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fannyyann · 1 year

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Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers’ goalie-goading throwback, delivers hits — and wins — when it counts

by Hailey Salvian and Jeremy Rutherford

Matthew Tkachuk put his father in “timeout.”

That’s why Keith Tkachuk, an 18-year veteran of the NHL and one of the league’s best American-born players, wasn’t available to talk about his son’s remarkable run that has taken the Panthers from “biggest disappointment” to one win from the Eastern Conference finals.

On a Toronto radio station in March, the elder Tkachuk called the Panthers “soft.” By many accounts, that assessment was accurate at the time, and the words seemed to light a fire under the team — as did Paul Maurice’s tirade on the bench the same day during a game against the Maple Leafs.

Florida won its next six games and went 6-1-1 down the stretch to qualify for the playoffs.

Now, there’s no time for distractions, and Matthew wants to keep a lid on his pops, who informed The Athletic of his “timeout” via text.

After upsetting the 65-win Bruins in the first round, the Panthers are the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup, leading 3-0 in their second-round series against Toronto with a chance at a sweep Wednesday at FLA Live Arena.

And the 25-year-old Tkachuk — in the midst of another career year that would have been MVP-worthy had it not been for Connor McDavid’s otherworldly season — has led the way, from scoring game-winning goals and delivering rousing speeches in the room, to delivering cross checks and goading goaltenders into fights.

He’s the player people love to hate, and he’s building a following of haters as he pushes the Panthers along in the postseason.

And even though the person who’s been most influential in Matthew’s career isn’t talking, others are. The Athletic spoke with a dozen people who for years have tracked Tkachuk’s brand of hockey — he’s a highly skilled agitator (a modest 6-2, 201 pounds) who opponents hate to play against.

Keith — known as ‘Walt,’ a nickname given to him by Winnipeg Jets teammate Eddie Olczyk because his surname was so similar to former Ranger Walter Tkaczuk — was traded to the Blues in 2001. Matthew, only 3 years old at the time, would start playing hockey with a youth program in St. Louis. Let’s just say he wasn’t a phenom.

Chantal Tkachuk, Matthew’s mom: They thought they were getting this ringer of a kid. We went to his first game and he was terrible. He was by far the worst player on the ice.

But that wouldn’t last long. Tkachuk improved steadily, adding a diverse skillset, and working through minor hockey, the U.S. national team program and the Ontario Hockey League.

Jimmy O’Brien, longtime family friend, owns OB Clark’s bar in St. Louis: They had a goal in their backyard, and 50 pucks would be lying in the driveway. Anytime you pulled up to the back of the house, you had to watch from running over the pucks because the driveway was littered with them.

Jon Benne, longtime family friend and strength trainer: I used to take wrist shots at him, and he’d knock them into the net. So when I see him tip a goal in now, I’ve seen that a million times.

Jordan Janes, St. Louis Junior Blues coach (2009-10): Matthew would do some of these between-the-legs (moves) before anybody was doing that. I would always look over at Keith and smile because in my mind I’m thinking, “Holy s— ,” like this is incredible that a 14-year-old is doing this. But you could tell that Keith, who was a “go to the net hard” type of guy, it drove him crazy.

O’Brien: His father told him, “If you ever do that stuff in a game and it doesn’t work, you won’t get off the bench.”

Taryn Tkachuk, sister: He’s not going to do that stuff just to do it. The through-the-legs goal against Nashville, he was like, “There was no way I could’ve shot that regularly.” He practiced that all growing up, so he knows he’s going to be able to do it.

Rob Simpson, assistant general manager of the London Knights: He would try new things all the time. It speaks to how smart a player he is. He was always trying to be creative in different ways to produce or make plays based on what he is seeing against defenders or what they’ve done against him before. He’s always been a creative, out-of-the-box thinker.

There are elements of Tkachuk’s game that can be traced back to the fact that he is Keith Tkachuk’s son.

Don Granato, Tkachuk’s coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program (2013-15): I think you can give some credit to — if not genetics, then just being around his father over the years.

Chantal Tkachuk: When Keith was still playing, they got to go down to the rink, skate after practice. Some of the players would play around with them.

