Women’s hockey getting the reception and treatment it deserves

On the first day of 2024, I was sitting on my sofa watching hockey. When I say this, it might not come across as impactful as I intend, because what I mean to say is I was sitting on my sofa watching a Women’s Professional Hockey League game.

After much ado, the puck dropped magnificently for the PWHL, like an opening leading us to a new galaxy from which new stars will be born. 

I didn’t expect to get emotional watching Jayna Hefford, the league’s vice-president of operations and a Hockey Hall of Famer, do the ceremonial puck drop with sports legend and PWHL advisory board member Billie Jean King. I didn’t expect any of that to make me emotional as tears welled in my eyes.

When Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull hugged New York captain Micah Zandee-Hart, the tears spilled. I don’t know if it was the camaraderie between opponents, or that that moment symbolized a foundation of stability within the greatness of women’s hockey. All I know is I was sniffling into my hijab.

WATCH: What we learned from the 1st week in the PWHL:

I covered the CWHL (which shuttered in 2019) and the creation of the PWHPA. I watched NWHL (which later became PHF) games on Twitch and connected with sports writers and avid fans online. When the PHF expanded to Toronto I welcomed more women’s hockey with the Toronto Six. I had high hopes for the growth of hockey and the rebirth of a less toxic type of hockey that I was accustomed to from the men’s game. 

This isn’t to say that the PWHL won’t have its bumps. It will. As much as I advocate for equal opportunity and pay equity, I am also a sports journalist. It is my job to ask questions that hold people accountable. 

Hockey has a deep history in this country and we know what a turbulent time hockey has had due to reckless leadership and terrible decision-making. While I don’t foresee that with the PWHL, there will definitely be some questions at some point.

But what is wonderful about this league is the system that is being created for the media to have access and actually do our work. We can report, opine, and analyze the way that was intended. We can tell the stories and make the videos that reflect the dedication and skill level of the league and those working in it. 

After the league’s second game, Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod implored a post-game media gathering to keep covering the league and telling the stories. I found her words to be so compelling. 

Montreal won after Ann-Sophie Bettez scored in overtime, but it was the intensity of the record breaking crowd, the on-ice excitement and also the potential that has hooked me. 

The physicality of the play was riveting and it was all just so brilliant. I remember feeling this way as I sat on the edge of my seat as a young girl watching the Montreal Canadiens. I still sat on the edge of the sofa and cheered loudly the same way I did 30 years ago. 

After that first game, New York’s Jill Saulnier said: “I can pretty much for sure tell you that there is hitting in women’s hockey now. There were bodies flying all over the place. I was flying all over the place.”

It also got my heart racing and I can’t lie: the fighting was fun to watch.

In fact, never since the 2015 Women’s World Cup have I been so eager to visit Ottawa for a sports game. I will be going later this month. And I am trying to figure out ways to incorporate a visit to Minnesota in the season. I have friends texting or calling me asking how they can get tickets in Toronto, where the games are sold out.

The storylines and the calibre of hockey in the PWHL are the best in the world. Draft day gave us a peek into what we would see. This league boasts the best hockey players and that encourages younger players to see and be it. The crowds in the arenas of every game I watched were full of families. Young girls and boys were grinning and were waving signs. As the TV cameras panned the crowds, their faces were lit up with eagerness and joy. One journalist in Boston tweeted that the ratio of young girls to the rest of the crowd was higher than any sporting event he had ever seen. This matters.

My children went to CWHL and PWHPA games and know women are phenomenal hockey players. That women are incredible athletes is not news to them. But there are so many Canadians who have not experienced it, or seen it readily available to them. That’s why access is so important. Almost three million people watched the first game and those numbers are nothing to scoff at.

Previously, watching women’s hockey was not easy outside of the world championships or the Olympics. There wasn’t the coverage — with analysis and interviews — in the way that we’ve seen in just over a week. Now, storylines are buzzing and I don’t expect that they will stop. Women’s hockey is ready and waiting for Canadians and that is also part of the story. 

This not only fortifies love for the game, it develops interest and catches new fans. I have opined in the past that Hockey Canada relied heavily on the women’s game to help rebuild the image of hockey in this country. I also knew that women were not being given the chance to play and receive what they deserved. But New Year’s Day at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto and every other game last week felt different. It wasn’t only about the players, staff or fans, or the all-women analyst teams — it was about the hockey. And this type of hockey envelopes fans, players, coaches, media and community into it. This is the league that the women truly deserve and the hockey that we have been waiting for. 

I consider myself lucky to not only be able to cover women’s hockey at this time, but to be able to sit at home and watch it on my off-days as well. Being able to watch the PWHL continue to build and grow is something we should all be proud to witness.

We should revel in that growth, the development of women’s professional sports and most of fall as the hockey story around us continues to be written. And if that also means a trip to Ottawa or Minnesota in the winter months, all the better.