New league produces mixed emotions

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This article was published 17/07/2023 (1026 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The world of women’s professional hockey is a lot smaller these days.

Some members of the now defunct Toronto Six, whose team, along with the remaining assets of the Premier Hockey Federation, was swallowed up earlier this month by business interests involved with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association, were in Winnipeg this week in support of Sami Jo Small’s annual female hockey camp at Gateway Recreational Complex.

The 25th annual camp, bursting with 130 participants, was by all accounts a huge success. For camp instructors such as Kati Tabin, Alexis Woloschuk, Taylor Woods and Small — all Manitobans — it was an opportunity to give back to the grassroots of hockey when the pro game hasn’t been as generous lately.

As part of the takeover by the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises, all PHF player contracts were voided and club employees were laid off.

Small, Toronto’s president, was in Kuwait on a tour visiting Canadian troops and was caught completely by surprise. She lost her job and was tasked with laying off the club’s 24 staff members in the days after the announcement.

“It was unexpected but it’s not to say that this isn’t something that I think is really great for what will be in women’s hockey,” said Small Monday. “I’m very hopeful for the future because there now is this one potential super league. But… it was really hard for us and it’s hard for the players whose contracts were voided.”

You can include Tabin, a 26-year-old Winnipegger, as a member of the club. Last month, the all-star blue-liner signed a two-year contract extension with the Six worth US$220,000 but it was all for naught.

“It’s something none of us were expecting, but at the same time I think it’ll be good in the future to build the game, kind of bringing everyone together,” said Tabin, who along with Woods, a 28-year-old blue-liner, and Woloschuk, a 29-year-old defender, helped the Six win the Isobel Cup as the PHF’s final champions in March.

“And finally just being in one league, competing against the best. I think that’s going to be great. So as much as it sucks right now, I think it’s a bright future ahead.”

Tabin, Woods and Woloschuk must now go through a player dispersal draft to be conducted sometime before a yet unnamed league with still undeclared franchise sites begins play this fall or winter.

In the first season, the new league’s minimum salary has been set at US$35,000 with a maximum of US$80,000. In 2022-23, the PHF had a US$30,000 base salary with a maximum of US$150,000.

“I had a plan for the next two years and now it’s kind of unknown,” said Tabin, who is also a marketing associate at Yamaha Motor Canada. “I’m just trying to focus on what I can control because doing anything else is out of my control — it’s not really going to help me. I’m just focused on training and being ready for whatever’s about to come.”

Woloschuk hopes to be playing this fall but with only six teams and 28 players per franchise, some very good players will be left out in the cold.

“We’ve got to stay positive right now,” said Woloschuk, a former Winnipegger who operates TheLineup, a mental performance and nutrition company. “I think that there’s a lot of good that’s happening with the future of the sport. I think it is tough to be waiting with the unknown of course as an athlete.

“It’s a tough spot to be in mentally but I think that at the end of the day, we know it’s what’s best for the future of women’s sport.”

Woods is trying not to stress about her future as a player.

The Morden product recently earned a masters degree in sports and exercise psychology and she has been hired by the Fired Up radio network and will be launching her own show before the end of 2023.

“I don’t have to focus on my stance on anything and I can just enjoy doing what I can for the hockey community, for example, just by being here, right?” said Woods, who also has sideline career as a competitor in elite strongwoman competitions. “I want to be here. I want to grow the sport that way and I’ve gotta focus on helping girls and females find their spot in sport.”

Small, a three-time Olympian with an established career as a professional speaker, doesn’t know if there will be a place for her in the new league.

“I’m hopeful that all of these players are given their fair shot because they have worked so hard to get into our program,” she said. “And now they or their agent are going to have to convince a whole new set of administrators and coaches.

“I mean, there’s going to be a lot of players without jobs, but there are some great leagues in Europe they can play in. And I’m hopeful that as it kind of shakes out, maybe not in Year 1, they might not make the team but that they stick with it and continue to play.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14