With the acquisition of the PHF by the PWHPA's investors, a new best-on-best league is about to launch. There's benefits, and costs.
With the acquisition of the PHF by the PWHPA's investors, a new best-on-best league is about to launch. There's benefits, and costs.
For years, people have discussed the need and desire for a best-on-best women's professional hockey league. That call has been answered, as Mark Walter and Billie Jean King Enterprises, the investors behind the PWHPA's quest to form their own league, have acquired the PHF.
Now, if all goes to plan, Marie-Philip Poulin will soon be lining up across from, or beside, players like Alina Müller, who signed this offseason with the PHF's Boston Pride.
When you begin to look at the numbers, however, you also realize this decision marks the end of the playing careers for dozens of women who will be left without teams.
It's anticipated cities including Toronto, Montreal, and Boston will maintain their franchises, while the destinations for teams, and the number of teams, has not been finalized. The PHWPA stated they planned to launch a six team league. The PHF currently has seven teams, while the PWHPA operated with four teams last year. A move to six teams would be a significant contraction, but it would guarantee an elite level of play.
While this was the ultimate goal of Canadian and USA national team players when they formed the PWHPA, it also comes at a cost for the global growth of women's hockey, as there are now far fewer professional women's hockey roster spots available.
While a true best-on-best league is still a few years away, as many European players are contractually bound to their clubs, primarily in Sweden and Finland, all of North America's top players, some from Europe, will now play in what is unquestionably the best league on earth.