PWHL - Your level of interest

[Bocephus86]

I'll be honest I think that is one of the reasons why some people don't want to watch it. I watched a period and I would rather drive to my local rink and watch better minor hockey live.
This has become pretty divided and there are two reasons.
1. Not just hockey but evey sport. Soccer as well. Revenue and equal pay. The amount of people saying that it isn't fair and contniue to blame men for making two much money all the while not holding WOMEN accoutable for not watching. YEs some teams have some games sold out but much of that I am sure is corporate and the novelty will wear off. Most people don 't care.
We essentially are in the first generation of moms who have played minor hockey. We still have the vast majority of people playing hockey becasue of their fathers. MAny girls still prefer dance and gymnastics as well as soccer as well as school sports like volleyball etc.
If you want this league to succeed there are going to hasve to be many MOMS taking their daughters to the games. Thats not saying that some dads won't take thier girls. Some will.
If women want this league to succeed. Take your kids. Buy a jersey and a puck. But some souvineers.
2. Stop acting like this is good hockey. Yes this is good hockey for women. In fact it is many of the best female players in the world. Stop attacking people for stating the fact that it is mostly boring. Just because we beleive that it isn't high level hockey doesn't mean that we don't want it to succeed. Just like the person has said, the media and certain groups of people contniue to blame a certain demographic for having zero interest.
This is a hockey board. We are here beacue we love hockey. I'm willing to be that most people onhere ae men. As of now 60/120 votes have ZERO INTEREST on a hockey board. At what point are any of these people willing to pay money and travel to watch something?
Like I said. Stop blaming men for having no interest and start telling women to put their money where their mouth is. The more people attack people for not supporting the more I will not support.

Do I want this league to succeed. Personally I don't care myself. But i love the game and want people to love the game. I want girls to have someone to look up to on the ice. But like I said. If there is no demand there is no product.

I agree with your first point, mostly. The crux of it anyway - for women's leagues to succeed, they do need support from women (and men).

The second point I have a problem with. The MLS is, what, the 8th best league in the world? Maybe? And when it started, even lower? Premier league fans shitting all over the MLS and making fun of it's competition level brought absolutely zero to the table. It didn't help the premier league, it didn't help the MLS, it didn't help the game overall, it just made:

1. Assholes feel better about themselves, despite never touching the field, for WATCHING the 'better' game
2. Kept casual fans away for no reason other than the as described point one people gate keeping and being loud

I don't give a shit if you go to a game or not, nor what you think about the league. I don't care about the league, but I also dont go to or give a shit about the AHL. Whats important is that I don't run around telling everyone how I don't give a shit about the AHL, and that anyone that does is an idiot.

Reflect. grow up, be better.

 

[Rob Brown]

Is the league site down for anyone else?

 

[Dessloch]

I agree with your first point, mostly. The crux of it anyway - for women's leagues to succeed, they do need support from women (and men).

The second point I have a problem with. The MLS is, what, the 8th best league in the world? Maybe? And when it started, even lower? Premier league fans shitting all over the MLS and making fun of it's competition level brought absolutely zero to the table. It didn't help the premier league, it didn't help the MLS, it didn't help the game overall, it just made:

1. Assholes feel better about themselves, despite never touching the field, for WATCHING the 'better' game
2. Kept casual fans away for no reason other than the as described point one people gate keeping and being loud

I don't give a shit if you go to a game or not, nor what you think about the league. I don't care about the league, but I also dont go to or give a shit about the AHL. Whats important is that I don't run around telling everyone how I don't give a shit about the AHL, and that anyone that does is an idiot.

Reflect. grow up, be better.

Decent post dude.

If you are in Boston you actually had a great womens team in the Boston Pride that was murdered by Hillary Knight & her minions - and now have a great team and the best goaltending tandem in the league!

I have a friend close to Boston who takes his daughter to watch the womens game as an excuse as he also loves the game but dont want to admit it

 

[Puckclektr]

I’m sure lots of women will be taking there kids as well as fathers.

For someone who doesn’t care, you seem to care more than most posters in here so far.

I literally said that. All I said was they need women to do the supporting and when you look at history and virtually every other womens sport it DOES NOT happen.
ANd I care about having discusions. On a discussion board. I don't care to watch it but would like to see it succeed.

They don't have an obligation at all, but if the PWHL wants to succeed and develop an actual fanbase, they will need average women and young girls to become fans and commit to supporting the league, and not rely on men to go to games and watch on TV. That's just the reality of the situation.

Speaking personally, none of my fiancée, three sisters, or mom even mentioned the league or any intention to watch over the holidays, and same for the wives of my big group of friends, all of whom are huge hockey fans. The league can't just rely on men and hardcore female hockey fans (because there aren't as many yet) to grow the league.

thats the problem. You are making sense. Give it time before you are attacked for hating women and not wanting to support them.

