Opinion: There's No Longer A Need For The Rivalry Series

Top competition, team selection, growing the game. There's no longer a need for the Rivalry Series. And that's a good thing.

Since the Rivalry Series was founded, the annual series between Canada and USA's senior national women's teams has been one of the most exciting annual events in sport. The Rivalry Series also served a crucial role in promoting women's hockey, preparing Canada and USA's national teams for the World Championships and Olympics, and pushing for a singular professional league. If you read that sentence again, it's in the past tense because the benefits the Rivalry Series once held are no antiquated. The Rivalry Series is an artefact of the women's hockey world that was, not the women's hockey world that is and will be. 

It's why if this isn't the last year of the Rivalry Series, it likely should be. The Series served a paramount purpose, but it's time to put the Series to rest so that women's hockey's newest avenues for growth, including the PWHL and Women's Euro Hockey Tour, can flourish without the old route getting in the way. The good news is, there's no longer a need for the Rivalry Series because of the PWHL and other growing competitions.

So why is it time for the Rivalry Series to end?

Three or four years ago, there was no league capable of testing the top 30 Canadian and American players against each other night in and night out. Players were scattered between the NCAA, PWHPA, PHF, and Europe. Now, top players from North America are in the PWHL and NCAA alone. There is no need for a full series to scout players to select teams. Scouting can be done in a much more traditional way judging players by their season-long performance. If you speak to NHL scouts, they place far less weight on what happens at isolated events like the World Juniors or World Championships, and far more on the consistent habits of a player over the season. If the PWHL, Hockey Canada, and USA Hockey want to do anything together, giving the teams a few extra days for a pre-tournament training camp ahead of Worlds is a better option. 

When the Rivalry Series launched, the then seven-game series was the main source of elite competition for Canadian and American national team players. That's no longer the case. Players are now practicing regularly together and facing elite competition from across the world on a nightly basis in the PWHL. To preserve these players' bodies into the most important events, the World Championships, Olympics, and yes, Walter Cup playoffs, adding more high level games to their schedule, specifically exhibition games with no league or international impact, will eventually reduce their level of play, not increase it as it once did.

In the search for a professional league, and in efforts to grow a fan base, the Rivalry Series held a foundational role that could not, and can not be overlooked. Without the Rivalry Series, the PWHL likely does not exist. Touring to Canadian and American cities, the Rivalry Series showed there's an appetite among fans for women's hockey. The Rivalry Series drew thousands of fans from Seattle to Halifax, and it helped grow interest and support. With nationally broadcasted games available almost every night, and the PWHL's Takeover Tour, the Rivalry Series' interest is waning. The Takeover Tour is doing what the Rivalry Series did, and it's doing it with greater success. 

The first international break of the season dominated by the Rivalry Series took place before camps, and another less than 10 days into the PWHL season. European PWHL players did not return to Europe for this break making it a break, and judging by fan reaction, fans did not want to see it. At the first Rivalry stops the largest crowd drawn on the three stops of the event was just over 3,000. It was a huge cost for no benefit. Moreover, these breaks have become momentum killers for fan excitement, but that's more on the poor scheduling of the PWHL. For teams looking to build chemistry and players looking to find their groove, the week long Rivalry Series break was an impediment. Thankfully, the Series was reduced to five games this season, and if it's to continue, ideally the first (and perhaps only) leg will take place before PWHL camps open. The other detriment that has emerged is fatigue and potential injuries to the world's top players. When you see players like Sarah Nurse leaving games, even if it turns out to be minor, the cost already outweighs the reward. While most players are resting and practicing for a week, the already busiest women in the sport are being asked to play more games, and more physical games, than anyone else. Injuries that could at this point in the year end any playoff hope a PWHL team might have are now a worry the league and players don't need.

There have been Four Nations tournaments for decades, but the new focus on the Women's Euro Hockey Tour has shown that it's time the torch gets passed from continent to continent. The nations that need the benefit the Rivalry Series once held are Sweden, Finland, Germany, Czechia, Switzerland, and others overseas. Bringing Canadian and American development teams to Europe in December was an incredible step forward for the event, and for the growth of the game. It provided the crucial scouting opportunity for Hockey Canada and USA Hockey early season Rivalry Series events often present, and it benefitted the growth of women's hockey in Europe.

Certainly there is a place for continued involvement of Canada and USA's national teams beyond the World Championships. Whether the Series shrinks to a single three-game event in the summer, or ceases to exist altogether, the continuation of the Rivalry Series as it is today poses more risk to the PWHL and future success of women's hockey, and to the players themselves, than it does benefit. If Canada and USA wanted to bring their players together, perhaps participation in a Four or Six Nations event would be the better route, as it would allow other nations to face the competition they need. It would also open a new avenue for PWHL teams to scout European players against the top PWHL talents beyond the World Championships. Currently, there are enough players from Czechia, Finland, and Sweden competing in North America to run a midseason event on North American soil to supplement the Six Nations tournament in December.

The Rivalry Series, as it is, no longer serves the intended purpose in the grand scheme of women's hockey. It may, if the event is re-thought and re-scheduled to avoid adverse impacts on players and the PWHL's growth, but right now, it's taking away from and disrupting the PWHL's momentum, a negative that outweighs the singular interests of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey.

The Rivalry Series' benefits are a thing of the past. That statement alone should warrant a serious look into whether the Rivalry Series is helping, or hurting the women's hockey world, and give organizers a moment to pause and consider if the event should continue. Bigger picture, the fact the Rivalry Series is no longer needed is a good thing, and sometimes it's best to retire on top before the criticism outweighs the good you've done.