoting the women and showcasing them during the all star game for a few years now.

Ya they said on the radio, the first 2 Ottawa games are sold out with just over 8k tickets sold for each game, a NA pro league record for women.

 

[TimeZone]

Probably a 1 or 2, I'll check it out at first.

Most likely down the line if its a slow night I would consider giving it a go, but it certainly won't be something that I watch often, if ever depending on how it is.

 

[robertocarlos]

They have 3 tiers of pay initially.
85,55 and 35k

There will be more games in yea2 though when they have a full season, so those will go up.

I did not see any players on those teams worth $50k more than her team-mates. It seems they'd embrace equal pay for all as well.

 

[Bocephus86]

I'd probably go to a game if they weren't playing in Lowell, that's probably a good 75-90 minute drive from me. Any drive over 60 minutes is not by choice but by necessity.

 

[Puckclektr]

"How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?... Yeah... Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind."


That's all I can think of when reading that...


Your beer league team would be down double digits by the end of the first period.

Wrong. Low level yes. My buddies and I played pick up with two of the last cuts for team Canada and defensively they were able to keep up for the most part. Anything else. Not even close. And we were a better than average mean league group.

 

[MXD]

I think their goal is to get revenue from the NHL. The top players might even be happy earning 60% of the top men's earnings.

... More like 6%.

 

[DaveG]

I think their goal is to get revenue from the NHL. The top players might even be happy earning 60% of the top men's earnings.

I hope you mean league minimum of the NHL, because top players even making 400k right now seems like a stretch.

 

[MXD]

Why are they talking about physicality during the intermission in a league that do not allow hitting?

There is ZERO reason for this league to not make hitting part of the game! If hitting can be allowed in the SDHL swedish womens league and everyone likes it, why not? This is north america who loves hitting far more than we do in Sweden.

Making hitting part of that league would be an absolute disaster, since none of its actual players grew up with hitting.

 

[danpantz]

They have(had) the most insufferable, houlier thabn thou, media members ive ever seen from a league that was trying to grow a few years back.

Really turned me off on the whole league.

 

[MXD]

I have absolutely no interest in supporting my two local teams, as :

- I'm located super close to a CHL arena, and it's super easy for me to get there. For the same price, I'll go see that team, instead of the PWHL team (Ottawa), for which accessibility is an issue.
- My other local team (Montreal) has made it clear that I'm not the target demographic with their communications as well as with their color choice (!). Like, I'll go out of my way to avoid giving them my household ratings.

On the other hand, I kinda wish the league to succeed.

 

[MMC]

None whatsoever.

 

[Dessloch]

Making hitting part of that league would be an absolute disaster, since none of its actual players grew up with hitting.

I watch the SDHL (Swedish Womens League) on a regular basis since 5 to 10 years back and hitting is allowed in sweden in womens hockey.

No girls in sweden have EVER been taught to hit, and yet no disaster have happened and even less concussions has been registered as players are now prepared for contact instead of not expecting to get hit and then getting injured. I feel hitting ramps up the game and makes it more emotional which gets fans interested.

So its win win in all aspects.

Why would it end up differently in North America? Whats the difference?

 

[Strangle]

Making hitting part of that league would be an absolute disaster, since none of its actual players grew up with hitting.

I watched a period of the New York/Toronto game and there was already a lot of falling over without hitting. Adding hitting would just probably mean more players sliding all over the ice off their skates.

I do think women’s hockey is more entertaining than women’s soccer or women’s basketball though.

It’s a better product, imo

 

[MXD]

I watch the SDHL (Swedish Womens League) since 5 to 10 years back and hitting is allowed here in womens hockey.

No girls in sweden have EVER been taught to hit, and yet no disaster have happened and even less concussions has been registered as players are now prepared for contact instead of not expecting to get hit and then getting injured. I feel hitting ramps up the game and makes it more emotional which gets fans interested.

So its win win in all aspects.

Why would it end up differently in North America? Whats the difference?

Quite different level.

I watched a period of the New York/Toronto game and there was already a lot of falling over without hitting. Adding hitting would just probably mean more players sliding all over the ice off their skates.

I do think women’s hockey is more entertaining than women’s soccer or women’s basketball though.

It’s a better product, imo

I absolutely don't disagree with that. A hockey game between two competent, equally-matched teams is definitely entertaining.

 

[Dessloch]

Quite different level.

How so? We still have 15-20 players that would easily slot into this north american league and sweden finished 4th at the last worlds losing to Canada in OT in the semfinals.The SDHL is the 2nd best womens league that exists, so its not exactly a shitter league in womens hockey.

Besides that, what has absolute top level have to do with hitting being part of the game? Thats a completely different thing! Its not like the SDHL is a different sport to this new league and I would say 30% of the players have played previously in the SDHL!

I think you are the 3rd person in the thread saying it would be a disaster to allow hitting, and yet thus far nobody has yet to provide an answer why this supposed disaster is not happening where hitting is allowed in womens hockey.

 

[Bedards Dad]

no interest. I can drive two minutes to my local rink to watch better minor hockey live for free.

NOt that I don't want this to succeed, I really could careless. But your market is women and they are the ones that generally haven't bought tickets in the past.

How much less could you care?

 

[Puckclektr]

How much less could you care?

couldn’t

 

[MMC]

Hockey media attacking people for not watching is so f***ing cringe lmfao. NBA media doesn't do that with the WNBA

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

My interest in supporting the league is high, as I have two young daughters who are both playing competitive hockey. It's important to have something for them to set their sights on beyond just playing in college.