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To tinker with the title of a Blue Rodeo classic, the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s off-season might be remembered as “Eight Days in May.”
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That’s how much time will have elapsed between the Montreal Victoire’s hoisting of the Walter Cup at Canadian Tire Centre on May 20 and “Phase 1” of a complex six-phase Expansion Roster Distribution Process (ERDP) that begins with a negotiation list submission deadline on Friday at 3 p.m.
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General managers of new teams in Hamilton, Detroit, Vegas, and San Jose must be wringing their hands in anticipation.
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In putting together the process, the PWHL’s goal was “to give players a meaningful voice … while maintaining competitive balance across the league for all 12 teams,” Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive VP of hockey operations, said in a release on Wednesday. “We believe this framework accomplishes both goals and reflects the collaborative and forward-thinking approach that has helped shape the PWHL since Day 1.”
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What do the players think of the ERDP?
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Rather than taking a poll, Postmedia reached out to Brant Feldman, a PWHLPA-certified agent and founder of American Group Management.
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“With expansion comes both opportunities to grow women’s hockey to more markets,” said Feldman. “But with that, you do have to say goodbye to those fans who have bought your jerseys and have screamed their support of you and collected your autograph.
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“Last season in Boston, you saw captain and future Hockey Hall of Famer Hilary Knight get left unprotected when she was an MVP and ‘Best Forward’ candidate. That happens because there is so much support for this product from the ‘Takeover Tour’ to the growth of women’s sports throughout North America and European women’s soccer.
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“If you want the growth, you do have to lose your players to stack teams out for competitive balance at the same time.”
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It is a natural evolution.
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“It is this fandom that has propelled many female sports to the forefront, not just in the WNBA, NWSL, PWHL and a slew of other sports that will have the same ecosystem that we have seen for 100-plus years in men’s sports,” said Feldman. “For players in the PWHL, especially those who grew from the ashes of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and the Dream Gap Tour, that is what all of this was for. To get to a point where not only players were paid to do this, but to expand the reach of the sport with an underserved audience that was never given the opportunity for a sustainable sports landscape, and to have the same ability to be a pro athlete.
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“But now, as we have this, the understanding is that teams will change, and the same things we have seen in NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL expansion will look the same in this too. That is a part of the growth model that is common for all sports in North America.”
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What does it mean for the Ottawa Charge?
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Lots of work ahead for GM Mike Hirshfeld and head coach Carla MacLeod.
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