The first item on my list is an interview that was done with the commissioner of the NWHL, Dani Rylan, in which no questions were completely answered about the return of the 200 boycotting players. She said about the PWHPA, “They know we are willing and eager to have a conversation with them, but unfortunately they have refused to communicate with us at all. We will keep trying.” Rylan, D. (2019, Sep 9) Q&A With NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan from iceguardians.com
Item number two come from ESPN.com. It discusses the creation of the PWHPL (Professional Women’s Hockey Players League) and what they women who are part of it wish to accomplish from. Also discussed are the rising tensions between the NWHL and the PWHPL. Alyssa Gagliardi, who is part of the the PWHPL, was quoted as saying, “The resources we got in college are what you wish you had when you graduated. Those are the resources no league to date has been able to provide consistently. We’re not asking for millions by any means, just something to live off of. Plus those resources.” Gagliardi, A (2019, Sep 20) Sorting Out The Current Landscape of Professional Women’s Hockey from ESPN.com.
This tweet by Hilary Knight is my next item. Hilary and others like Canadian goaltender Shannon Szabados have both tweeted the same image, message and hashtag (#forthegame) at the start of the sit-out at the beginning of May. Per a tweet by Katie Strang on May 2, the avoidance of the word boycott is purposeful, as the ladies “don’t want this to be seen as a year of waiting around or simply sitting out but rather a year driven by purpose” (Strang, Katie. 2019, May 02. 8:15 am)
Popsugar certainly wasn’t the place I thought that I’d find my fourth item. The article goes into great detail about the 2018 Olympics and the general feeling of elation that all hockey lovers felt with team USA’s gold medal win. It also taps into the struggles between the NWHL and the PWHPL. It tells what the players who are currently not playing are doing with their time. Maggie Ryan wrote “setbacks have culminated in the drive, pushed by the players themselves, for a viable, sustainable league on their own terms and the opportunity to show the world what they’re capable of at the same time.” Ryan, M (2019, Sept 13. Popsugar, from the article After an Electrifying Olympics, Why Women’s Hockey Stars Are Still Fighting For a Place to Play.
Lastly, I will link an interview will Amanda Kessel. In the interview she discusses the challenges that the women face by playing professionally in a league that is not financially viable for them. Her salary, one of the top in the league, was 8,000 per year. “I think a minimum was $2,500 in our league this year and that’s where people are losing money. It’s because they’re working so they can’t take off work, and then they have to buy their own flight to a game.” Amanda Kessel was talking about the lowest paid in the league, in the 2018 season. Kessel, A (2019, May 3. CBC.ca)