 

[Dessloch]

I literally said that. All I said was they need women to do the supporting and when you look at history and virtually every other womens sport it DOES NOT happen.
ANd I care about having discusions. On a discussion board. I don't care to watch it but would like to see it succeed.

In England Arsenal had 60 000 in a soccer game a month ago, and many of the audience are women and girls who idolize the players etc. I dont see why it cant happen in hockey as well in that sense. The boom of womens football should serve as an example it can actually happen in womens sports!

The start of this league is in the exact right time when womens sports are growing big time.

Will it happen in womens hockey? Not to the same extent probably! But probably a little bit!

if the players want to get rich outside hockey they should consider getting more sexy on their social media channels, thats what the richest soccers stars are doing! (no pun intended) Problem is there aint millions of desperate male africans that follow hockey, so it wont be as easy to find followers.

 

[Puckclektr]

I agree with your first point, mostly. The crux of it anyway - for women's leagues to succeed, they do need support from women (and men).

The second point I have a problem with. The MLS is, what, the 8th best league in the world? Maybe? And when it started, even lower? Premier league fans shitting all over the MLS and making fun of it's competition level brought absolutely zero to the table. It didn't help the premier league, it didn't help the MLS, it didn't help the game overall, it just made:

1. Assholes feel better about themselves, despite never touching the field, for WATCHING the 'better' game
2. Kept casual fans away for no reason other than the as described point one people gate keeping and being loud

I don't give a shit if you go to a game or not, nor what you think about the league. I don't care about the league, but I also dont go to or give a shit about the AHL. Whats important is that I don't run around telling everyone how I don't give a shit about the AHL, and that anyone that does is an idiot.

Reflect. grow up, be better.

The problem is. People are attacked for saying they don't have an interest in the league and that women shoul dbe the ones supporting it. Like someone mentioned already, give it time before they or other people who don't even watch the game start compalining about salaries. I support the league but have said it isn't good hockey and I can watch better calibre from my local arean and have been attacked by people who don't like facts. IT goes both ways. There are idiots and assholes on both sides.

I've talked about this many times and when I say I don't have an interest they always want to know why I tell them becasue it isn't good calibre. Even if I don't I get attacked for not supporting women blah blah blah and then comments like women are just as good as men etc. No their not. I've been called a right wing Trump supporter becasue I said I have no interest. People jkust can't accept the fact that it isn't themen that are gonig to make this work. tis the women. Just stop.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

I’ll just be honest. It doesn’t interest me in the same way I’m not interested in the CFL - I just wanna watch the best.

I don’t watch the AHL or other leagues either.

Doesn’t mean that it’s bad or not worth coverage. Just not for me.

 

[Puckclektr]

In England Arsenal had 60 000 in a soccer game a month ago, and many of the audience are women and girls who idolize the players etc. I dont see why it cant happen in hockey as well in that sense. The boom of womens football should serve as an example it can actually happen in womens sports!

The start of this league is in the exact right time when womens sports are growing big time.

Will it happen in womens hockey? Not to the same extent probably! But probably a little bit!

maybe it will. Who knows. That will depend on the women going to games for the most part.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I went with one. I am not gonna sit here and hope on it to fail. Hopefully it finds success. I won't be tuning in to watch though and with the financial state of the NHL(flat cap for the last million years), they should not be subsidizing a money pit league. The NHL isn't the NBA and shouldn't operate in the same way.

 

[deleted user]

If it's something easily accessible (can I watch on TV?) then I could easily see myself tuning in and getting invested. I'll admit, there's not a lot of chatter about it around me. I don't hear about it that much.

Genuinely curious. I suppose I'll check into if anything will be on TV. Would be fun to watch and support.

 

[Dessloch]

If it's something easily accessible (can I watch on TV?) then I could easily see myself tuning in and getting invested. I'll admit, there's not a lot of chatter about it around me. I don't hear about it that much.

Genuinely curious. I suppose I'll check into if anything will be on TV. Would be fun to watch and support.

Todays games were free to watch in 1080p on youtube, so more available than most hockey!

Personally I´d like to see full hitting allowed and even fighting, tough it up a bit!

 

[deleted user]

Todays games were free to watch in 1080p on youtube, so more available than most hockey!

Personally I´d like to see full hitting allowed and even fighting, tough it up a bit!

Ah! Yes, I'm seeing the stuff about it being offered on YouTube. Ottawa plays tomorrow! I'll be checking it out.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

watched a bit of the game and it was bland and boring, and the quality of play just isn't there yet but you have to start somewhere

I just can't get invested about 2 generic teams I care little for...

I think best-case scenario is that it reaches WNBA levels of interest...which is very niche even after 25 years of existence

 

[Dessloch]

watched a bit of the game and it was bland and boring, and the quality of play just isn't there yet but you have to start somewhere

I just can't get invested about 2 generic teams I care little for...