O’Brien: He was a rink rat. He was always hanging around his dad, always going to his practices.

Barret Jackman, Blues defenseman (2002-15): I remember the coaches would have to come by and say, “Hey Walt, practice was supposed to start 10 minutes ago. Can you get Matthew off the ice?”

Benne: Matthew would be sitting on the bench the whole practice, and Keith would come over and say, “Watch T.J. Oshie. Watch how he goes into that corner and comes out.” Matthew would just be sitting there with a helmet on, just absorbing it all.

O’Brien: It’s hard to get a better education in the hockey world than sitting there with professionals and watching them at a young age.

Chantal Tkachuk: Every night, we always watched hockey. The boys would get up before school and the first thing they would do is turn on NHL Network.

Taryn Tkachuk: That was the only thing we really watched on TV. We never really watched other shows on Disney channel.

Chantal Tkachuk: Keith retired in 2010 and stepped away from his career and took almost five years off. In that time, he totally devoted all his time to youth hockey. That happened to align with the most important developmental years of the boys’ lives.

Janes: Keith knew what it took to get there. He demanded a work ethic out of his boys. Goals or not, assists or not, he just wanted to see you work. If you worked, Keith was happy. He knew if you did that, everything else would come.

O’Brien: One of Walt’s favorite things to say is, “Hey, you didn’t win? Play better!”

Taryn Tkachuk: Oh, he says it all the time. If someone didn’t play as well and maybe they’re complaining, like, “The ref did this or that,” or, “The other team wasn’t letting me do this,” my dad is just like, “Play better!” Nothing else. It’s just “Play better!”

Janes: That quote is the most Keith quote I’ve ever heard.

Growing up, Matthew was always competing with his brother Brady (23), and sister Taryn (20). Whether it was roller hockey, basketball or a made-up game they called “trampoline football.”

Benne: Matthew, Brady and Taryn would be on the trampoline, which was enclosed, and I would throw the football in the air as high as I could into the trampoline. It became an MMA wrestling match to see who got the football.

Taryn Tkachuk: I don’t even know how the game got made up. I just remember it being very physical. Literally whoever had the ball, you were about to get decked.

O’Brien: We were playing a two-on-two basketball game, and there were some of the most violent fouls you’ll ever see in your life. I had a bloody nose when we were done.

Taryn Tkachuk: If we were playing basketball, Matthew would never let me just go in for an easy layup. Of course he was going to foul me.

Jackman: I remember during one of the lockouts, Matthew was 15 at the time, and he skated with some of the NHL guys. I went into the corner with him, thinking I was going to play him hard. He tried to reverse hit me, and then he came out of the corner with the puck on his stick. He didn’t back down, even at 15, and I was in my early 30s.

Chantal Tkachuk: The most somebody hates to lose, that would be him.

Tkachuk committed to play at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program a few years before his first season there. But, at 16 years old, there was a learning curve playing with the national team and in the USHL, an under-20 league. In his first USHL season, he scored only 17 points in 33 games. He would double that production one year later in fewer games.

Granato: We knew of his talent, but in his first year, his production wasn’t there.

Nick Fohr, U.S. NTDP associate coach (2013-15): He wouldn’t shoot it. He literally wanted to show off those hands all the time.

Granato: I would tease him a bit. I’d say, “Hey Matthew, do you like to score?” And he’d say, “Yeah.” And I’d say, “No, you like to stickhandle.” He was so good at it, but I needed him to see that he wasn’t going to be that up-and-down-the-rink player.

Fohr: He wanted to have that agitator piece to him because it was kind of ingrained into him at that point, but he wasn’t big enough or strong enough to do any of that stuff at 16 years old.

Chantal Tkachuk: It was the second year in the program. That was the point where we thought he could make it.

Fohr: He played most of his second year with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, which was an unreal line. Auston was the marked man, and Matthew — after being around his dad — was like, well, “Auston is my center, nobody is touching him.” And he started to become that guy. Any little scrum, he was right in the middle of it to make sure that his teammates were taken care of.

Granato: By the midpoint of the second year, he was playing just like he plays in the NHL right now. He was great in the same areas of the ice, great in the same ways.

