Women’s Hockey: The Return of Canadian Women?

Journalists and fans aren’t the only ones excited to know what the future holds for women’s hockey, with the prospect of creating a major professional league. Players too.

• Read also: Women’s hockey wins in Verdun

• Read also: A rain of praises for Ève Gascon

Quebec striker Melody Daust, who met at the weekend, in the Verdun region, said on the sidelines of the Vitrine Quartexx event, a “show” type course. Currently we do not know. We hear things, but we don’t know the truth, we’re not in all the meetings [de l’Association des joueuses professionnelles de hockey féminin (PWHPA)].

“It’s sometimes hard to know exactly where we are, but the latest news is very exciting,” she added. We think we are well surrounded. I’m sure there will be an announcement eventually, but we don’t know when.”

Concretely, many hockey players would have been better off waiting a little longer before quitting their permanent job while waiting for a viable league to be established, thanks to which they could devote themselves to their sport.

In Verdun Hall

By chaining a few threads, there was reason to hope for an announcement in the coming months, or even weeks. Indeed, Danielle Sauvago, the great ambassador, let us know that the women’s professional hockey club will inevitably develop at the High Performance Center 21.02, located in the Verdun Hall. At least that’s part of the plan.

Moreover, right in the middle of the track, the name “Canadiennes” is already featured on the logo representing the high performance center. You don’t necessarily have to draw a conclusion from this, but it may be indicative of a desired association with Montreal Canadiens. As in the past, until the end of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League events in 2019.

Celebrity striker Marie Philip Boleyn decided ‘To achieve great things, it takes time. There will surely be a team here, whether with the NHL or not. It is coming and we have good people working to put everything in its right place.’

“It’s been three long years since the end of the previous league, we created the league for one reason, which is to have a new league,” Bolin continued. The fact that we stayed together and stayed together through those years says a lot. We still have to be patient, we’d like to say more, but we currently have people working for us and we’ll see later.

Played in the Vitrine Quartexx Final against Minnesota on Sunday and Montreal won 6-3.

incomplete puzzle

In this fascinating puzzle surrounding the creation of a sustainable professional league by the PWHPA, it must be remembered that another women’s hockey circle wanted to continue to develop, without necessarily relying on having the best players in the world.

Last January, the First Hockey Federation (PHF) announced the arrival of a team to Montreal next season. There is so much to get lost in! And so, last month, it was the National Hockey League that asked the two leagues to sit down together in order to find an agreement on the union. The goal is really to have a professional women’s hockey club in Montreal. Not two…

“We hope and would love to have the support of men’s hockey and that has been proven in recent years,” Ontario hockey player Laura Stacey, a member of the PWHPA, commented about a potential association with the NHL. We want to create the best possible league for the future of women’s hockey and inspire young girls. It is a fact that The NBA has already contributed to the WNBA, but there are also other ways to do so, if needed.

We don’t necessarily know the content of the discussions [avec la LNH et la PHF]We know we want a league where the best hockey players in the world can compete professionally every day without having to work another job,” added Stacey. And we want this league to last forever.”

required depth

In the meantime, the Vitrine Quartexx, the fifth stop of the 2021-2022 season of the Secret Dream Gap Tour organized by the PWHPA, will undoubtedly allow the identification of talented players, over the weekend, in Verdun. It should be remembered that Stacey, Mary Philip Paul, Melody Doust and the other players on the Canadian squad have not been on the ice over the weekend, and are eyeing a respite ahead of their preparations for the next world championship, which begins on August 25. , in Denmark.

“There are about 50 players that make up the teams of Canada and the United States. The league has to have more than 50 players and there are all these girls who are pushing to get the other positions if you create a professional circuit,” noted Stacey, noting the importance of providing a certain depth.