The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) began play in 2024 with six teams, expanding to eight clubs this season. The league is run by the Mark Walter Group (the championship trophy is the Walter Cup), whose CEO also owns the Dodgers, Lakers, and the WNBA Sparks. With a single entity responsible for everything, the league looks like it will succeed where several other attempts have failed in giving women a chance to play hockey professionally. Although there is a New York team, they actually play in the Prudential Center in Newark, and I am not willing to travel there to see them. Instead, I waited for a trip to Ottawa where I could bring my daughter to a game. The Ottawa Charge usually play at TD Place downtown, but a special Good Friday game was being held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata. A friend was able to get four tickets for me and so my brother and nephew joined, taking a rideshare to avoid the traffic hassles.
Of course, the rink is the regular home of the Ottawa Senators, who had a game the next afternoon that I also attended. Most of these pictures are from that day, when I arrived early enough to beat the crowd.
My last visit here was in 2021 and the venue has undergone some changes since then. There are a few photo ops outside, including one where you can stand on a bench next to some life-size cutouts.
The Ottawa Silver Sevens won a bunch of Stanley Cups over a century ago and there are pictures on the lower level concourse.
The Senators have had several stars play here for a long time, including Chris Phillips and Wade Redden, with the below tribute located on the concourse that goes around the top of the upper bowl.
Another cool feature is the collection of local jerseys; many rinks now include something similar.
On both days, we spent time at Bert's, the restaurant just next to the main entrance. Prices are no longer reasonable, with a pint of beer over $15, but going there after the game allows the traffic to clear. There has been talk for years of the Senators finally building an arena downtown, and some progress has been made, but it is still at least five years away if that, so until then, fans have to suffer through the worst parking situation in the league.
Anyway, this post is about the PWHL. The league does a few things right. First is using the 3-2-1-0 points system so that regulation wins mean more than those in overtime, though this does result in those annoying W-L records like 6-7-1-13. Another is limiting the schedule to 30 games, which should increase demand and keep players fresh. The NHL is going to 84 games next season, which is about 20 too many. Most importantly, there have been several games held in 11 neutral site rinks as part of a Takeover Tour, part of a long-term plan to increase the league's visibility outside its markets. Attendance records were broken regularly, but that is because the league uses giveaways to boost numbers.
That was certainly true for the game I attended, with 17,114 making the trek to Kanata. I expect at least half of those tickets were freebies as the team usually draws about 7,000 downtown. This is the problem with attendance figures - they are often fudged, even in the bigger sports. The following day, Madison Square Garden 'sold' out (18,006) for a New York Sirens game and this number was trumpeted far and wide as women's hockey gaining traction in the Big Apple. Given that the team averaged 2,500 in its first two seasons at Prudential, this is highly unlikely, but I appreciate the marketing. Giveaways count as attendees, even if they don't show up. This is how you need to grow the game, to convince people they are missing out. And since nobody actually pays attention any more, this is easier than ever.
Our seats were in the fourth row looking right at the face-off circle. A good location when the action is in front of you. I was most impressed by the uniforms and logos; the Walter Group is loaded (over $345 billion in assets under management) and is clearly not skimping on the marketing aspect.
So how is the hockey itself? Pretty much as you would expect. It's not good, but not terrible either. It's obviously slower and less physical than then men's game, with less scoring (games average about 4.5 goals, compared to just over 6 in the NHL). Putting pucks in the net requires skill and strength and not enough players in the league have both. With that said, the two goals were both impressive, with one coning on a 2-on-1 break where Kaitlin Willoughby cleanly beat Ottawa goalie Gwyneth Phillips over the shoulder. A few minutes later, Ottawa tried a rush shorthanded only for a player to fall down and the Victoire went the other way 5-on-3, completing a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play to make it 2-0. The rest of the game was uneventful, with Montreal adding an empty net goal. There was one great hit at the blue line where an onrushing player was stood up, but that was whistled for interference. Ottawa had 39 shots but Montreal's backup keeper Sandra Abstreiter was equal to them all, earning her first career shutout. The Charge remained a point behind Toronto for the final playoff spot with five games remaining. Hey, at least one Toronto team is in a playoff race!
I'm glad I had a chance to go but wouldn't pay for this. I have nothing against women's sports and have seen and enjoyed plenty of events in both team and individual sports over the years. But the pretense that these games are just as good as men's is silly. The PWHL appeals to liberals who are mostly concerned about performative actions that gain them credit among their peers and I noticed that among the fans and even advertisers, one of which said "It's not women's hockey, it's hockey". No, it's women's hockey, that's what the W stands for. The league will continue as long as the Walter Group supports it, and I hope that they will do so, but given that the WNBA lost money for 30 straight years before finally getting a decent TV contract, there are no guarantees. Keeping the league small and the season short are the best ways to start. Expanding beyond eight teams this early will dilute the product and there aren't enough good players to fill that many rosters. Still, marketing is what matters in sports these days, and this league is very good at it. In a few years, once a new generation of girls has grown up with aspirations to play professionally, you should expect a more robust PWHL, as long as someone is willing to lose money over that time.
Notes
With the Senators playing the next afternoon, the rink staff wasted no time in starting the changeover, which mostly involves replacing the ads on the boards. This allowed me to snap a rare picture in a professional hockey rink: white boards, just like in my childhood.
The Senators played a similar game to the Charge, getting more shots but unable to score as they lost to Minnesota 4-1. We spent the game at the top of the upper bowl, where you can wander around freely during the breaks in the action. The view is not as good though.
Best,
Best,
Sean
No comments:
Post a Comment