In the 2016 Memorial Cup Final, the London Knights were in overtime against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Tkachuk, in his first (and only) season in the OHL, took the puck up the left side, toe-dragged around a defender and scored the game-winning goal.

Aaron Berisha, London Knights teammate: At first, it looked like he was on a harmless rush.

Simpson: Matthew could always elevate at the right times.

Robert Thomas, Knights teammate (2015-16), and family friend: We always joked that Christian Dvorak actually tipped it, but obviously Matthew got all the credit for it. Just a big-time player making a big-time play.

Simpson: It’s not just by coincidence that he’s big in the right moments. He puts in the work.

Fohr: He’s in those moments because it’s just who he is. You saw it on the overtime goal against Boston. He knows somebody’s got to go in there and get the puck, somebody’s got to go screen the goalie.

Simpson: He wasn’t the one who shot it in the net, but if he didn’t have the sense and savvy to pop out and screen the goalie, it doesn’t go in.

Fohr: It’s no surprise that you see him do it in overtime in Game 7 because he does it every shift, every game.

Janes: The way Matthew was (growing up) and the way he is today, he will do what it takes for his team to win a hockey game. Period.

Because of his ability to stir up drama on the ice and (at times) cross the line, Tkachuk is one of the most polarizing players in the league.

Fohr: He’s that guy that everybody hates unless he’s on your team.

Benne: I don’t think Matthew came into the league fearing anybody. He just played with that edge, like, “I’m here, I’ve arrived, and look out!”

Granato: He could stoke a situation and get it stoked and get everybody’s emotions running on overdrive. And then, even in a highly emotional state that he stirred up, he will execute where many, many skilled players cannot.

Fohr: If he’s agitated somebody somehow, now a little bit of their focus is on Matthew and it takes just a little bit of focus off what they’re good at and impacts so much of the game.

Granato: It’s like a diversionary tactic, and a highly effective skill that he brings. He’s always ready to score the goal after he disrupts the situation, where other guys just want to take his head off. He never loses sight of, OK, while you’re trying to do that, I’m going to be scoring a goal.

Benne: He’s just going to play hard. He’s going to hit you, and he expects to get hit himself. If you watch that game against Toronto, he hammered two guys, and then he got hammered. Not whining, that’s the way the game goes. That’s the way he plays. He’s pretty fearless out there, but I think he plays right on the line. That’s where he wants to be.

Thomas: It was in full force in London. He’d always find himself mixing it up. He’s feisty and he’s got all the skill in the world. Some people just have it, and he definitely has it.

Berisha: It’s funny when people play against him and say, “Man, I hate playing against him, he seems terrible.” He’s actually one of the best guys ever.

Taryn Tkachuk: Matthew has this switch. Off the ice, he’s a completely different person: super nice, super fun. Once he steps on the ice, the switch just goes off and he puts on these different goggles and just has this compete level that you don’t even know how to explain.

The most common ways to describe Tkachuk: He’s a throwback. He’s a unicorn. He’s just like Keith … and maybe better.

Eddie Olczyk, TNT analyst, former teammate of Keith (1991-96): You see (Matthew) and it’s like turning back the clock 25, 30 years to when we played with each other in Winnipeg.

O’Brien: Walt played in an extremely physical era, and the way Matthew plays is refreshing because it’s a throwback to how it was all the time.

Janes: One thing Keith taught these boys at a young age was, if you want to score, you’ve got to be around the net. They got that right from Keith. They just took it a step further as far as their skillset goes.

Fohr: It’s just a place he’s not afraid to go to. Some players are. They don’t want to go there because it’s a hard area to play in because the D are big and strong. There’s an art to getting there and doing it the right way and Matthew has mastered it.

O’Brien: When Walt was playing, you’d see a big guy out there and you wouldn’t think a guy like that has deft hands. But Walt had sick hands, especially tipping pucks. And that’s one of Matthew’s strengths, too.

Olczyk: Matthew will make a play and you go, “Well, there’s Walt.” It’s eerie, but it’s not surprising that the boys are a chip off the old block.