I think best-case scenario is that it reaches WNBA levels of interest...which is very niche even after 25 years of existence

I think you mentioned something important here. Not only is there a different speed & skill in mens hockey. Anyone turning on the womens games now also probably dont know the players, dont know the teams and thus have zero reason to care about anything going out there. So thats a big obstacle for the league to work around.

That is what you get for free a bit when you have womens teams in the same organizations as the mens teams. For me I root for Brynäs IF in sweden and I have always watched the womens team when I can and support them just as the mens. And as I learned the players I watch it just as I watch the mens team.

I mean, if you have this in womens soccer on a AWAY game, why could womens hockey not gain a decent amount of fans?

 

[wetcoast]

How come you to make the claim the league isn't off to a good start?

I'm genuinely curious.

You can't buy a ticket to any game in Toronto.

You can find tickets in Ottawa for Toronto visits, but none at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

NHL execs and former players are scattered throughout the league.

The salaries are relatively low and team expenses will have to remain controlled to make it a self-sustaining product.

The NHL has been doing a good job of promoting the women and showcasing them during the all star game for a few years now.

There are still way more questions than answers here.

How many tickets are sold for each game and what is the revenue, sponsorship and how much ect is huge as I doubt they are getting very much from any broadcasting rights.

Here is an except from the story on Sportsnet

And no doubt she’ll hear all about the goal from her 25-or-so family members, including her grandparents, who were among the sold-out crowd of 2,573 at the league’s first game.

'The game we were all waiting for': PWHL's opener much bigger than final score

The first ever game in PWHL history ended with a win for New York. But Monday was about much more than the result. Kristina Rutherford has the story from a historic day in Toronto.

www.sportsnet.ca

Just for reference I looked up the OHL attendance and there is only a single team in the OHL with less average attendance this year and the same was last year.

given that each team plays a 24 game schedule and the average salary is claimed to be $55k per year I'm not sure if that's viable but maybe the sponsorship money will be enough....?

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Gave it a chance today. There was 0 cohesion in the play. The shots are weak and barely hit the net. The speed is slow as hell etc. I wish it the best but not for me.

 

[MardyBum]

Zero interest, but I don't even watch much of the other major sports anymore, have other things to do.

 

[Bocephus86]

Decent post dude.

If you are in Boston you actually had a great womens team in the Boston Pride that was murdered by Hillary Knight & her minions - and now have a great team and the best goaltending tandem in the league!

I have a friend close to Boston who takes his daughter to watch the womens game as an excuse as he also loves the game but dont want to admit it

I don't mind nor do I care that its been decided to restart the women's league. Its obviously a financial risk, and if they felt the need to adjust the numbers and restart the league with other people, I give literally zero shits. No one cares when some nothing tech company restarts 5 times until they get the right combo, nor did anyone care about the 30+ professional mens leagues between 1890 and 1930 that started and failed. That's not my game, nor my problem.

The problem is. People are attacked for saying they don't have an interest in the league and that women shoul dbe the ones supporting it. Like someone mentioned already, give it time before they or other people who don't even watch the game start compalining about salaries. I support the league but have said it isn't good hockey and I can watch better calibre from my local arean and have been attacked by people who don't like facts. IT goes both ways. There are idiots and assholes on both sides.

I've talked about this many times and when I say I don't have an interest they always want to know why I tell them becasue it isn't good calibre. Even if I don't I get attacked for not supporting women blah blah blah and then comments like women are just as good as men etc. No their not. I've been called a right wing Trump supporter becasue I said I have no interest. People jkust can't accept the fact that it isn't themen that are gonig to make this work. tis the women. Just stop.

You feel this, but its not reality. Has anyone come to your door and forced you to sit down and watch something you don't want? No? Oh all this content that wasn't focused at me exists, what a woke world! It's very scary. Until you just say "I consume the media I want to, and let the rest go'. What a woke position I have.

I never thought I was old, but then I saw people freak the f*ck out over entertainment that didn't fit their own mold. Don't watch it, no one comes into your house and stuffs it down your throat. Jesus christ, grow up. I don't run around saying lacrosse is boring (it is), or F1 sucks ass (it does), I just dont interact with it, and if theres enough people that like it (there are) it'll exist! Oh the humanity.

How dare other people like to see things I dont! Soft.

 

[MMC]

This whole operation just reeks of greed. Perhaps the most obvious indication being that they said hell with putting any effort into coming up with brands for each interest for the fans to adopt and connect with because all they gave a shit about was starting ASAP

 

[Dessloch]

This whole operation just reeks of greed. Perhaps the most obvious indication being that they said hell with putting any effort into coming up with brands for each interest for the fans to adopt and connect with because all they gave a shit about was starting ASAP

The thing is time was running out from the PWHPA with Poulin, Knight, Nurse, Kendall-Coyne, Kessel etc. They had promised to get a league going this season but it was not happening. So they only way to get it going was to buy the Premier Federation, shut it down and wipe it from the face of the earth. Defunct all teams, fire everyone working on the teams. And why?

