Before the PWHL launched in 2023, many other women’s hockey leagues in North America had come and gone. While they may no longer exist, in the last century, many advancements and strides have been made to get the PWHL to its current position.
Laying the Foundation for Women’s Professional Hockey Leagues
The Premier Hockey Federation (formerly The National Women’s Hockey League) started in 2015 and was the first league in North America to offer its athletes salaries. There were four inaugural teams– Boston Pride, Metropolitan Riveters, Buffalo Beauts, and Connecticut Whale.
The Beginnings
The league was founded by Dani Rylan. She played for Northeastern University from 2010 to 2012. Moreover, she grew up playing with boys and then on a men’s college club team before jumping to Northeastern. After only playing on women’s teams twice, Rylan saw that after college, that was likely it for most women’s hockey players. Unless they were highly talented and could represent their countries at the Olympics or play overseas, nothing sustainable was happening in North America for these post-collegiate women hockey players.
A league in Canada, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), had been in operation since 2007. However, the league was a nonprofit, so the players were not paid a salary. They would get money from endorsements and other bonuses that may come along. Unfortunately, nothing was guaranteed that hockey could be their full-time job. They also had no teams in the United States, which hindered American involvement.
The First Season, and the Future
The PHF’s first game was in 2015, and its players earned between $10,000 USD and $25,000 USD. Significant sponsors were in the league, like Dunkin Donuts. Players earned 15% off of their jersey sales. A 50/50 revenue split added up to 26% more money for the players. Furthermore, Rylan was the first-ever commissioner for the league.
“The NFL guys were like: ‘Wait, you have a 50/50 revenue split? How the hell do you guys have that?’” former PHF player Kayleigh Fratkin said to Sportsnet in 2016. “I think as a player you may not immediately know what it means or how big it is, but you talk to other athletes, they’re kind of like: ‘Wow.’ The fact our commissioner’s willing to do that, I think it shows that she wants the league to grow and she also wants the players to benefit. As a player, that’s absolutely huge. And it shows you a lot about what Dani is trying to do as the figurehead of this league. I think people need to understand that she’s not tearing down women’s hockey. She’s helping women’s hockey, and this year is proof in the pudding.”
Before the league ceased operations, they had added teams in Minnesota, Toronto, and Montreal.
Many viewed Rylan as a villainous character who harmed women’s hockey and inhibited its growth. The players are paid minimum wage, and some have to work other jobs. Still, the league grew over the next eight years, with a bigger salary cap, private investors purchasing and investing in teams, television deals, and other business ventures, which saw it succeed financially.
The Adversity from Building a Pro Women’s Hockey League
While it seemed as though everything was growing and chugging along smoothly, there were things attempting to derail it. Some professional players opposed the idea and voiced their displeasure. Among those players was Alex Azzi or Hilary Knight, who won the inaugural league championship with the Boston Pride, but never returned.
Knight discusses the league doing a good job in serving its purpose of allowing women’s hockey players to continue playing in a professional space, but that it didn’t do a good job in serving it’s higher skilled, more elite players. Knight’s negative comments came from the position of wanting the league to work closely with the NHL. Pulling inspiration from how the NBA works and invests in the WNBA, Knight and other top players saw the potential to grow in that direction rather than entirely independent, which caused her, her Team USA teammates, and players from Team Canada to boycott the 2019-2020 season.
New People in Charge
Rylan ultimately stepped down as commissioner in 2020 as the league attempted to restructure. After she left, the league went from the NWHL to the PHF.
“I didn’t necessarily disagree with the concept of restructuring but I didn’t agree with the timing of it,” Rylan said to The Athletic in 2023. “Before a COVID year and with only one other ownership group at the table, it felt forced. If we were going to restructure, it made sense to have more influential voices than just one. And we should have more time to find the right commissioner to take over. It didn’t transpire as I had envisioned my stepping down.”
Rylan shared how the BTM Group, the league’s new owners, didn’t like her involvement as commissioner and owner of a few teams. They asked her to step down in 2021 and did not want her present at the Isobel Cup Championship in Lake Placid.
Another league was formed after this, the PWHPA. Headlined by names like Knight and Kendall Coyne-Schofield, they played in exhibition-like games around North America to find a buyer for their concept to create a new league, the PWHL.
How it Ended, from Rylan’s Perspective
Once the PWHL was created, the PHF ceased it’s operations.
“I think the influential people who took over the league were misled to believe that I was the big bad wolf and that I was the reason the NHL wasn’t involved, that I was the reason the PWHPA wouldn’t play in the league, and that I was the reason that women’s hockey was bifurcated,” Rylan said to The Athletic. “I think they thought that as soon as I was removed that the NHL would run in and that the PWHPA players would join the league and that everybody would start singing “Kumbaya.” That hasn’t happened.”
While the PHF had a dismal and unsatisfying end, it should still be celebrated for the trailblazing it did. It created a stepping stone to the league women’s hockey has now. It’s creation and growth may have never been possible without a league like the PHF.
Main photo: Daniel DeLoach/Utica Observer-Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
