Liz Knox didn’t get a chance to rest.
A day after making 24 saves to backstop h
er team to a road win and then flying home from Boston http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/jeremy-kerley-jersey , the goaltender for the Markham Thunder worked her day job as a carpenter from 6
in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, took a 10-minute nap, went for a four-mile
run and squeezed in a workout before dinner.
”If we were making a living wage, it’s not a big deal because I can sleep in today and go to the gym when I’m ready and have the facilities there to train,”
Knox said. ”If it’s your full-time job, then that’s your full-time job and you
can pay for your rent and everything else on top of that.”
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For now, playing women’s hockey professionally in North America isn’t lucrative enough to be a full-time job, save for the U.S. and Canadian Olympians
who earn money from their national federations. In the aftermath of the U.S.
winning gold at the Winter Games, several players have used their platform on a
whirlwind victory tour to make the case for one professional league where there
are currently two competitors: the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and National
Women’s Hockey League.
”I don’t play in the CWHL or the NWHL so I have no personal preference,” U.S. shootout hero Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said. ”For women’s hockey to continue
its traction is to have one league http://www.kansascitychiefsteamonline.com/derrick-nnadi-jersey , whether that’s a merger or an entirely new league that supports both the U.S.
and Canada in one league, I think is going to be really important in the next
season to somehow make that happen.”
Current and former players have taken to social media to promote the concept of (hash)OneLeague that could pay long-term dividends for the sport. It’s a
complicated issue muddled in the uncertainty between the CWHL, NWHL and NHL
with, so far, no obvious path forward.
The compelling journey of the U.S. team from its fight for a better contract from USA Hockey to its thrilling victory against Canada at the Olympics brought
positive attention to women’s hockey that is now in danger of being cut
short.
”After the Olympics, all the conversation was: `Why can’t I watch this on a day-to-day basis? Why can’t I watch this every weekend?’ Well, you can’t because
the talent is split right now between two leagues,” said Knox, one of the
co-chairs of the CWHL Players Association. ”Merging is probably never going to
work. There’s just too many differences between the two leagues and that’s been
evident from the very beginning.”
The CWHL , now in its 11th season http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/harrison-phillips-jersey , has seven teams split between the U.S., Canada and China. The NWHL began in 2015
and has four U.S.-based teams.
What also divides the two are salary and bonus structures.
The NWHL has paid its players a salary from its inception: Between $10,000 and $26,000 in its first season to between $5,000 and $7,000 now. The CWHL
previously focused on paying staff and player travel costs before committing to
paying players starting this past year – anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000, with a
team salary cap of $100,000.
”Our framework has allowed for us to maintain sustainability and measured growth http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/tremaine-edmunds-jersey , and that trend will continue,” said Brenda Andress, commissioner of the
nonprofit CWHL, which has partnered with NHL teams in Toronto, Montreal and
Calgary. Partnerships can include financial assistance, marketing and
promotions, ice time and office space.
The NHWL is on better financial footing than it was last season, when the league was forced to cut player salaries in half to avoid the risk of folding.
It now has an affiliation with the New Jersey Devils for financial and other
support, and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula purchased the Buffalo Beauts to
make them the first team not owned and managed by the league.
”Team USA’s thrilling victory over Canada for the gold medal captivated the nation and showed a glimpse of the potential for women’s hockey in our country,”
a Pegula Sports & Entertainment spokesman said. ”We believe that women’s
hockey has an extremely bright future and are heavily committed to doing our
part to continue its advancement.”
Neither league would address any notion of specific merger talks.
”One of the founding principles of the NWHL is to advance women’s hockey http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/daryl-worley-jersey ,” NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan said. ”If anyone has a formal plan or ever wants to
discuss how we can take the business of professional women’s hockey to the next
level, the NWHL will always engage with them and do what’s best for the game,
the players, our supporters and fans.”
Knox and others would love for the NHL to step in and run a league like the NBA has with the WNBA.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s stance on women’s pro hockey hasn’t changed since the NWHL was established. It’s a position he recently reiterated on
Calgary’s 960-Radio by saying the two leagues must first sort out their
situations.”Having two leagues makes it more difficult for us to get involved,” Bettman said. ”If there were no leagues, we’d probably start one under the NHL umbrella,
and I’ve told both leagues that. But I have no interest in competing with the
existing leagues. I think that would be counterproductive.”
Andress said the CWHL has always believed in the need for one league called it ”where the future of the women’s professional game has always been
heading.”
No one’s quite sure what that would look like.
”Your guess is as good as mine,” said U.S. captain Meghan Duggan, who has played in the .
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