Because if you eliminate every single person who was ever affiliated with the Premier Federation you can pretend it never existed and that this league is the first pro womens league and become heroes instead of murderers which is what they truly are.

Last season we had 8 professional womens teams, now we have 6. The primadonnas of the PWHPA has ended 2 teams of womens players careers and what happened next? The stars signed the fat contracts and left the rest of the league with worse pay than in the Premier Federation. (PHF/NWHL)

When I see the celebrations and all comments hailing these overloards as saviors and saints I want to puke.

Think of the franchises that are gone, think of the players that no longer plays pro hockey, think of the staff that got fired, think about the fans of the teams being cancelled.

And now I am just supposed to worship the same individuals that betrayed their peers for their own greed and put their pride & egos before everything? The PWHPA saw the Premier Federation was garnering traction and had to stop it before their org became irrelevant!

The PWHPA could have negotiated and merged with the Premier Federation years ago or before this season easily and we would have kept all womens hockey history and had one league. The problem? It would have meant for the divas to swallow their pride and do whats best for womens hockey and not for THEMSELVES!

Think about Connecticut, first losing the Whalers and then losing the Whales of the Premier Federation, its sad. RIP!

Here is my Katerina Mrazova game worn Connecticut Whales jersey from last season, its the only thing remaining of the franchise since the overloards erased them from hockey history!

 

[Bocephus86]

This whole operation just reeks of greed. Perhaps the most obvious indication being that they said hell with putting any effort into coming up with brands for each interest for the fans to adopt and connect with because all they gave a shit about was starting ASAP

Or they went to the historically 6 strongest hockey markets and kept fairly neutral marketing (which is in today). As someone said earlier, it even leaves open an option to pair with NHL teams later, but isn't needed. I like the idea of a Boston women's team (if they'd play in Boston FFS, but Lowell is setup better). Maybe they'll move if this works.

My only other point is why poo-poo something you don't give a crap about? Just let it be. I think F1 is the dumbest 'sport' in the world, but its popular. My reference to it in 2 posts on the HF boards is literally the extent of my interaction with it in 37 years of my life. Live that way, its easier than trying to crap on everything I don't like.

Edit: Wait, did @MMC get tricked into investing in the league? If so I accept your criticism. If not, I'll repeat: Stop giving a shit.

 

[MMC]

Or they went to the historically 6 strongest hockey markets and kept fairly neutral marketing (which is in today). As someone said earlier, it even leaves open an option to pair with NHL teams later, but isn't needed. I like the idea of a Boston women's team (if they'd play in Boston FFS, but Lowell is setup better). Maybe they'll move if this works.

My only other point is why poo-poo something you don't give a crap about? Just let it be. I think F1 is the dumbest 'sport' in the world, but its popular. My reference to it in 2 posts on the HF boards is literally the extent of my interaction with it in 37 years of my life. Live that way, its easier than trying to crap on everything I don't like.

Edit: Wait, did @MMC get tricked into investing in the league? If so I accept your criticism. If not, I'll repeat: Stop giving a shit.

If you think they did the branding the way did for any other reason than they wanted to start playing games ASAP and didn't have the team to establish real branding you are mistaken. And sorry but your edit is just stupid, while I have no interest in watching these games or supporting this league that doesn't preclude me from participating in discussion on a message board

 

[Legion34]

Well it depends. What level are they at?

AHL?
Echl
Ohl
Jr a?

I have local options for all of those. Why would anyone care what sex they are. You are in full equipment.

 

[jcs0218]

No interest at all.

To be honest, the NHL can sometimes have a difficult time keeping my interest due to how long the season is, how many mediocre cookie-cutter teams there are, how many games during the season seemingly mean nothing, etc.

I have lots of other things occupying my time in life that make it difficult to watch games during the season on a nightly basis.

So I can't see myself tuning in to watch women's hockey.

I really only ever watch women's hockey during the Gold Medal Game at the Olympics, and that is only due to having an emotional investment in Team Canada.

 

[Bocephus86]

If you think they did the branding the way did for any other reason than they wanted to start playing games ASAP and didn't have the team to establish real branding you are mistaken. And sorry but your edit is just stupid, while I have no interest in watching these games or supporting this league that doesn't preclude me from participating in discussion on a message board

Thats fair, I also go out of my way to crap on Cricket, F1, Rugby, and most soccer leagues, not to mention things like video game subthreads about forenight, CS, Second Life, and War Craft - its must indifference of these things that keep me involved in posting about them. Wait, that doesn't make sense at all... oh ya, I've never ever posted about any of this stuff because I don't care. But now I do, for some reason, very odd.