PWHPA – Page 2 – CanucksBanter

By JOHN WAWROW Associated Press

Hockey Hall of Fame member Angela James opened what could become a widening rift between North America’s top two women’s professional hockey organizations on the eve of joining the new ownership group of the Premier Hockey Federation’s Toronto Six.

Days before the PHF officially announced the sale on Monday, James posted a lengthy note on a Facebook group page in which she accused the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association of stunting the sport’s development because of its refusal to join forces. Her message drew more attention when Six player Saroya Tinker re-posted it on her Twitter account.

“Right now, I’m so disappointed in the PWHPA. Who’s interests are you protecting?” James wrote.

“Why can’t you work out these differences instead of suppressing and handcuffing the elite women’s athletes in the progress of the pro game already made,” she added. “Women’s hockey is bigger than the PHF and the PWHPA, together we can make history.”

James, a Six assistant coach this season, said she was speaking on her own and did not note she was part of the group buying the Toronto franchise. The ownership group also includes former NHL coach Ted Nolan, former NHL player Anthony Stewart and Bernice Carnegie, co-chair of the Carnegie Initiative, which was established to promote inclusiveness in hockey.

James’ criticism drew a response from PWHPA adviser Liz Knox. Without referencing James, Knox tweeted Sunday that “management, coaches, front office (etc) speaking on behalf of players’ experience instead of supporting the true voice of the players is exactly why the PWHPA was formed.”

The back and forth overshadowed the Six’s sale to a group hailed for its diversity.

James is the only Black player to captain Canada’s national team. Nolan, the NHL’s coach of the year with the 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres, is a member of the First Nation’s Ojibwe tribe. Stewart, whose father is from Jamaica, is chair of Hockey Equality.

The group purchased the team from BTM Partners, which established the Six as an expansion franchise two years ago.

The PHF, formerly known as the National Women’s Hockey League before rebranding last summer, is North America’s lone professional women’s hockey league, established in 2015. The PHF plans to expand from six to eight teams, provide health care and also more than double its salary cap to $750,000 per team next season.

The PWHPA membership is made up of a majority of U.S. and Canadian national team players. It was formed in May 2019 following the demise of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

The organizations have been at odds ever since, with PWHPA members balking at playing for the then-NWHL because of differences with former commissioner and founder Dani Rylan Kearney’s management style. Concerns also were raised over the private-investor-backed league’s financial shortfalls. The league slashed players’ salaries by more than half a month into its second season and was criticized for not always reimbursing players’ travel and meal expenses.

The PWHPA instead pushed for forming a league with what it called a sustainable economic model with more robust support for players.

Signs of the PWHPA closing in on its objective became apparent the past two weeks with talks intensifying with select NHL teams and major corporate sponsors to form a league within the next year.

The PHF, meantime, has spent the past two years transforming itself in a series of moves. It has revamped its business model, its teams are now independently owned and the league is headed by a board of governors.

And yet, questions remain after Commissioner Ty Tumminia cited personal reasons behind her decision to step down after this season after overseeing much of the PHF’s transformation. Her departure also coincides with the sale of the Six, with whom Tumminia first joined the league as the franchise’s chairwoman.

James questioned what more the PHF must do to meet the PWHPA’s demands, citing the $25 million league owners are committing over the next three year to increase salaries, add health care and improve infrastructure.

“They have already agreed to everything on the PWHPA’s wish list to my knowledge and still not good enough,” James wrote. “How about combining your resources for the better of the game, and everyone set aside their egos?”

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By JOHN WAWROW Associated Press

FILE - In this Nov. 9, 2018, file photo, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Jayna Hefford shakes hands with people associated with the hall before a hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils in Toronto. Two officials with direct knowledge of discussions tell The Association Press that talks with select NHL teams and major corporate sponsors have intensified in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association’s bid to form a pro league within the next calendar year. In a text to The AP, PWHPA executive Jayna Hefford would only say she is not in a position to comment at this point. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Talks with select NHL teams and major corporate sponsors have intensified in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association’s bid to form a league within the next year, two people with direct knowledge of discussions told The Associated Press.

While progress is being made, one of the people said an announcement is not imminent, while also cautioning against placing a timeline on when a proposed league made up of the world’s top players could be ready for opening faceoff.

“No timeline, but we’re getting closer,” said the person, who like the other AP source spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

In a text, PWHPA executive Jayna Hefford declined to comment Wednesday.

Details of how the proposed league would operate are unknown, though the most ideal scenario would involve NHL franchises on both sides of the border co-sponsoring women’s teams competing in a regular-season schedule followed by playoffs.

What’s also unclear is when and how long a PWHPA league’s season would run. The top players have U.S. and Canadian national team commitments, including competing at the women’s world championships in August, as well as a yet-to-be scheduled series of rivalry games expected to be played in November.

The NHL, as an entity, has backed off funding a pro women’s league after the coronavirus pandemic blew a major hole in its budget. That hasn’t stopped the league from supporting women’s hockey, which most recently included the U.S. women’s team taking part in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 and paying for a charter flight for the team to travel from its Minnesota base to Los Angeles en route to the Beijing Olympics last month.

It also hasn’t stopped NHL franchises from forming their own partnerships. The PWHPA lists 10 NHL teams as partners, including Washington, the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The establishment of a partially NHL-backed league attracting top international players would be considered a game-changer for women’s hockey.

It would be separate from the six-team Premier Hockey Federation, which was founded in 2015, and remains North America’s only women’s professional hockey league. In January, the PHF announced it is expanding to eight teams, and more than doubling its salary cap per team to $750,000 next season.

PWHPA members have mostly balked at joining the PHF while in pursuit of establishing their own league in which players receive livable wages, health care and have dedicated access to training and practice facilities.

The PWHPA was formed three years ago following the demise of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. In that time, the association has attracted enough corporate and media broadcasting partnerships to base players in five hub cities — two in the U.S. and three in Canada — to practice and compete against each other expense-free in a series of barn-storming weekend events across the continent.

The most recent “Dream Gap Tour” stop was in Ottawa last weekend, with another scheduled for Washington, D.C., this weekend.

The PWHPA is also hosting a “Rivalry Rematch” game between the United States and Canada set for Pittsburgh on March 12. It will be the cross-border rivals’ first meeting since Canada won Olympic gold with a 3-2 victory over the Americans last month.

The buzz over the PWHPA inching closer to forming a league grew immediately in the aftermath of Canada’s victory.

Canadian forward Brianne Jenner cited corporate support in both the PWHPA and PHF by saying, “I think we’re not that far off.”

“I think there is a market out there, and a lot of people want to see this level of of women’s hockey on a regular basis,” she added.

Canada coach Troy Ryan urged corporate sponsors to get on board.

“The girls deserve an opportunity to be professional athletes,” Ryan said. “I think if anyone is smart out there, corporate sponsors or donors or business people, they would back it as a business plan because I think there’s a viable market out there for it.”

U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield grew emotional in stressing how important it is for women’s hockey to take advantage of the boost in attention the sport gets following the Olympics.

“Women’s hockey cannot be silent after these two weeks,” Coyne Schofield said. “We need to continue to push for visibility. We need to continue to fight for women’s hockey because it’s not good enough. It can’t end after the Olympic Games.”

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