PWHL - Your level of interest

[lokomotiv15]

Havent seen a game.
What would the caliber of the hockey be comparative to mens/boys hockey?

Midget...Junior A/B? Somewhere in between?

Genuinely curious.

Midget AA, maybe. A decent Jr C team in Ontario would win the league.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Some pretty nice finishing on display by team Minnesota.

 

[lokomotiv15]

I coach u18AAA girls hockey so I have interest in the well-being of the league and am happy it gives a couple more of these kids an avenue to make hockey a true career for them.

That being said, I’d watch a game to support the league if our team wanted to go as a group to watch Toronto, but I will never tune in and watch that level on hockey on my own accord.

I respect my players and the effort they put in and the skill and ability all of them have, but it just isn’t there at a high enough level to be invested in watching unless I know someone on the ice. They work hard and compete and love the game, but even at the highest levels, the game doesn’t move and isnt played at a level where it could ever be considered equal entertainment to something like Major Junior, NCAA, Tier 2 A or any decent Euro pro league hockey.

I feel I should add that if I ever had a daughter or a girl that I coached that played in the PWHL that I would make every effort to watch as many games as I could fit in between my NHL games and other things I watch on TV. The level of the women’s game has come miles and miles to make it an enjoyable watch if you are invested in a player on the team.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

I watched the Montreal VS Ottawa game and thought it was better than what I expected. There was some welcome intensity. I like their penalty kill rules. It was also cool to see that despite its North American roots, the league is already attracting top players from countries as far as Japan!

From now on, the best young female hockey players can at least aspire to earning a living playing. They won't break the bank but I expect that will make a lot of female player pursue this harder. The best of them willl have more time to train full time.

I expect the level of play to significantly improve as soon as the next 3 or 4 years.

I'll definitely tune in from time to time.

 

[HighLifeManIsHigh]

Some pretty nice finishing on display by team Minnesota.

Do you not notice how shitty and scrambly the play is?

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Unfortunately I have zero interest in it.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Do you not notice how shitty and scrambly the play is?

I watch hockey at a lot of different levels and am already familiar with some of the nuances to girls hockey, shitty and scrambly isn’t how I would describe it, but I would also remind that this is effectively pre-season. MN didn’t get their head coach until a week ago. It takes some time to develop chemistry and passing cohesion, the individual players looked pretty skilled relative to my own expectations, but there were some definite lulls in play from failed transitions.

 

[JMCx4]

I watch hockey at a lot of different levels and am already familiar with some of the nuances to girls hockey, shitty and scrambly isn’t how I would describe it, but I would also remind that this is effectively pre-season. MN didn’t get their head coach until a week ago. It takes some time to develop chemistry and passing cohesion, the individual players looked pretty skilled relative to my own expectations, but there were some definite lulls in play from failed transitions.

Agree with your assessment. Minnesota was by far the least organized team to play so far. Even though TOR allowed more goals in Game #1, they displayed better cohesion in their play. And your point that "this is effectively pre-season" is spot on; unfortunately for the PWHL, the first impressions will be how their product will be measured for some time to come.

 

[Tralfamadore]

I'm barely interested in watching the Avs these days let alone an entirely different league.

 

[tfwnogf]

I rated my excitement at a "2", I am interested enough to read this thread. As far as seeing games, if they are free on youtube I'm down to check it out.

The real challenge for this league is to keep up the energy and excitement that is happening now. I fear once the initial boost to viewership wears off, will the product itself be entertaining enough to stand on its own? Someone in the thread earlier said they need storylines to keep things interesting and I agree. It's not enough to have 6 teams duke it out, I hope rivalries sprout and some villains emerge. A female brad marchand or evander kane would do wonders.

If they play it consistent and safe (aka boring) like the nhl when it comes to interviews, media pieces etc then I think they will fail. They need something to keep people engaged, so I hope they are able to generate some personality. It would give the league a different flavour from the nhl without trying to be "nhl but for women" it can be its own thing.

