Deachman: Women's pro hockey in Ottawa is a success — even before the puck drops

Share this Story : Deachman: Women's pro hockey in Ottawa is a success — even before the puck drops Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Breadcrumb Trail Links PWHL Local News Columnists Deachman: Women's pro hockey in Ottawa is a success — even before the puck drops The city's newest hockey team, one of six in the Professional Women's Hockey League, will set a record when it steps onto the ice tonight for its season opener.

Get the latest from Bruce Deachman straight to your inbox Sign Up Author of the article: Bruce Deachman Published Jan 02, 2024 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • 4 minute read Join the conversation Ottawa goalie Emerance Maschmeyer at a pre season team practice. Photo by Bruce Deachman / POSTMEDIA Article content Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s season opening game, when Ottawa’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team steps onto the ice at TD Place Arena to face Montreal, history will be made.

Attendance for the sold out game, according to team General Manager Mike Hirshfeld, will eclipse the 8,100 fans who attended the 2017 Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) all star game at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, as well as the 7,765 who witnessed, first hand, a Swedish Women’s Hockey League championship match in April 2022.

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Activate your Online Access Now Article content Article content So, just like that, Ottawa will set a single game attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game. And all before the club has even announced its name! This augurs well — for the league, the franchise, and for Ottawa. But before we congratulate ourselves too heartily, let’s give credit where credit is due, to women’s hockey itself.

Although it still has a ways to go in attaining the popularity that men’s hockey enjoys, it may have at least (and at last) found a permanent home in pro sports. In other words, it’s time. After all, it’s the game that creates the crowd, not the other way around. And who knows? The Ottawa Alert — rumoured as the team’s yet to be announced name, which would be a wonderful tip of the helmet to the Ottawa Alerts squad that exactly a century ago captured the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association championship — may be remembered as one of the Original Six in a growing league with staying power.

Part of that potential durability comes from the money underpinning the league. Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter — who is also a partner with the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club — is behind the hastily assembled league, so if the PWHL does ever falter, it certainly won’t be for lack of startup capital.

Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Ottawa goalie and 2022 Olympic gold medallist Emerance Maschmeyer told me after last Wednesday’s practice that despite the existence of earlier so called professional women’s hockey leagues — she was playing in the CWHL when it folded in 2019 — the PWHL is the first viable and truly professional women’s league.

That said, with an average player salary of $55,000 for the 24 game season and a monthly housing allowance of $1,500 U.S., it doesn’t come close to even scratching the NHL. Hopefully that will change. And like the NHL, women’s hockey in Canada will need to do more to better reflect the country’s diversity.

Still, tonight is a considerable step forward. “I know it sounds very cheesy, but it really is a dream come true,” said Maschmeyer. “I’m shocked that it’s taken this long, but I’m excited.” No less important in securing the league’s future is the on ice product, which, judging by last week’s practice, shouldn’t be a limiting factor.

The skating is fast, the passes crisp, the shots hard. Most of the nearly 140 players filling the six teams’ rosters are members of either Canada’s or the U.S. national squads, with numerous remaining spots filled by national team members from other countries. Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content Other players will have reached this level through college or university play, which, according to Hirshfeld, would otherwise often be the end of the line for those who don’t make national teams. So the games should be exciting, especially if, as a spectator, you’d rather watch hockey than fights.

And even more so if, as a parent, you also want your children to see less violence in the sport. Beyond providing entertaining hockey, though, the league’s early success will be important for its own self propagation, and the growth, not just of women’s hockey, but of hockey in general. When Maschmeyer was a youngster growing up in Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton — where she jokes there were only two seasons, farming and hockey — she had two role models.

One was Team Canada goaltender Shannon Szabados, an Edmontonian who won two gold medals and a silver at the three winter Olympic Games immediately preceding Maschmeyer’s gold in Beijing. The other was her older sister, Brittaney, who played NCAA hockey and was a member of Canada’s national development team, paths that Maschmeyer was determined to, and did, follow.

Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Tonight’s night’s record setting crowd, meanwhile, will no doubt include numerous youngsters, girls and boys alike. When Maschmeyer, her teammates and opponents step onto the ice at TD Place, they’ll be more than simply hockey players; they’ll be role models who will inspire those youngsters, and maybe even some older spectators, to think, “This is great.

I want to try it.” * Born in Fort William, Ont., a city that no longer appears on maps, Bruce Deachman has called Ottawa home for most of his life. As a columnist and reporter with the Citizen, he works at keeping Ottawa on the map. You can reach him at bdeachman@postmedia.com . Our website is your destination for up to the minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.

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