New pro women’s hockey league to launch in January after deal with Dodgers co-owner
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A new women's hockey league is coming to North America.
The Professional Hockey Federation and the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association announced a merger Friday, with an intention of starting a new league in January 2024.
The PWHPA has almost 100 members listed on its website, including the majority of the Canadian women's hockey team.
Half the U.S. women's roster at this year's world championship, including stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, are also PWHPA members.
The new league will be financially supported by Mark and Kimbra Walter, with sports icon Billie Jean King, sports executive Ilana Kloss and Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten serving as board members.
Walter — who is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, co-general partner of the ownership group of the Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and holder of a significant interest in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers — said the league will have the backing and resources it needs to represent the very best of women’s hockey.
"I have always believed that professional sports should bring the highest levels of performance and organization," he said in a statement.
The PWHPA rose from the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League in 2019 after 12 years.
The association has since barnstormed across North America in Dream Gap Tour tournaments and games.
“This new league will be unlike anything we have seen in women’s hockey,” said four -time Olympic gold medallist Jayna Hefford, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and PWHPA lead. “I am inspired by this generation of players who are redefining the sport. We will create dreams and opportunities for girls and women around the world for decades to come.”
The players' goal is a sustainable league that pays a living wage and offers the competitive supports the male pros get.
The PWHPA operated four teams in nine events in 2022-23, including a championship tournament in Southern California.
Players trained out of hubs in Boston, Calgary, Minnesota, Montreal and Toronto.
The NHL previously worked to try to bring the PWHPA and PHF together as one entity.
"The two organizations competing as opposed to coming together is not ideal," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in January in Montreal.
"And if it ever gets figured out, we'll be more than supportive.''
The seven-team PHF features two Canadian franchises: the Toronto Six, who won the league championship this season, and the expansion Montreal Force.
"The Toronto Six looks forward to working with this new ownership group building one strong women’s professional hockey league,” said Six president Sami Jo Small in a statement.