Chantal Tkachuk: To this day, they tease me because skating has always been Matthew’s deficiency, so they make fun of the fact that I taught him how to skate. Keith will take credit for everything else.

Granato: Matthew plays the same kind of style as his dad. He just does it with more talent.

Fohr: To be a thorn in the side of the opponents and then have that elite ability on top of it, that’s pretty special.

Simpson: It’s very hard to find hockey sense that is that elite but also comes with the poise to make the play when it matters most.

Taryn Tkachuk: He’s literally doing every single aspect of what different players bring in a hockey game. It just makes him so unique.

Benne: Matthew doesn’t care what the media writes about him. Matthew doesn’t care if the fans boo him. Boston is going to hate him now, and Toronto is going to hate him after this series. But that’s what drives him. He wants to perform. He wants to put on a show. But more important than anything, he just wants to win.

#matthew tkachuk #for those without an atheltic subscription #because this profile is golden

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grantmentis · 4 months

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are there good journalists on the woho beat you'd recommend?

Sadly a big problem we have is that a lot of very good reporters end up not being able to stay in womens hockey for a long time because a lot of outlets haven’t had a dedicated space for it, and so much is changing, but here is who I think is the best that are consistently on in no order

Here are my recommendations!

Erica Ayala and her outlet Black Rosie Media I think is THE standard in women’s hockey. Ayala had done bylines for women’s hockey in various outlets and also appeared on a few different locked on networks which can be found in muckrack here

The Ice Garden is the longest running women’s hockey blog. It’s a rotating cast and I like some authors way more than others but I think if you’re just looking for start and probably has the most extensive coverage. It’s one of the only sources to get English language coverage of international league play and a lot of times players or former players will guess write. I am also a fan of the analytical work that An Nguyen has done, for example this article. Some stuff is paywalled, some isn’t, some is paywalled then becomes available later.

Kyle Cushman has recently been on the PWHL beat specifically, including some more long form / deeper look articles as well as being at practices with information, and I’ve enjoyed his work. He mainly writes for The Score

Christine Roger of Radio Canada is probably the main French Canadian reporter for the PWHL and team Canada

Hailey Salvian of The Athletic is usually pretty credible, tho it’s very clear that she is very careful not to be critical of her inside sources in the PWHL and I think had sometimes been a little bit of a PR arm she’s not going to say something straight up false or anything and is pretty in line with hockey reporters on that stuff. That said the athletic is usually paywalled and I really do not like the athletic as a paper overall just from a “owned by the New York times who is constantly spreading transphobic misinfo.” But if you just follow her socials and stuff you’ll get the breaking news and she’s usually accurate there.

Not a journalist but if you’re just looking for an aggregate of roster transactions and rumors pwhlreport on most platforms will do that for you, I’d say they’re accurate a solid 85% of the time and it’s little opinions or anything just who what when where and why

More statistical analysis than news but I enjoy Giants in the Crease for all things goaltenders and appreciate that they do a good job with the ncaa and international goalies as well

Women’s sports highlights on twitter will get you literally every single women’s hockey highlight from every tournament ever I swear it rules. Unfortunately am unsure if they’re on other platforms

I don’t think he’ll be writing anytime soon because of his new job, but if you want to get into the data world, the PWHL Montreal director of analytics Mikael Nahabedian has a substack page

EDIT: Karissa Donkin of CBC is a recent addition to the best I’ve enjoyed!

These are just some I like that I think do a good job of keeping it straight. Unfortunately I am limited by my own language barrier and haven’t found really anyone consistently covering the SDHL or other leagues in the English language that I’ve enjoyed, but if any of my followed from other countries have their own writers who I may be missing because of this language barrier please share

#asks

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vampseraph · 2 months

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kaveh from genshin impact npts 🙏

--@llocket

kaveh npts!

names

antony, darius, darian, ramses, hezekiah, laszlo, zenon, amon, arlen, amedeo, finch, raphael, melichor, senan, antoine, alvis, favian, fabian, salvian, aurelian

2. pronouns

art/arts, plan/plans, ae/aes, ki/kir, kav/kavs, gold/golds, ven/vens, light/lights, shine/shines, de/design, gild/gilds, aur/aurs, au/aus, kae/kaes

