The NWHL, the National Women’s Hockey League, is slated to kick off next year. The league will comprise of four teams:
The New York Riveters
Buffalo Beauts
Boston Pride
Connecticut Whale
From the fantastically talented Zoe Hayden at Stanley Cup of Chowder:
Mike Burse at Outlook Hockey has a post with a statement from the league, revealing lots of information including the fact that the four teams will play an 18-game regular season and 2 playoff rounds. The four teams will be the Boston Pride, the New York Riveters, the Connecticut Whale, and the Buffalo Beauts….
…There will be a formal launch event on April 13 in New York City, which should shed some light on players we will expect to see in the NWHL next season. A streaming package will be available in October for the regular season.
You always hear the buzz after the women’s Olympic games about how great the hockey is. There was an amazingly intense USA/Canada gold medal game. I can only hope that the NWHL pushes the sentiment of “Women’s hockey will never floruish” back in people’s faces. Gary Bettman on the subject:
“The overall development of women’s hockey from the grassroots level through the college level isn’t at a point where a professional league is viable,” he said. “We very much believe in the importance of the women’s game… but it’s going to take some more time and more development. We’re still trying to grow men’s hockey.”
Not going to lie, I jumped on the Blades bandwagon during their CWHL championship run this season. I would be very interested in seeing what the NWHL can bring to the table in terms of exposure for women’s hockey. Hopefully the Bruins will acknowledge the Pride, something they failed to do with the Blades during their championship run.
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