Women's Professional Hockey: Crossroads

[shrader]

12 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Yeah, this is going to be a problem.  I don't see a new season this year.

At first I thought the story was tied directly to the so called crossroads that started this thread.  I didn't even realize they had a players association for this league, but then on top of that, the players walked out on both the league and that association.  If that's the case, who is even in the discussion for the "agreement" in Brawndo's post?

[Eleven]

19 hours ago, shrader said:

At first I thought the story was tied directly to the so called crossroads that started this thread.  I didn't even realize they had a players association for this league, but then on top of that, the players walked out on both the league and that association.  If that's the case, who is even in the discussion for the "agreement" in Brawndo's post?

Just reading between the lines; I have no inside knowledge...I think we're dealing with two groups here.  The first is the NWHLPA, which I would guess is the union certified by the NLRB to negotiate with the NWHL.  The second is the less formal group of 200 or so players who are boycotting women's professional hockey.  The first group has struck a deal with the NWHL for next season, but if 200 of the best players are boycotting, who's going to play?

Edited May 24, 2019 by Eleven

[IKnowPhysics]

55 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Just reading between the lines; I have no inside knowledge...I think we're dealing with two groups here.  The first is the NWHLPA, which I would guess is the union certified by the NLRB to negotiate with the NWHL.  The second is the less formal group of 200 or so players who are boycotting women's professional hockey.  The first group has struck a deal with the NWHL for next season, but if 200 of the best players are boycotting, who's going to play?

Yeah, the weird part was that the NWHLPA was never on board with the boycott, seemingly failing to address or incorporate the interests of a large number of members:

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/05/02/hundreds-of-womens-hockey-players-announce-boycott/

Quote

NWHLPA director Anya Battaglino said Thursday the move sets the game back rather than helping to move it forward.

“In the offseason the NWHLPA has been working hard to continue to drive the betterment of our professional athletes every day,” said NWHLPA director Anya Battaglino. “This announcement halts our ability to finally have the best players on one stage, and unfortunately sets the Women’s Hockey game backward. With the powerful opportunity we have this year to drive unprecedented growth, this new fragmentation will only slow that growth.”

So while I understand and support what both the NWHLPA and the bocotters are doing, not having the union lead the effort really muddies the waters, and makes negotiations extraordinarily difficult.  Nonetheless, the NWHL announced a new deal, and the NWHLPA heralds it as a major advancement:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nwhl-agrees-increase-salaries-benefits-revenue-sharing/

Quote

The NWHL Players’ Association calls the agreement a "breakthrough" because it provides "substantial gains" for the first time since the league was founded in 2015.

 

But now, just this week, the PWHPA (Professional Women's Hockey Players Association) has been created:

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/05/21/latest-developments-still-have-womens-hockey-divided/

With their stated goals:

http://pwhpa.com/

Quote

• To promote, advance, and support a single, viable professional women’s ice hockey league in North America that showcases the greatest product of women’s professional ice hockey in the world.
• To provide a united voice to players advocating for the creation of a sustainable professional league.
• To coordinate training needs and programming opportunities during the 2019-2020 season.
• To collaborate with like-minded organizations to make hockey more inclusive for women today and for the girls of the next generation.

So at the very least, the PWHPA will provide structure, leadership, and a negotiating team for the players that don't align with the NWHLPA, likely including former CWHL players that weren't represented by the NWHLPA.  But with a new deal already in place between the NWHLPA and the NWHL, it's unknown if the new PWHPA will accept the gains and advise their members to participate.

BUT, according to an interview with Kaleigh Fratkin, one of the founding players that crossed the #ForTheGame movement to sign with Boston, indicated that the movement (and the PWHPA) has their next steps planned: file for incorporation of a new WNHL and get the NHL as a major sponsor:

https://www.theicegarden.com/2019/5/24/18637513/kaleigh-fratkin-interview-forthegame-decision-to-sign-with-the-nwhl-womens-hockey-pwhpa-boston-pride

Quote

KF: I think what’s been really difficult for myself, and I can only speak for myself, is that when someone approached me with an idea that’s silver and shiny and says, ‘Hey, the NHL is going to start a league in 2020.’ I had some skepticism. I had some questions.

...

Interviewer: Do you have reservations about giving the keys over to the NHL to create a WNHL? It seems like a lot of the questions that you raised are related to that. Is that why some of this maybe feels rushed, or do you think there is more structure to their plan?

KF: The way that I’m seeing it is they had their movement and then their next steps were creating their website and filing for articles of incorporation. From there, they [will be] looking for sponsors [and] for people to invest in them, with the NHL being the prime investor.

If you look at women’s pro soccer or the WNBA, their male counterparts on the professional side are involved. Of course you want to activate the NHL. But is completely forcing their hand by destroying the NWHL the right way to do this?

In my opinion, we should be leveraging the league that we have and [approaching] the sponsors that support our male counterparts and then turning to the NHL to say, ‘Hey, these sponsors are now supporting us because they want to get behind the women’s movement.’ That way we can activate the NHL. Rather than kyboshing the NWHL and have the NHL start things from the ground up.

You have to look at it realistically. If you start a league from the ground up, what are we talking about here? Four or five teams? There are not enough spots for all of the players in the #ForTheGame movement on those teams. I think that, in the long run, that is not the best way to go.

 

So I think what we may see is the PWHPA quickly attempt to take effective control of this situation by representing the majority of NWHL players, and work to form a league with the NHL.  In that scenario, the PWHPA organization will ultimately be the one to green light players playing in the NWHL for the next one or two seasons, or to tell all members to hold out, forcing the collapse of the NWHL, and paving the way for a WNHL.

Interesting times.  There will probably be a movie made about this someday.

[darksabre]

According to Joe Yerdon, part of the fallout from all of this is that the Beauts are playing at Northtown Center instead of the Harbor Center this year.

That SUCKS. 

[Zamboni]

2 hours ago, darksabre said:

According to Joe Yerdon, part of the fallout from all of this is that the Beauts are playing at Northtown Center instead of the Harbor Center this year.

That SUCKS. 

Really? That DOES suck! Wow ...

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, darksabre said:

According to Joe Yerdon, part of the fallout from all of this is that the Beauts are playing at Northtown Center instead of the Harbor Center this year.

That SUCKS. 

 

14 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Really? That DOES suck! Wow ...

Eh, parking will be cheaper.  Easier to get to Duff 's after the games as well.

This all assumes that any games will actually end up getting played.

[Brawndo]

Friedman on Saturday Night Headlines that the NHL is making preparations for a New Women’s League in case the NWHL folds. 
 

The preliminary plan calls for six teams, with two being in Canada. 
 

John Wawrow reported that the NWHL is facing financial difficulties in some tweets earlier this week.