(Toronto) For as long as we’ve been talking about, women’s hockey will finally have a single professional league with six teams, including one in Montreal, which will begin operations in January 2024 with a 24-game schedule.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF) – the name of this circuit – was officially launched Tuesday morning during a well-attended videoconference, which lasted more than an hour.
The league will have two other teams on Canadian soil, in Ottawa and Toronto. The other three will be based in the United States, one in the New York area, one in Boston, and one in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
According to Stan Kasten, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers and member of the LPHF board of directors, the league schedule will begin in November starting with the 2024-25 season and will have 32 games instead of 24.
If we know the identity of the six founding cities, many other details remain to be announced. This is among other things the case of the names of the six teams, the building – or buildings – where they will play their local matches as well as the identity of the people who will occupy the role of general manager, or general manager.
On this subject, Jayna Hefford, senior vice-president of hockey operations for the LPHF, indicated during the videoconference that the league hopes to name these officers and/or officers by Friday.
In a press release, LPHF officials said teams will begin building their roster during an initial free agent recruiting period that begins September 1 and runs through September 10. september.
Each of the six formations will be able to hire three players by offering them standard player contracts. It should be noted that players currently playing in the NCAA programs or within U Sports, the Canadian equivalent of the NCAA, or in their final year, will not be eligible for this preliminary recruitment period.
The majority of the league’s “pioneer players” will be selected in a draft scheduled to take place on September 18. In addition, any player wishing to participate in the 2023-24 LPHF season must declare their candidacy for the draft before September 3.
Each team will have the opportunity to sign a maximum of 20 standard player contracts before the start of training camps for the 2023-24 season, which are due to start on November 13. The contracts will, for now at least, be for a maximum of three seasons.
According to Hefford, up to 28 players will be able to participate in training camps but teams will be made up of a maximum of 23 players.
According to the official statement, the league is sponsored by business leaders and philanthropists Mark and Kimbra Walter, and is governed by a board of directors on which sits, among others, former tennis player Billie Jean King. Walter is the owner and chairman of the Dodgers board.
In addition, Brian Burke, who has held numerous leadership positions with teams in the National Hockey League, will be the executive director of the Players Association.
“Today we look forward to a bright future for the LPHF,” Hefford said in the official statement.
“Never before has women’s sport been met with so much excitement and expectation, and with the launch of this league, the best players in the world will have the opportunity to reach new heights,” added Hefford, winner of four Olympic medals. Olympic gold with Canada, between 2002 and 2014.
