Is NHL strictly a men's league?

[LeafGrief]

Classic HFboards Summer thread.

I'd rather think this is a very current day and age summer thread, as opposed to a classic, which might be more along the lines of, "Would Pirates or Ninjas ice a better hockey team?"

I long for the halcyon days of Pirates versus Ninjas.

 

[KrugAvoy]

I hope not. I want to live for the day a woman has a 40 save shutout against the Leafs

 

[JPT]

Strictly? No.

Practically, yes.

Bait thread? Absolutely.

It does feel like a thread to be used as a salve on the wounded feelings of MRAs

 

[Konnan511]

Women carry weight differently too. There is also the locker room issue. Which is an issue. Just remember the best women Tennis players can't beat average men.

Curious to know what that is?

 

[JPT]

Curious to know what that is?

It's unfair for women to tempt men by being less than fully clothed

 

[LeafGrief]

It does feel like a thread to be used as a salve on the wounded feelings of MRAs

Or to reel in someone who wants to fight with "MRAs" and then watch the fireworks.

 

[RickyLafleur]

oh sweet summer child...

 

[orby]

I don't think we'll ever see a female NHLer. The typical physiological differences between men and women generally put (most) men at an unfair advantage over (most) women in sports where size, strength, and speed are important. Over time, however, I think that we'll start seeing more women in NHL coaching and management, especially if professional women's hockey is developed further.

 

[JPT]

Or to reel in someone who wants to fight with "MRAs" and then watch the fireworks.

Why fight with them when it's so easy to make fun of them?

 

[CogNoman]

I think this was the NHL rulebook for the 2023-24 season: https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2023-24/2023-24Rulebook.pdf

I tried searching for the terms "woman/women" and "female", but I didn't get any results. So I don't think people's genders are even mentioned in the rulebook.

So I don't think there are any official restrictions on women. (I suspect that's the case with probably every major team sport in the Western world too.)

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

 

[tarheelhockey]

The answer to OP’s question is a simple “no”.

 

[NotCommitted]

Noora Räty, who at least used to be one of the best female goalies in the world, played some games in Mestis (2nd highest tier of men's hockey in Finland). I think she had 8 games total with .894% which I guess is OK but not great. Then she moved to 3rd highest level league (which frankly is not that high, it's where being "pro" means you make a living wage pretty much and I'm pretty sure many players still have a day job) hovering around .900%

I think goalie is the position where I could see it maybe happen some day - not very likely, but if the playerbase grows big enough, maybe one day a female goalie phenom emerges.

 

[sufferer]

It would be fun to watch them try to compete.

 

[Drake1588]

No, I don't think there are any rules preventing women from playing. Many cultural impediments exist, but those are all unwritten.

There are certainly women who have the requisite physical frame and build to take a shot at the NHL, but what is lacking are developmental systems welcoming to women that also teach bodychecking. The current professional hockey development structures do not seek to prepare the pool of potential candidates to dole out or absorb checking. That's the largest impediment at present to realistic pathways to the NHL for women. The rules in men's and women's hockey are fundamentally different with respect to physical contact. Women's hockey is not seeking to prepare women to break into the men's game the way that the men's pro minors overtly do seek to prepare players for the NHL (through synchronized rules).

You'd have to imagine that the kind of roadmap it would take would involve isolated cases of women who grow up playing with men in a rural context, who play in a bodychecking environment where it's simply all anyone knows. So they would learn checking from a relatively young age and be unfazed by it. Not impossible, but much less likely.

Of course, women specializing in goaltending represents an area where all this doesn't apply. It would seem to be the more likely pathway. Yet the NHL's embrace of very tall goaltenders over smaller but nimbler athletic goalies has made that route less realistic over the last 15-20 years than it was in the 1990s.

Nothing in the rules prevents it, however. Take a look at Olympic teams this summer. There are women athletes with the necessary physical builds.

 

[LeafGrief]

Why fight with them when it's so easy to make fun of them?

Because fighting culture wars on the internet is for clowns. Boys versus girls was fun in grade two, real men make fun of each other for their sports allegiances.

 

[saintunspecified]

If it's going to happen in the near future, it seems most likely to be a goalie. There definitely are athletes who have the size + athleticism - look at the WNBA. If you ask me whether I think an athlete on the level of A'ja Wilson or Nneka Ogwumike could make a pretty good attempt at it, I'd say they could. (Tell me a person with Wilson's footwork couldn't skate, lol). But the pathway to being a professional athlete in some other sport seems a heck of a lot more clear, and hockey is a really inaccessible sport. And if there were more professional basketball level athletes involved in hockey, it would be even more difficult.

