When the acquisition of the PHF for purposes of creating a new league was announced in June, many fans wondered what would come of those former PHF players.
Five of the six new locations of the to-be-named PWHL teams are in cities which formerly hosted PHF teams – Boston, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Montréal, Toronto, and the New York City area – which will likely contribute to bringing over a large percentage of the PHF’s previously existing fanbase.
Jayna Hefford, the league’s senior vice president of hockey operations, and PWHL PWHL Players’ Association executive director Brian Burke addressed concerns regarding equity for both former PHF and PWHPA players in a press conference on August 29.
Hefford has a very direct connection to this concern, having previously served as the PWHPA’s operations consultant following her illustrious playing career.
“We started out by putting together a player evaluation committee,” she said. “It was nine members, and these members represented all the various stakeholder groups in the women’s game – so from the PHF to the PWHPA, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, the NCAA, youth sport, the IIHF and international players.”
This committee, she explained, was tasked with identifying the pool which they anticipated would represent players available to participate in the PWHL: “We came up with a list of over 300 players from around the world that we believe are eligible and will be interested in this league. It’s a big list but it’s not exhaustive”
These 300 players, representing the aforementioned stakeholder groups, were invited to participate in a conversation about the future of the league and provide input from their insight as players.
Commitment to Equal Opportunity
Hefford emphasized that she and her peers have “continued to say that this league is for the best players in the world. It does not matter where you come from, where you played in the past; this is simply about the best players.”
“We don’t care where you played before,” Burke said. “You got here, we’re excited to have you here. If you can play here, you can play, and so we’re excited. Don’t worry about where [you] played before, we’ve got a spot for you if you can make us better, and we look forward to growing this league together.”
This message of unity was a consistent theme throughout the press conference.
“This is about growing the game,” Hefford said.
“There is no more PHF or PWHPA… we are one player group of the PWHL.”
The trials Burke witnessed professional women’s hockey go through clearly influenced his sentiments. “I’ve watched players borrow tape and borrow laces when the teams were playing and had no resources at all,” he recalled. “I watched the Calgary Inferno game and watched the players passing around a roll of tape – a roll of tape for God’s sake! – so I’ve seen now what the hardships they’ve gone through, the iterations they’ve gone through…I’m so proud to be involved.”
The league is currently in the midst of its ten-day signing window ahead of the September 18 draft. Training camp will begin the week of November 13.
Stay tuned for more hockey content, including off-season moves and prospect updates.
Featured content courtesy of The PWHL
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- Source: https://thegamehaus.com/sports/the-pwhls-approach-to-its-players-previous-leagues/2023/09/04/
