Once upon a time, members of the Canadian women's hockey national team would centralize in Calgary to train ahead of the Olympic tournaments. For months, that became the sole focus of their lives. With a lack of opportunities to play competitive hockey, they had to leave home and centralize to prepare appropriately, but nowadays, it’s no longer the case.
Members of the national Team now have numerous opportunities to play competitive games, thanks to the inception of the PWHL. The professional league is about to embark on its third season, and it will do so with eight teams, rather than the six it had in year one.
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Teams will all play 30 games in the regular season. Since every team includes several players who will suit up for their country during the Olympic tournament, the league has decided to adapt its schedule to allow national teams to gather their athletes and put them through their paces.
For Team Canada, that will mean three Olympic preparation camps in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. With the PWHL having teams in two of those two markets, it’s easy to imagine how excited these fans could get for those camps.
While there’s no word yet about possible exhibition games, chances are those could be sold out in a heartbeat. It used to be that the Olympics were the only event where fans could see the best hockey players from each country take on one another. It would get sports fans very excited about those opportunities, even if, ultimately, everyone knew it would be mainly about Team USA and Team Canada.
Those gold-medal games between the two powerhouses were as entertaining as could be. However, some still complained that there needed to be more parity in the women’s game, with other countries being able to hold their own against the two favorites. People wanted to see upsets, such as when the Finnish team surprised Team Canada at the World Championships in 2019.
We’re not there yet, but the creation of the PWHL and the fact that an increasing number of players from other countries are joining the fold should help the game reach that goal. Players like Switzerland’s Alina Muller, Czechia’s Tereza Vanisova, and Finland’s Susanna Tapani are all plying their trade on this side of the pond and competing against the best players in the world now, and the more players come over, the better it will be for the growth of the game.
There are, however, players who are electing to return home to Europe, such as Noora Tulus, the 13th pick of the 2024 draft. Klara Peslarova, Noemi Neubauerova, and Emma Soderberg have unfortunately done the same. Hopefully, this doesn’t become a trend, as the game can only benefit from players of all nationalities coming together to form a truly elite league.