 

[Rob Brown]

Some pretty nice finishing on display by team Minnesota.

Lol the horrible giveaway on the first play...

 

[bossram]

Mostly interested from a betting perspective. Brand new league, new teams, likely some angles that haven't been uncovered yet.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Lol the horrible giveaway on the first play...

Looked like #77 deflected the pass. Just a good defensive stick leading to a turnover.

Mostly interested from a betting perspective. Brand new league, new teams, likely some angles that haven't been uncovered yet.

Are the betting companies offering lines on PWHL? That’s an interesting angle considering there’s no previous history to go on.

 

[Church Hill]

If we're talking a PWHL championship game with elite female players with well-storied rivalries, I'm still not watching

 

[BondraTime]

Looked like #77 deflected the pass. Just a good defensive stick leading to a turnover.

It was just a flub over 77's stick, 77 never got anything on it, just a layup up the middle

 

[bossram]

Are the betting companies offering lines on PWHL? That’s an interesting angle considering there’s no previous history to go on.

Several major books had MLs on the PWHL games so far, and futures.

They do have some data to go on and estimate prices. All these players played elsewhere before, and we know who the top players are. But for team level data, yeah, brand new and definitely should be some angles to catch before the books do.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It was just a flub over 77's stick, 77 never got anything on it, just a layup up the middle

If so, it was a terrible pass. But how can you tell? 77’s stick was right there at the release point and the pick made an arc as though it were deflected.

Several major books had MLs on the PWHL games so far, and futures.

They do have some data to go on and estimate prices. All these players played elsewhere before, and we know who the top players are. But for team level data, yeah, brand new and definitely should be some angles to catch before the books do.

Just crazy how fast the gamblers jump on this stuff. It’s definitely a good spot to make some money if you’re familiar with the teams.

NHL betting used to be like that before advanced analytics. So few people really follow hockey that you could really beat the lines if you knew what you were looking at. The Rangers being terrible didn’t stop tons of people from putting money on them, so it was easy to clean up.

 

[BondraTime]

If so, it was a terrible pass. But how can you tell? 77’s stick was right there at the release point and the pick made an arc as though it were deflected.



Just crazy how fast the gamblers jump on this stuff. It’s definitely a good spot to make some money if you’re familiar with the teams.

NHL betting used to be like that before advanced analytics. So few people really follow hockey that you could really beat the lines if you knew what you were looking at. The Rangers being terrible didn’t stop tons of people from putting money on them, so it was easy to clean up.

Look at the puck prior to release and how soft she laid it up, it was just a muffin. Even if it hit the stick it couldn't have gone further than the blueline 3 feet ahead

 

[Deno]

Sorry, watching PWHL is like watching boy's midget hockey. Unless you have a kid/family member playing in it you just don't care. While I do enjoy watching the Canadian women play at the Olympics I just don't care to watch women play professionally. The quality of hockey players is just too sub par.
To be clear I love women's professional sports like golf and tennis. In fact I think women's tennis is much more fun to watch then men's tennis. With women's hockey that is just not the case.

 

[blundluntman]

As a guy who can't be bothered to watch the KHL, let alone Junior Hockey, I highly doubt I'll find the PWHL entertaining enough to really enjoy it. They'd have to tailor the rules of the league to make them look more impressive (kinda like how people want the WNBA to lower the rim and push the 3 point line up).

 

[red devil]

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

cool stuff

hopefully they kept up the momentum and not fizzle out XFL-style

 

[Golden_Jet]

Better than I expected, Solid numbers
Wonder what US numbers were, I think the game was New York vs Toronto

 

[joelef]

The nhl can’t even market there stars what makes people think this will be successful?

 

[tarheelhockey]

cool stuff

hopefully they kept up the momentum and not fizzle out XFL-style

Realistically it will fizzle after the big debut. Question is whether they can keep costs low and generate enough revenue to make a little bit of money. It’s like ECHL or SPHL, nobody’s getting rich and the goal is to keep the lights on.