I've seen some basketball athletes (especially on the girls side) doing lacrosse instead of track in the spring completely change the game as middies. And I've a few who would good enough to play with the boys as midfielders. But it's way way easier to teach an athletic kid to pick up ground balls, cradle, catch, and pass in a few weeks than it is to get them on skates, and it costs nothing. And those girls already know how to box out, lol. Girls basketball can be really physical.

Idgaf about gender roles or cultural crap. Just talking about athletes.

 

[NotCommitted]

Oh it should be worth pointing out that while Noora Räty was one of the best in the world in her position, she still had trouble making ends meet as a pro, so it's not level playing field compared to men. A male goalie of her talent would've been a full time pro already as a teenager, making it way easier for them to reach their full potential.

 

[banks]

No. Check out that woman goalie.

Bingo. Manon Rheaume. Link

She played in 2 preseason games for Tampa Bay, and was in net during the 2022 NHL all star breakaway challenge. She also played games in the IHL, which is a men's league that counts as a "professional" league.

She was totally legit, and more than just a PR gimmick. She won IIHF Women's gold in '92 and '94 and Olympic Silver in '98.

I realise her preseason games are not the same as a regular season stat line. But it shows that it's possible for the goaltending position.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Who would be the closest female right now to play even in the ECHL?

Are there any in the lower Euro Men leagues?

 

[BagHead]

Imagine Ryan Reaves Dropping the gloves with Amanda Kessel ?

Imagine him dropping them with Jared Spurgeon?

 

[Coffey]

I think a transwoman might be able to make it.
Or a transman, but would have needed decades of testosterone therapy.

 

[Machinehead]

If it's going to happen in the near future, it seems most likely to be a goalie. There definitely are athletes who have the size + athleticism - look at the WNBA. If you ask me whether I think an athlete on the level of A'ja Wilson or Nneka Ogwumike could make a pretty good attempt at it, I'd say they could. (Tell me a person with Wilson's footwork couldn't skate, lol). But the pathway to being a professional athlete in some other sport seems a heck of a lot more clear, and hockey is a really inaccessible sport. And if there were more professional basketball level athletes involved in hockey, it would be even more difficult.

I've seen some basketball athletes (especially on the girls side) doing lacrosse instead of track in the spring completely change the game as middies. And I've a few who would good enough to play with the boys as midfielders. But it's way way easier to teach an athletic kid to pick up ground balls, cradle, catch, and pass in a few weeks than it is to get them on skates, and it costs nothing. And those girls already know how to box out, lol. Girls basketball can be really physical.

Idgaf about gender roles or cultural crap. Just talking about athletes.

A'ja Wilson is only 195 lbs, though. Even Jonquel Jones, who is 6'6" and has a frame like Lemieux is only listed at 215.

There are women who are tall and wide enough to be in the NHL but women have a lot less relative muscle mass. They would have to be like 6'10" to have NHL strength.

And don't get me wrong, everyone in the WNBA could 1) bench press me and 2) beat most men at hockey, but NHL athletes aren't mediocre men on the internet.

 

[Daishi]

At 5'11, 172 lbs, Hilary Knight is bigger and stronger than several NHL players, such as Johnny Gaudreau. There are absolutely women that can physically handle the NHL. They just need to also possess the requisite skill to force and desire to play in the NHL. One will come along eventually.

This guy, a simp and a gentleman scholar who is blissfully unaware of biological (anatomical, hormonal) differences between men and women. Compare her results in a hockey skills competition, track and field, or gym, and she will lose against most if not every single one of high school level male athletes. Who cares how tall or heavy she is? That says nothing about her fat percentage or muscle mass or fast-twitch muscle fibers.

As to your ridiculous statement: One will come eventually because of hilarious DEI initiatives around NA. She will dress and play fourth line minutes for a game or two. After that the novelty will wear off and ticket sales are no longer affected by the elephant in the room.

 

[Leonardo87]

I'd rather think this is a very current day and age summer thread, as opposed to a classic, which might be more along the lines of, "Would Pirates or Ninjas ice a better hockey team?"

I long for the halcyon days of Pirates versus Ninjas.

Ninjas would win all the time, come on now.