MONTREAL – Women’s ice hockey dropped the puck on the new year with the launch of a new professional league, with New York blanking hosts Toronto 4-0 on Jan 1 in the debut game of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
Tennis legend Billie Jean King, a pioneer advocate for gender equality and social justice and PWHL investor, dropped the ceremonial first puck before a sell-out crowd of 2,537 at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, a scaled-down arena in what was once a National Hockey League (NHL) venue, Maple Leaf Gardens.
The six-team league also features clubs from Boston, Minnesota, Ottawa and Montreal. It brings together top United States and Canadian female hockey players, many of whom have won gold at the Winter Olympics, where the nations’ women have dominated.
New York’s Ella Shelton scored the first goal in PWHL history 10min 43sec into the opening period.
“It sounds pretty surreal to hear that,” she said.
“When I think of it I just think of the group we have and how special it has been.”
The 25-year-old Canadian defender, who helped her homeland win 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic gold and 2021 and 2022 world titles, beating the US in all three finals, admitted that players were guessing who might score the historic first goal.
“I don’t think I was at the top of the list so I think that threw everybody for a loop,” she said.
Alex Carpenter, Jill Saulnier and Kayla Vespa added third-period goals for New York and Corinne Schroeder made 29 saves for the shutout victory.
“What I’ll remember is just the atmosphere that came around this first game for women’s hockey,” added Shelton.
“Pretty exciting to see a sold-out crowd and to see little girls that are fans... and hopefully inspire them to want to be a professional player in their future.”
Ice hockey is Canada’s national winter sport, but remains largely dominated by men.
The NHL, the men’s equivalent of the PWHL, was founded in 1917 in Montreal and these days brings together 32 teams spread across the two countries.
Each team will play 24 games in the PWHL regular season which will end in early May, followed by the play-offs. AFP, REUTERS
