PWHPA's Pittsburgh Showcase a 'fun atmosphere'; getting closer to forming new league

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association is getting closer to its league of forming a new, sustainable women's hockey league.

The PWHPA on Sunday wrapped up a three-day stop at the Lemieux Complex as part of the organization's Dream Gap Tour, a series of games around North America showcasing the best of women's hockey. The Pittsburgh Showcase included a pair of girls' hockey clinics on Friday, followed by four games played over Saturday and Sunday.

The PWHPA was formed in 2019 in response to the sudden folding of the Canadian Women's Hockey League and player's dissatisfaction with the way the existing National Women's Hockey League (now named the Premier Hockey Federation) was being run. The organization names four goals as part of their mission:

1. 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.

2. To provide a united voice to players advocating for the creation of a sustainable professional league.

3. To coordinate training needs and programming opportunities during the current season.

4. To collaborate with like-minded organizations to make hockey more inclusive for women today and for the girls of the next generation.

The PWHPA is a player's association -- not a full league -- but while the women involved work to form an actual sustainable league, they tour around the U.S. and Canada to play in showcases like the one at the Lemieux Complex.

There were reports from Sportsnet in April that a six-team PWHPA league was in the works and scheduled to begin play in January 2023. That January start isn't happening, with PWHPA operations consultant and Hockey Hall of Famer Jayna Hefford later telling Sportsnet that a January start "was our ambitious goal."

While a new league won't be happening this season, players are confident that they're close to that goal of forming a league.

"It's coming," said Marie-Philip Poulin, who captains the Canadian national team. "Next year I think is going to be something concrete. Right now we're trying to just showcase what we have and really put things forward. There are great people behind us doing the hard work behind closed doors. We trust them and we hope it'll come up soon."

Poulin herself certainly showcased a lot in this Pittsburgh stop, scoring a hat trick in the opening game on Sunday:

Getting a league running as soon as possible isn't the priority. Rather, they're focusing on forming a league that will be able to have some serious staying power.

Kendall Coyne Schofield, who captains the U.S. national team, told me Sunday that she thinks the PWHPA has been good at being patient throughout this process.

"We know what we're working towards," she said. "What we want to create is something that will be around forever. You know, we're 100-plus years deep into the National Hockey League, we want what we're building to be 100 years deep. When we're all six feet under, women can continue to play this game and make a living doing it. All the young girls who come after us can see that they have a career, they have a future in the sport. If that's what they want to be their job, they can be a player. If it's not a player, then something else. So that takes time."

These women aren't expecting salaries comparable to the NHL or a league as big as the NHL at the start. They're working toward a sustainable league that pays a living wage.

"We've seen a lot of support from from NHL clubs and NHL players as well," Canadian forward Brianne Jenner told me. "I think they understand that we put in same amount of work, same sacrifices and we want a chance to play. We don't need the million-dollar contracts. We just want a chance to be treated professionally. Playing an 82-game season would be a dream, but it's whatever we can get at this point."

Jeff Carter was one of those NHL players who showed up to support the women's game, stopping by in Cranberry with his two children:

PWHPA

Ideally, PWHPA teams would have some level of a relationship with the NHL, either on a league-basis or a team-by-team basis with the PWHPA teams that would share a city with an NHL team. The Penguins are currently one of 10 teams with an existing partnership with the PWHPA, with the others being the Flyers, Capitals, Flames, Coyotes, Blackhawks, Blues, Rangers, Maple Leafs and Senators.

"I think we definitely do want the support from NHL teams," said Canadian forward Rebecca Johnston. "I feel like we do have that support. It's just continuing to try to foster that relationship."

The benefit of partnering with existing NHL teams is being able to share resources -- whether it be something like facilities or marketing resources. We saw that this weekend in the PWHPA's relationship with the Penguins, with the PWHPA using the Penguins' practice facility, and the Penguins promoting the event at their own games, on their social media feeds, and more.

"The more exposure we can get, the more successful our league can be," Johnston said. "Just getting that notoriety and just making it known that we're playing in this league. Then once more people could see that we're playing and the exposure is there, I think it will really help. We're just trying to keep building on that."

