![]() ![]() Toronto also brought back a returner in Emma Woods, signing her to a one-year deal. I’m especially excited to see what Levis can do, after a huge career with the Buckeyes culminating in a NCAA Championship run last season (where they narrowly lost to the University of Wisconsin). Both are on two-year deals, and all of a sudden the Whitecaps are looking like a team with quite some depth in the forward corps for the foreseeable future. The Whitecaps were the busiest team this past week, signing two players - introducing rookie Paetyn Levis out of Ohio State, and bringing back ROY contender Natalie Snodgrass. Not sure any of this matters anymore but I already wrote this entire newsletter before the announcement… That is more of a slap in the face to me than any normal merger could ever have been, because it shows those at the top for what they truly are: a bunch of hypocrites playing a game those on the ice could not have cared less about. And a league that trumpeted so much growth and positivity just let its players down in the worst way. All of this feels like the exact opposite of growing the game, instead turning into some sort of rigged chess board where all the pawns - the players - have been unceremoniously dumped from the board. Now, they may even be forced into a CBA they didn’t even get to vote on.Ī movement that supposedly valued labor is doing none of that with those who aren’t on “their side” of the fence. In essence, players and agents demanding better contract terms also seemed to have this handed to them as a sort of punishment, a move that reeks of union busting on the PHF’s part (and if so, what delicious irony that the PW is now the one calling the shots). Dropping an emergency town hall late on a Thursday, just before a major holiday, stunning all these players who thought things were business as usual advising them that in fact, they no longer have the contracts they were banking on to lease a home or arrange for transport, and time is running out rapidly for them to find another league to play in making sure they knew that even though they were on solid footing with the PHF, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association is in charge now, and they’ll remind you who plays second fiddle. Moreover, there is an element of cruelty to this that cannot be overlooked. No one’s hands are clean here, and everyone is left wondering what the point is at the end of the day if there isn’t more competition and instead… there is less. They deserved transparency, and communication, and respect - all things they have received in varying amounts over the Federation’s eight-year history, and received exactly none of on Thursday evening. There’s a lot that can be said about what this means for the “level” of women’s hockey competition, but what I will say is this: the players and staff who comprised the PHF deserved so much better. People who have changed the standard for what a pro women’s hockey team looks like and how it interacts with the media and with fans, are now stranded. That’s to say nothing about the coaches, GMs, social media managers, equipment managers, athletic trainers and other staff who now have no clue if they have jobs in this sport anymore. Forced to once again face an uncertain fate. Those who thought their professional futures were set are now reportedly going to be pushed into fewer roster spots, forced to compete with players on national teams who are already familiar to coaches and GMs. Those who have uprooted their lives, signed for two seasons, pinned down day jobs and made plans for their visas and let their families know how awesome of an opportunity this was going to be. So much is unknown at this time, and much has been reported already - none of it being fair or beneficial to the 120-plus players at so many different points in their professional careers. ![]() Immediately, Twitter flooded with confusion and excitement - excitement that turned into anxiety and then anger as developments indicated that every PHF player’s contract would be voided (which can be construed as normal) and PWHPA players would be given first priority, despite the PHF supposedly being the “foundation” for the new entity (which is not normal, or at least should not be). At the time the news dropped, the players were unaware and found out with the rest of us. ![]()
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