Female pro hockey players from Canada and the US announced that they would sit out the upcoming season.
![With players on strike, women’s professional ice hockey is on thin ice](https://20627419.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/20627419/hubfs/The%20Hustle/Assets/Images/1297217433-brief_2019-05-06T033613.167Z-1.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1297217433-brief_2019-05-06T033613.167Z-1.webp)
Until last week, there were 2 pro women’s hockey leagues in North America: the National Women’s Hockey League (based in the US) and The Canadian Women’s Hockey League (based in — you guessed it — Canada).
But after the CWHL closed last week, 200 players announced they would refuse to play in the NWHL — until it improves working conditions for its players.
Female hockey players are barely skating by
Players in pro women’s hockey don’t have health insurance, and some made as little as $2k per season, making it impossible to play full time.
But now, united under the banner of a hashtag (#ForTheGame), the best hockey-playing women in the world are insisting that women should not accept less than $25k to play professionally.
Some critics are calling upon the NHL to intervene to help keep women on the ice this coming season.