3. titles

the renowned architect, the empyrean reflection, the light of kshahrewar, prn who designs, the empathetic draughtsman, the sensitive aesthete, the genius craftsman

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poulin-29 · 2 months

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https://x.com/hailey_salvian/status/1765565129712681066?s=46

Thank you Hailey Salvian

#hockey #pwhl #pwhl toronto #sarah nurse

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thepassionthatunitesusall · 5 months

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Details from PWHL press conference today (with Stan Kasten and Jayna Hefford)

New website to launch in next week or so

Jerseys (which were released today) were designed with a vintage look in mind

No timeline for start date, but games will be played on weekdays and weekends

Possibility the season starts without logos or team names

No plans to hire a commissioner

Most, if not all games, will be on linear networks

Rule book will be similar to the NHL's, with a few changes

To start, the league will be using the AHL's on-ice officials

NHL has been great at providing advice and guidance

Info courtesy of Ian Kennedy, Hailey Salvian, and Kenzie Lalonde on twitter/x

#hockey #women's hockey #pwhl

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simmyfrobby · 11 months

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may i ask what are your favorite sports podcasts to listen to 👉👈 i'm always on the hunt for some new ones! thank you <3

Yea of course. I love talking podcasts & recs are also always welcome.

For hockey I listen to 3 podcasts:

1. The Athletic Hockey Show for news. (I skip the Hailey Salvian episodes)

2. The Hockey PDOcast for analysis. (recommended to me by @songsandswords)

3. 32 Thoughts for interviews (the Bergeron interview is my particular favourite)

For motorsports I've been listening to the same 2 podcasts for years now:

1. The Race Moto GP (which is great only if you skip all the episodes with Toby Moody)

2. Missed Apex F1 Podcast (I try to follow these live on YouTube if I can, ad blocker is my friend)

Misc.:

My favourite non-sports podcast is Comfort Blanket by Cheese and Pickle (linked the Dawson's Creek episode because I love it. The Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy episode is also very good)

For background noise I sometimes listen to BBC In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg (linked an ep on Shakespeare's sonnets) & Louis Theroux (love of my life) also did a few podcasts that I really like.

#Theroux actually has a new podcast series that i havent gotten around to listening to yet #but either way #the old stuff is v good #missed apex is fairly anti-verstappen #fair warning

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arcadiiian · 10 months

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this was my first artfight attack for @somanykingdoms :) featuring their dnd character salvian!

#artfight #blood tw #digital art #dnd art #dnd character #dnd #illustration #queer art #trans art #men being so normal in each others directions #arcadiiian art

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prismhockey · 8 months

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According to Hailey Salvian of The Athletic, the New York PWHL team has signed forward Abby Roque.

#hockey #hockey news #womens hockey #pwhl #abby roque

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annieqattheperipheral · 5 months

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Hailey Salvian, The Athletic: PWHL team name delays

youtube

NHL told PWHL there's not enough time, just wait and start for 24-25 season

But PWHL said no we have a commitment to our players, we'll start without logos in Jan 2024

Example of usual NHL timeline: Seattle Kraken

1 year to decide on team name and design logo with Adidas

14 months to manufacture jerseys

Normal NHL timeline for revamping a team's jersey, or change socks or helmets:

18 months notice needed

So you can understand that building an entire league in 6 months, it's not feasible to do the above as well; the branding for 6 teams in 6 months.

PWHL decided to slow this part down, launch without logos, and take their time with the branding and not get them wrong.

#pwhl #pwhl toronto #pwhl ottawa #pwhl montreal #pwhl minnesota #pwhl new york #pwhl boston #Youtube #seattle kraken

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myowndesertplaces · 10 months

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State of women's hockey in North America as of July 4, 2023

I've seen a lot of misinformation and bias on social media regarding what's happening in Women's Hockey this week, and I think it's important to summarize the relevant information. Things are fluid, and as more information comes out this post might change. I will try to provide links to the info. Other than links to The Athletic, the articles should be free. There will be some links to twitter, but only to share facts and not opinions.