Being able to tap into those marketing resources is significant. The market for women's hockey is there when it gets even a fraction of the marketing that the men's game gets on a regular basis. We see it every four years. The 2018 gold-medal game drew 3.7 million viewers on NBCSN alone, making it the most watched late-night program in NBCSN history. The 2022 gold-medal game drew 3.54 million viewers on NBC, making it the second most-watched hockey game of any kind in the U.S. since 2019, behind only Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in which Tampa Bay beat Montreal to clinch the Stanley Cup.

"There's so often so many people who want to watch women's hockey, but they don't know where to go to find it," Coyne Schofield told me. "So when you have an NHL club really say, 'Hey, they're coming here! Go watch them!' It really helps bring fans into the building."

Just a week ago the Kraken hosted the U.S. and Canadian national team at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle for a stop on the Rivalry Series. The teams played in front of 14,551 fans, setting a record for spectators at a national women's hockey game in the U.S., beating the previous record of 13,320 set in Anaheim in the 2019-20 Rivalry Series. Both of those games were promoted extensively by the local NHL teams leading up to the game.

USA HOCKEY

The U.S. women in front of a record-setting crowd in Seattle last week.

"It'd be great to have NHL clubs supporting female programs in their city and professional clubs," Jenner said."Hopefully, that's something that we can see in the future where a young Penguins fan can know where she can watch Sidney Crosby, but also where she could watch her favorite female player. It'd be great to see that support."

If there's a city in the U.S. where these women might find that support, it's Pittsburgh.

This weekend was the second time the PWHPA held an event in the Pittsburgh region, after previously holding its U.S.-Canada Rivalry Rematch game at PPG Paints Arena last season. That game drew over 5,000 fans, despite there being just 11 days between the announcement for the game and the game taking place. 

The Lemieux Complex has also held a number of other women's hockey events in recent years. When the 2019 Four Nations Cup tournament was canceled by the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation due to a pay dispute with its players, the Penguins stepped up and hosted a week-long training camp for both the U.S. and Canadian national teams, culminating in two exhibition games in front of two sold-out crowds.

The PHF -- then named the NWHL -- held a number of neutral-site events at the Lemieux Complex in front of sold-out crowds: The 2017 All-Star skills competition and game, a 2017-18 regular season game between the Buffalo Beauts and Connecticut Whale, and a 2018-19 regular season game between the Whale and Metropolitan Riveters.

Women's hockey keeps coming back to Pittsburgh, and the PWHPA in particular has now come back to the area twice in the last year for major events. 

I asked the players this weekend what it is that keeps them coming back to this city.

"(The Penguins) keep asking us to come back," Jenner said with a laugh. "That's part of it. We always have a great time when we come."

"They continuously bring us in," Coyne Schofield added. "Even dating back to 2019, when the Four Nations Cup was canceled. At the drop of a hat they said, 'We'll make it work and brought U.S. and Canada in to play a couple games against each other, and those games were sold out. So just time and time again, Pittsburgh's always raising their hand and wanting to support women's hockey, bring us in and treat us the right way."

Johnston called the Penguins "huge partners."

"They've been great for us in the last few years," Johnston said. "We're trying to build this and have showcases here, and hosted our Canada-U.S. game. It's been great so far and the support is really important for us, and we really do appreciate it."

The women returned some of the love with a fitting tribute on Sunday, copying Evgeni Malkin's stretching routine during warmups:

U.S. defender Megan Keller called Pittsburgh just "an awesome sports city."

"It's fun to be a part of, to see all the young girls and families that were in the stands this weekend," Keller added. "It's a fun atmosphere. We love coming back here as long as they'll have us. It's been a great city to be able to come and play and showcase our sport."

If a league is formed and Pittsburgh does get a team, the Penguins have already made it known that they wish to be involved continue to be there for women's hockey.

Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin told me over the summer that the Penguins have "ongoing" conversations internally and with the NHL about bringing a potential Penguins-backed professional women's team to Pittsburgh.

"We've offered to be at the table in discussions and negotiations around a potential future league, whether that's an ancillary league that's tied to the NHL or an independent league," Acklin said. "We want to be part of that conversation and help make it happen."

Poulin certainly wouldn't mind coming back here when that happens.

"Every time we come here we get treated very well," Poulin said. "It's a great facility. The people are great here. It's always special coming to Pittsburgh. I remember first coming a couple of years ago, it was amazing. It just shows that the Penguins are always there for women's hockey. I hope we're still going to be here in a couple of years, for sure."