National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL previously contributed $100,000 to the NWHL. The women's hockey players are seeking more support in an effort to create a viable, sustainable professional league. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI |
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May 2 (UPI) -- Over 200 of the world's top female hockey players, including U.S. national team stars Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight and Canada's Marie Philip-Poulin, announced they won't play in a professional league next season.
The players announced their decision in a joint statement on social media Thursday. The group of stars expressed their unhappiness with the current state of women's hockey and demanded better financial and infrastructural resources, including a say in establishing a single league.
"We are fortunate to be ambassadors of this game that we revere so deeply and yet, more than ever, we understand the responsibility that comes with that ambassadorship: To leave this game in better shape than when we entered it," the statement said. "That is why we come together, over 200 players strong, to say it is time to create a sustainable professional league for women's hockey.
"While we have all accomplished so much, there is no greater accomplishment than what we have the potential to do right here and right now -- not just for this generation of players, but for generations to come. With that purpose, we are coming together, not as individual players, but as one collective voice to help navigate the future and protect the players needs."
Many of the players have said they want the NHL to support a women's league with better resources. The players hope the joint statement could apply pressure on the National Hockey League to act.
The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) is currently the only remaining women's hockey league in North America. The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) abruptly decided to cease operations after the 2018-19 season due to financial problems.
"We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game," the players said in the statement. "Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.
"Because of that, together as players, we will not play in any professional leagues in North America this season until we get the resources that professional hockey demands and deserves."
The NHL previously supplied the NWHL and CWHL with $50,000 contributions. After the Canadian league folded, the NHL doubled its donation to the NWHL.
NWHL founder and commissioner Dani Rylan said last season promoted growth in the league. Rylan said she wants to expand the league with franchises in Montreal and Toronto next year. The 2019 NWHL All-Star Game, which took place in Nashville, drew the largest crowd (6,200) for a professional women's hockey game in the U.S.
"It's time for a long-term viable professional league that will showcase the greatest product of women's professional hockey in the world," the statement concluded.