Before I do, some semantics: to distinguish from the players of the PWHPA and the ownership group of the new league, I will be referring to the players and their union as the PWHPA, and the league and ownership group of the new league as the PWHL. I know this is not the official name of the league at this time, but I want to distinguish between the players and ownership. Plus saying, "the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises," over and over is tedious.

Second, this will require knowledge of the general history of the PHF and PWHPA, as well as the big players in both ownership groups. Maybe I'll write a summary of that history later but this is already going to be really long.

On Thursday June 29 around 8 pm EST reports began surfacing on Twitter that both the PWHPA and PHF were on conference calls with their individual ownership and leadership groups. Shortly after that, news broke that the PWHL was purchasing the PHF. This was not a merger, but the purchase of "certain PHF assets." This was surprising for several reasons:

Up to a few days earlier, the PHF was still signing players for the upcoming season. The salary cap had been doubled and some players had signed for $100k+. This included new NCAA graduates and former PWHPA members. The increase in salaries came from a $25M, 3-year investment deal from PHF owners.

In April 2022, the PWHPA voted against a collaboration with the PHF, and seemed poised to focus on their own league and mission.

A June 11, 2023 email between Jayna Hefford and the PWHPA was leaked to the media suggesting "the league was finalizing the CBA, standard players agreement, and group commercial licensing agreement." No mention of a buyout or "One League" was noted.

The buyout ended the PHF and all PHF contracts were voided. A severance package including pay and health benefits has been offered to players, but still hundreds of players and staff lost their jobs with no guarantee of employment in the new league. Rumors of voided VISAs and deportations for international players are inaccurate. Guest VISAs appear to be in the works.

Erica Ayala reported that the buyout had been in the works for 6 months. PHF commissioner Reagan Carey said that the league planned to go forward with their season even if the buyout fell through, which rejects the speculation that the PHF was close to bankruptcy. It does not appear that the players in the PHF (or the PWHPA for that matter) were aware of this buyout. Also according to a tweet by Ayala, Boynton and other members of the PHF ownership groups are not involved with the new league.

It should be noted that it took 15+ hours before either the PHF or the PWHPA made any formal statement about the buyout, and neither statement included any additional information about the buyout itself. At this time, how much the PHF was purchased for and which assets the new league plans to retain and use are unknown. There is plenty of speculation and rumors, but it's just that: speculation.

At the same time reports were coming out about the buyout, the PWHPA started the voting process to ratify the CBA of their new league.* The voting process was held through Sunday, and was approved that night. Though the CBA isn't public at this time, Hailey Salvian reported that sources (aka the players and Hefford) said the CBA includes salary ranges, health benefits, maternity leave, retirement, relocation fees, housing stipends, workplace conditions, road per diem, and a lot more. Ian Kennedy of the Hockey News claims to have a copy and has been releasing information over the last day. It's the first CBA in professional women's hockey in North America. It's also uncommon for women's leagues in North America to start with a CBA (neither the WNBA or NWSL did). The deal is apparently for 8 years.

Reports that the PWHPA was not an official union despite filing as one in February 2023 in the US has been debunked by multiple reporters. If a company voluntarily recognizes your union, you don't have to file with the NLRB, and that appears to be the case here.

Also of note, the PHF players who lost their jobs this week were not part of the voting process as they were not part of the union. However, any player who signs a contract for the new league will be under the new CBA. On Sunday, a PHF player leadership committee that included 11 veteran players from all 7 teams released a statement which included that they "were empowered to be entering a league with a union and a CBA." This statement has since been shared on social media by several PHF players. This coalition is not the PHF players association.

Melissa Burgess from the Victory Press has released quotes from Jayna Hefford from an upcoming article to be released later in the week. Hefford denies that PWHPA players will get preferential treatment over contracts or were promised spots. However, how players will make a team (draft or free agent signings, etc) is unknown as of this morning.

At this time, here is what we know about the new league based on sources (though nothing is official yet): the first season plans to begin in January 2024 with 6 teams with preseason beginning in November. According to Salvian and Kennedy, each team will consist of 23 players plus reserves. The league minimum salary is $35,000 and will raise 3% every year. No more than 9 players per team can be signed for the league minimum. In the first year, at least 6 players per team must be signed for at least 3 years at $80k or more per year. Reserves will have a $15,000 stipend. Kennedy also breaks down bonuses and per diems in his article.

