On October 7th, the Chicago Blackhawks opened their 2015-16 campaign in front of a sold-out crowd at the United Center. In front of 20,000 fervent fans, the Blackhawks celebrated their 2015 Stanley Cup win by raising their sixth championship banner all-time and their third in the last six seasons. The on-ice ceremony featured an elaborate video displayed on the ice, speeches, and dramatic player introductions. Fans were given light-up bracelets to add to the theatrics.
Four days later, history was made 850 miles in Chelsea Piers Connecticut hockey rink, a place that normally hosts youth and high school sporting events. Players of the Connecticut Whale and the visiting New York Riveters made history by kicking off the inaugural season of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), the first women’s hockey league to pay their players.
NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan
Salaries will be low: the salary cap is $270,000 per team which averages out to approximately $15,000 a year, almost the same amount a full-time minimum wage worker will earn this year. Players in the NWHL are not able to make a full living off the low salary, and most NWHL players hold full time jobs outside of hockey. By comparison, the NHL league minimum is $750,000 a year per player.
Although the salary is low, this is much better than what players of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League go through. In the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, players have to pay $350 to compete for the league championship, the Clarkson Cup. The women also have to pay for most of their hockey equipment.
After scoring the overtime goal to help the Boston Blades win their second Clarkson Cup in three years, Janine Weber was asked by the Hockey Hall of Fame to donate her hockey stick to be put on the display. There was one big problem: Weber only had two sticks at the time. And one was broken. Now with the New York Riveters, Janine Weber and other NWHL players will now receive health insurance and help obtaining work visas and finding housing.
NWHL player Hilary Knight practicing with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League
U.S. National Team star Hilary Knight, 26, knows the odds are stacked against the league. In a New York Times article, Knight said “If it fails, it fails. But at least we tried something different.” League commissioner and co-founder Dani Rylan, 28, is more confident in the league’s success. “I’m very aware there’s a lot to prove,” Rylan said in an ESPN interview. “The product will prove itself on the ice,” Rylan promises. Rylan also believes that the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, will soon jump on board.
So, what does this mean for all the young players who line up before and after games to meet players? What does the National Women’s Hockey League mean for all the proud parents sharing pictures of their little hockey starlet with the caption “Future NWHL Draft pick?” It means when those young players grow up and graduate college, they’ll have a league of their own. It means those proud parents can watch their children take the ice to play for the Isobel Cup, the NWHL’s league trophy named after Lord Stanley’s daughter. Hopefully, it means that one the best athletes in the world will be able to devote their time and energy to the sport they love. But right now NWHLers are just focused on inspiring a generation of young girls to become as passionate about the sport as they are. And winning the Isobel Cup, of course.