For the first time since the 1998 Nagano Games, the USA Women's National Hockey Team won the gold medal over rival Canada 3-2 in Pyeongchang, which broke Canada's 4 game gold medal-winning streak. This game was huge not just for women's hockey, but for women's sports in general. When fans think of hockey leagues in the United States, they think of leagues like the NHL, AHL, ECHL, SPHL and junior leagues but not women's hockey, until now.
The NWHL (National Women's Hockey League) was founded in 2015 and are headquartered in New York City, NY. The league currently has four teams like the Boston Pride, Connecticut Whale, Buffalo Beautes and the Metropolitan Riveters. There are two teams that are either partnered with an NHL team or owned by an NHL team. The Metropolitan Riveters are currently partnered with the New Jersey Devils. The team also adopted the colors of the Devils and play their home games at the Barnabas Health Hockey House on the site of the Devils arena Prudential Center. Another team who became the first to be a non-league owned franchise are the Buffalo Beautes, who were bought by Pegula Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, Buffalo Bandits of the NLL, Buffalo Bills of the NFL and Rochester Americans of the AHL.
These moves are only the beginning foundation for this league but by partnering with the NHL. This gives the league a legitimacy it never had before. The games could easily air on the NHL Network along with their partnerships with Youtube and Twitter. The Boston Pride became the first women's hockey league team to sign a regional television contract with NESN so there is a possibility that more women's hockey teams will have regional sports coverage as well. As this league takes shape, it won't surprise me if more NHL teams either partner with a team or own a team. There's plenty of room for more hockey here in America. You can the NWHL on Twitter and Facebook.
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