New Beginnings on Ice: Professional Women's Hockey League Sparks Excitement

Emily Hobbs can only watch and wonder.

What if?

The equipment manager for the St. Thomas Tommies of the Atlantic University Sport women’s hockey conference, the 42-year-old Fredericton native had an outstanding career as the team’s goaltender in the early 2000s: a first-team all-star for three straight seasons, a second-team all-star the other; the team’s Most Valuable Player one season; and the school’s athlete of the year. She was inducted into the STU Sports Wall of Fame in 2013.

On New Year’s Day, she had friends in to watch the puck drop for the debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League—six people among the 2.9 million who watched New York face off against Toronto in the first game in league history.

“Back when I played... if something like that was around back then, it would have been nice to have tried,” she said. “Back then, if the opportunity came, I would have done it. Back in my prime, it would have been awesome. It would have been nice to try and see if I could have a shot. Even just going and having a tryout would be awesome.”

She’s fine. She’s forged a good career as a member of the Saint John Police Force and is still involved with the Tommies as a valuable member of the team.

But a girl can dream, can’t she?

Now she can.

With the launch of the new six-team league on New Year’s Day, there’s a place for young women who have ambitions of playing professional hockey one day. Teams in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa in Canada and Minnesota, New York, and Boston in the United States got off to a rousing start, playing to record crowds in Ottawa and then in Minnesota and a sellout crowd at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.

“At least now, women in hockey have something to look forward to,” said Hobbs. “It’s something in Canada that women can look forward to…after university, there’s something more now. It’s nice to have that option.”

“It would be something amazing,” said the Tommies goaltender Katie Sweeney, in the midst of her fourth and finest season with the AUS Women’s Hockey Conference squad.

“I think it’s a wonderful step in women’s sports,” Sweeney said.

“It’s great,” said Tommies 22-year-old forward Jacey Dane, among the team’s leading scorers this season. “It’s an inspiration for all young women growing up playing the sport. I remember when I was growing up and I looked at my brother and thought, ‘He could go to the NHL.’ For me, there was nothing higher up. I think it’s too big of a step for me. It would be like a dream come true for me. But there are girls out there who can totally handle it. They could totally work toward doing that.”

There are several U Sports connections throughout the league. Troy Ryan, who coached the Tommies’ men’s team for two seasons a decade or so ago and now coaches the national women’s team, is the head coach of Toronto, while Howie Draper, the former University of Alberta head coach, coaches the New York franchise. Sarah Bujold of Riverview, a former St. Francis Xavier X-Women star, plays for Montreal.

Dane, originally from Aurora, Ont., is a Toronto fan.

“Toronto all the way!” she said. “I’m definitely going to watch as much as I can. It’s women in sports…it’s the highest level you can go. Of course, we’re going to watch it…probably huddled around in our room watching it.”

Players have picked their favourite teams already. Sweeney is an Ottawa fan; a former teammate at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont; forward Lexie Adzija is on the Ottawa roster.

Rookie Nadia Lavoie is a Montreal fan, with Team Canada star Marie-Phillip Poulin and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens among her favourite players.

With attendance records for women’s hockey being set and broken again twice in the first week of play and sellouts for all of Toronto’s home games already assured, the league is off to a strong start.

“I think there should be so much awareness and so many fans showing up at the games. It’s great. I think it will stick around…why would it not?” said Dane.

“I notice a lot of the games are sold out, which is awesome,” said Hobbs. “It’s a great game to watch. It just goes to show that we are here, and we can play. It’s really nice to see.”