Brief - The Hustle

With players on strike, women’s professional ice hockey is on thin ice

Written by Conor Grant | Jun 30, 2020 10:30:25 AM

Female pro hockey players from Canada and the US announced that they would sit out the upcoming season.

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.