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it looks like the n is trying to force someone’s hand here

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Rylan is now echoing what Jayna Hefford said in July upon being named the CWHL’s interim commissioner. The former Canadian national team star called the formation of one league “a priority” and projected it could happen within two years.

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SPORTING NEWS: The idea of #OneLeague and the NHL’s involvement seems like it is an inescapable issue right now for women’s hockey. Do you feel one league is the best path forward?

JOCELYNE LAMOUREUX-DAVIDSON: Absolutely. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone on our national team or on Canada’s national team who would think differently. I think when you look at the big picture, you have to look at the growth and ask how you grow the fan base. Having the best players in the world play in two different leagues is not going to help that.

I think Gary Bettman has been supportive of women’s hockey and the CWHL has been very open and upfront about wanting the NHL to take over. You need that on both ends, obviously. The support of the NHL would be imperative. The WNBA is a great example of that. You need the best players in one league.

I think if you can create one league that gives young girls an opportunity to watch and give them role models, you’re going to grow the sport and grow the fan base. It’s really important for this sport to take the next step. There has to be one league.

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(Sorry if this is messy I'm posting on mobile) "The 41-year-old from Kingston, Ont., says finding a way to unite the CWHL and the U.S.-based NWHL into one premier North American women’s hockey league is a priority for her. “That’s the goal: to get to a point where we have all the players in one professional league,” Hefford told The Canadian Press. “Without too much detail, I think the NHL being involved is the best-case scenario. “How soon that can happen ... I don’t know if that’s a one-year thing, a two-year thing. “I just want to see the sport at a place where I think the athletes deserve it to be. The players have the power. If they want to be in the same league, then we’ve got to find a way to make that work."

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Link to tweet: https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1014526754793369600?s=19

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#oneleague

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I’d like to sit down with our commissioner and talk, as well as their commissioner and talk. I’ll reach out to some players in their league. I’d love to see us make progress there, maybe we can start with an exhibition game. Just something to get the conversation going. I really believe there should be one league, it’s better for the sport.

Amanda Kessel (via bestkesselrun)

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What’s going on in professional hockey?

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Liz Knox liked

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For now, playing women’s hockey professionally in North America isn’t lucrative enough to be a full-time job, save for the U.S. and Canadian Olympians who earn money from their national federations. In the aftermath of the U.S. winning gold at the Winter Games, several players have used their platform on a whirlwind victory tour to make the case for one professional league where there are currently two competitors: the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and National Women’s Hockey League.

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I don’t play in the CWHL or the NWHL so I have no personal preference. For women’s hockey to continue its traction is to have one league, whether that’s a merger or an entirely new league that supports both the U.S. and Canada in one league, I think is going to be really important in the next season to somehow make that happen.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson

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cassiecampbell77 Not sure if this is fate material, but check out the GWG from the @thecwhl and @nwhl.zone finals this year. A sure sign that doing what’s right for the game is meant to be.

via instagram

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At this point it’s more than a movement.

Cassie Campbell has talked about it, and then left her position at the CWHL. Players in both the NWHL and CWHL have tweeted and talked about it. Even Gary Bettman has talked about it. If the adage is ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire,’ there’s plenty of smoke.

It is the wish among those involved in women’s hockey to see one professional league in North America that sees the best players competing with and against each other every year.

It used to be this way. Up until three years ago, the CWHL was the only North American league around for women who wanted to play after university. The NWHL came along with salaries and split the landscape.

A lot of people in women’s hockey would agree that the NWHL was necessary. It moved the game to American markets that were ignored, and, more importantly, gave a push to the status quo. The NWHL forced the CWHL forward, and vice versa. There has been more progression in the last three years than in the eight previous years the CWHL existed as the only option.

But those people now are calling for one league.

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Much has been said recently about the need for the CWHL and its rival, the NWHL, to unify and bring together the top talent in women’s hockey. Campbell-Pascall said just that earlier this month, calling on the commissioners of both leagues to come back to the table and negotiate. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman expressed a similar sentiment in February.

Hextall agrees, and said those outside the league aren’t the only ones who feel that way.