Where teams will be located, what "PHF assets" will be used in the new league, whether there will be a draft or pretty much anything else about how the league will operate at this point is Twitter speculation.

That's where things stand. I'm going to write a separate post about my opinions and some general speculation on why this went down the way it did and where I think things are going, but I don't think it belongs here.

I recommend checking out The Broadscast podcast. Eleni Demestihas, former Ice Garden writer and current women's hockey agent, provides incite into what was going on behind the scenes for some players.

Also PLEASE try to separate people's opinions on Twitter, even hockey journalists, from actual news. It's been bad the last 3 days.

*Stan Kasten stated in a new Azzi article that the buyout and CBA vote were "two separate things."

#phf #pwhpa #women's hockey #woho #i have feelings about all this but i tried to leave them out

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grantmentis · 10 months

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Some details on the Pwhpa collective bargaining agreement can be found here, the hockey news is not my favorite source but the athletic one is paywalled so I figured I’d just link this one for those who may not have access

Anyway some thoughts, but please note while I have tried to read every article I have not read the documents themselves

What I like:

- training camp stipends

-six contracts that have to be 80k or over

-28 players

-no more than nine players can make the league minimum 35k

-certain flexibility in the average salary based on player movement and trade

-stipends for housing / food / relocation / lease breaking (the two above point leads me to believe player movement by front offices will be way more common in this league than we’ve seen previously)

-increase in growth built in to not just salaries but also things like training camp stipends

What I don’t like:

-55k being the average salary requirement, if that is enforced, when you have roster requirements that is essentially a salary cap (assuming it’s strict enforcement) and not a particularly high one which. That SAID I do like the formatting of this instead of a standard salary cap as it prevents team from top loading salaries (especially with the minimum number of players that can make the minimum salary and a certain number that need to make 80k.) this is one of those things that would bother me less if it wasn’t an 8 year cba (I wish we had no salary cap or anything of the sort ideally but I do not expect it for new North American leagues)

-contracts not guaranteed/ can be terminated (want to see exact language before I fully comment on this tho, as I believe I heard there are restrictions on this so that one can’t just do it in retaliation or anything, but it still makes me nervous)

-increase in growth built in…both a positive and a negative to me, due to the term of the CBA.

-from what I’ve heard, no revenue split

What I’m curious to hear about further:

-facility requirements. This is why a lot of Pwhpa players left the phf, and also something a lot of phf players fought to improve the past few years which is why we saw some facility changes. It’s an important issue to a lot of players and I have to imagine it’s probably in the CBA but haven’t actually heard anyone talk about it. This is also interesting as the league has six months to figure out where they’re playing that’ll be massively important to it. We know Pwhpa players talked about scouting faculties a few weeks back as well

-salvian of the athletic reporter there was maternity leave, pregnancy benefits, nursing accommodations but haven’t seen anyone expand on that in an article

-we know trades, waivers, and draft are transactions included in the CBA but don’t know: if there are no trade / move clauses, if a player is drafted but chooses not to sign how long their rights are held for. I’m going under the assumption that there isn’t going to be much restricted free agents / it’s not an nhl or nwsl thing where when you’re drafted the team holds your rights for a billion years unless they trade or relinquish it, but in previous leagues whether that be phf or cwhl we’ve seen drafts be mostly ceremonial where the team who drafted you gets maybe two weeks of exclusive talks before you’re free to negotiate with anyone. Will we see something similar here - and will that change from the inaugural draft to next years draft where you’re likely going back to graduating ncaa players

-we heard relocation assistance/stipend is offered, does that come with visa assistance for international players?

-this isn’t necessarily a cba thing but also could be? So I’m going to put it here. There is undeniably a lot of national team players that will be in this league and taking up a high percentage of roster spots. Will the league stop during international tournaments as we’ve seen previously or will we get more what the nwsl is doing this year and allowing temporary contracts (maybe like the 10 day contracts mentioned)

#it’s entirely possible one of these got covered and slipped through tho. I am watching baseball and basketball all summer

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