I’m new to women’s hockey, thanks to the buzz about the #MNWhitecaps during a recent winter #Olympics …I think it was 2018. After that, we bought season tickets for the #NWHL Whitecaps and loved it!!
Between the pandemic, though, and now the buyout of the league, we’ve been missing our team and had hopes the new #PWHL (Prof’l Women’s Hockey League) would do right by the State of Hockey and include MN in the new roster of teams #WomensHockey 1/x
It Happened! And I have thoughts, but first, here’s a good article that provides some context left out of the AP, ESPN, and other mainstream media stories:
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#OriginalSix #PWHL #WomensHockey #Hockey #MNWhitecaps #MinnesotaWhitecaps
What will happen to the on-ice magic that existed with players who trained and played together, not just the Jonna (Curtis) Alberts Allie Thunstroms, and Amanda Leveilles of the Whitecaps but the other powerhouses of the #BostonPride or the #TorontoSix ?
Worse, will the new Minnesota team even be Minnesotan, given the free agency across six completely new teams and managers? /3
I also have been thinking of the impact of the changes on the players themselves, many of whom needed a second job while playing hockey /4
Sure, this new league is upping salaries significantly, but with the shakeup of professional women’s hockey, won’t many of them have to disrupt their lives after the draft and replant themselves elsewhere? The #MNWhitecaps players not only have large fan bases but also social circles and families. Because of #patriarchy and #sexism I don’t think it will equate to the experience of what young male professional hockey players have had to do /5
But I guess if you love what you do, you’ll go to great lengths to do what you love! 🏒
Still, I personally bristle against the idea of dismantling the identities of each of the #PHF teams just to start from scratch all over again, going from a small #NWHL cluster, then expansions, then hit the reset button to form the #PHF (just 2 years ago?!), and now the #PWHL
/6
Plus, there are conflicting reports if this new structure is or isn’t welcomed by the players of the now defunct #PHF It’s hard to know what the real story is, it’s probably more than what is being reported… and I haven’t been carving out time to read Canadian media— Canadians must love the rebirth of Canadian women’s hockey, after the collapse of the #CWHL /7
People who know me well know I worry and wonder lots leading up to a transition and before things settle later on. I’ll see if I can practice more patience… and look forward to the inaugural 2024 season of the #PWHL /End
Liz the Urban Birder