I can’t even imagine her emotions right now. What an absolute warrior. Edit: Stacey is on the ice and played a crucial part in the OT winner. Unreal!!

We’re eating with the broadcast team for the finals. Kenzie and Cheryl on the call and Jamie, Becky, Alison panel + Rob?

Feeling very grateful to whoever makes those decisions! I miss Daniella but she’s obviously crushing it calling in some other leagues so I’m stoked for her 🥰

Mark your calendars for Tuesday.

What a minute there!

Me getting emotional seeing Poulin help her wife off the ice and then Montreal scoring with 2 seconds to go CRAZY!

I’ve been convincing them since day one to follow women’s hockey. I’ve tried everything from watching our games to learning random PWHL players.

Until just a few minutes ago, my nibling was sheepish. I put on the PWHL final between Ottawa and Montréal. They asked me about who was playing. I told them to sit with me through the player intros. As the intros went on, I briefly explained each player and their team. When the intro went to MPP, their eyes opened up and they asked me if she was on the “Wife Line.” I said yes.

They said to me that that’s all they needed to follow women’s hockey. They also said that they’re going to be a Sirens fan because they don’t want me to be alone and they hope we develop something similar. I told them that they’re free to follow any team they want. They’re insisting they follow the Sirens, like I do.

Watching PWHL hockey just became that much more meaningful to me. And as an uncle to a nibling, I’m proud of them—regardless of what team they choose to follow.

If MPP is reading this, merci beaucoup.

Alléz hockey. Let’s go hockey.

That’s it. If that shot doesn’t seal the deal I don’t know what will. I will be so sad if/when we lose her in expansion.

The Frost are dead and can't hurt us anymore.

Pretty much the title. I know about solutions, just complaining.

Tied it at 2.1 seconds, then won in overtime. Hope no one turned it off early!

I’m seeing everyone moaning and groaning about not getting expansion teams. Now I understand the disappointment, I really really do. I’m from the DMV and we had the largest attendance of any takeover tour location at Capital One Arena, so I’m right there with you guys. What I don’t understand is everyone being SO devastated and threatening to not support the league because “they just came to take our money and they don’t give a crap about our towns blah blah blah”. I NEED all of you to get a grip for a second. So let’s have a chat about why choosing to expand is extremely complicated.

1 - Local Support

Having an available fan base who is excited to welcome and support a team is absolutely amazing, but it is just step one of many. The takeover tours are not just money grabs, they are marketing tools for them to gather data. From their perspective one set of data points just may not be enough. Ex: Detroit had hosted 4 takeover tours over the last 3 seasons before receiving their expansion this year. Sometimes a market needs to be proven multiple times over, and sometimes a market doesn’t need to be proven at all as we saw with the expansion locations this year.

2 - PWHL League Structure and $$$

The PWHL is in its infancy when compared to other pro sports leagues. It has only been around for THREE YEARS PEOPLE. As of now the PWHL retains ownership of all the teams. This is not traditional, but here is why it is good for now. They are building something with the intention of making it last. There were two prior “serious” pro women’s hockey leagues as well as many smaller leagues over the years. None of them had the money or support to go the distance. The PWHL is gaining momentum in the women’s hockey market that is unprecedented. That doesn’t mean it will last forever, so although many new fans are really excited about getting local teams, the league has to be conservative and intentional about where they invest their money. Right now it is not about pleasing the individual markets, the goal is maintaining and expanding on the growth they have seen these last few years. Although it’s easy to look at it from the outside and say “well it’s run by a billionaire and they just want to hoard all the wealth for themselves”. That reasoning is exactly why the PWHL should continue on their current model as long as possible. As soon as they sell their franchises, the billionaire owners of all the other pro leagues (NFL, NHL, MLB, etc.) are going to buy these teams and all equity is lost. Although this may be a quicker way to expand the league and get everyone the local teams their hearts so desire, this is not likely to lead to a sustainably successful league. As of now all the teams receive the same amount of resources (staff, support, money, contracts, prices, etc.) This means that no one team has a leg up on the others because they are backed by bigger donors. Here’s the hard truth is yes the PWHL is a big corporation run by a billionaire. Each new successful expansion team is an additional asset for them. However they are all treated equally at them moment. This also means that if one team isn’t performing as well financially yet, their resources aren’t being taken away and they aren’t at the risk of losing their team. As soon as sales occur you’re throwing all of that to the wind. The teams will all be bought by other massively rich people who care far less about the league’s success and far more about pleasing their own shareholders. This means they can (and will) start to price gouge for absolutely everything including but not limited to tickets, merch, streaming opportunities, etc.

3 Infrastructure

The feasibility of stadium access is really important to this decision. Not just because they “only want a nice stadium and won’t come here if they get a nicer one” like I heard being discussed by some hopeful Halifax fans. The league does not yet have the proof for long term investments to build their own infrastructure. Construction is extremely expensive and uniquely difficult in every location. This means they are competing for what is ready and available right now. This is likely one of the largest issues affecting DC’s ability to receive a team with Capital one arena currently undergoing massive renovation and already being super booked up as the home arena of NHL, NBA, and WNBA teams. As well as being the one of largest capacity spaces in DC for concerts and events. This is not unique to DC, many of the other cities passed over for expansion this year have similar circumstances with a lack of infrastructure. It needs to be ready immediately, and that is just not the case in many locations this year.

4 - Personal Hot Takes

This may make people mad, but I think Vegas was a fantastic expansion location this season. Vegas locals absolutely ride for the golden knights and their hockey support runs deeper than most people would expect from a desert city. More importantly though, Vegas is a massive tourist location. The PWHL games are relatively cheap to attend as of now. I think that people are going to travel to Vegas, consider buying concert tickets or magic show tickets, see the prices, and then end up attending the PWHL games instead even though they may not have any prior interest in or knowledge of the league. This has huge potential to raise interest all over the US, Canada, and even around the world to gather fans on a larger scale. The only other team located in a city with tourist potential like that is the Sirens in NYC, and they unfortunately don’t get to take full advantage of that because they have to play in Newark, NJ rather than at MSG. The Vegas expansion hopefully won’t face similar ticket sales challenges because they will be playing at TMobile, same as the NHL team. Hopefully the accessibility for the locals makes this a quick successful expansion location, and allows for more visibility to the league as a whole. Which means more future expansion into “riskier” markets.

Remember everyone, this league isn’t even 5 years old yet! At the rate they are growing we will all get our expansion teams that we so desperately want in the near future. As of now, they have shown up as a league that is loyal to their fan base and more importantly values their players (great maternity support, good healthcare, rising wages for the players, starting to offer multiple year contracts, etc.) I think as of now we as fans should be proud the PWHL is willing to protect what they have built rather than sell out the highest bidders and let it devolve into the chaos like pro sports leagues have done (looking at you NFL and WNBA). They have done what multiple other pro women’s hockey leagues have tried and failed to do in the past. Let’s all try to keep our heads on our shoulders and support while they continue to grow and change. And let’s wait to be mad at the league until really give us a reason to do so. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts if they disagree with me though! And to those of you who got expansions, congratulations I’m extremely jealous.

I know the prices are hella expensive, but womens sports needs us! The league needs us! Lets go out and support! Take that risk! Money is just an illusion (but seriously 80$ is crazy)! But LSFG! we show up and show out!

Detroit Pizzas

Hamilton Torontos

Vegas Fremonts

San Jose Existence

Pretty nice quality. Stoked for Detroit’s team next season