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A Brief Introduction to the NWHL

A league of their own.

By Mike Murphy

The NWHL (National Women's Hockey League), founded in 2015, is the first all-women's paid professional hockey league. The league was founded by Dani Rylan who also serves as the league's commissioner. The league consists of four teams: Connecticut Whale, New York Riveters, Boston Pride and Buffalo Beauts.

This NWHL is in its infancy (the whole "founded in 2015" bit should make that abundantly clear) and presents those people who are passionate about hockey with an amazing opportunity to shape, contribute, and be a part of something new, unique, and important. When you go to the official site and click on the "free agents" tab you'll notice that you can register with the league to become a listed free agent. This is what it looks like to build a league from the ground up. There are countless passionate and dedicated people working very, very hard to make this happen and it deserves a little bit of light thrown on it. It should go without saying, but the success and growth of the NWHL is nothing but good news for anyone who loves hockey, the NHL, or sports in general.

Besides, how many times in your life will you be given the opportunity to vote on the jersey that your potential favorite team will be playing in (note: voting ends today!)

We are all eagerly looking forward to October because of the onset of the 2015-16 NHL regular season and getting to watch the New York Rangers get back on the ice, but it will also be the beginning of the inaugural NWHL season. The New York City area will have two teams in the NWHL; the New York Riveters (which might just be the best team name and logo in sports in 50 years) and the Connecticut Whale. Yes, much like in the NHL, I will continue to overlook and leave the Buffalo franchise out of the equation. Each team will play an 18 game regular season before competing for the Isobel Cup (named after the daughter of the donator of the Stanley Cup).

League Schedule | League Site

So, where can you watch the Riveters and/or the Whale play starting in October?

  • The New York Riveters will be playing their home games at the Aviator Sports and Events Center which is located at 3159 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234.
  • The Connecticut Whale will play their home games at Chelsea Piers Connecticut. The address of the rink is 1 Blachley Rd, Stamford, CT 06902.

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I'm sure plenty of you are reading this and have already decided that this simply isn't for you, and that's fine. I decided to write something up about the NWHL because I've played and watched enough hockey with female friends and relatives to know that they deserve this. Hockey deserves this.

Thanks for reading, gang.

Let's go Rangers. Let's go Riveters.

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