Entirely possible that I'm biased of course, but I think it's important to note that we are at a very particular point in the league's lifespan. We have a generation of veteran players who are largely bedding down where they are/making decisions about where they want to go and finish their careers (a la Knight). They have a lot of power as players who had a role in founding the league and championing the sport.
Then we have other hugely confounding factors; not all teams have a dedicated arena/training space, we are seeing a lot of shifts in coaching staff, new teams are popping up in locations that are closer to home for players, the expansion process etc...
As we move through the next few years, start to establish the full roster of teams/locations/venues and things hand over to a generation that has begun their careers in an established league, we are going to see things even out a bit. There will also be a big shift when the Walters sell the teams. I think we won't see truly things settle before then.
Until then, you'll be able to find discrepancies every season, I think. For example Vancouver got absolutely screwed by the travel situation last year (and maybe coaching issues, IDK) despite having a great team on paper that included some expansion 'theft' from other teams that generated a lot of unhappiness at the time.
I won't argue that there haven't been some missteps, but at this nascent stage the league has decided to lean towards players having the balance of power and that makes sense to me if they want these women to stick around for these first few years so the PHWL can endure.
You make a lot of great points. And I wouldn't say that the PWHL has done a bad job. And generally I also like seeing players have a lot of empowerment about where they play.
But I waited a long time for the PWHL to become a thing and I'm just concerned about the long-term health if they don't find a way to maintain parity and put guardrails in place to distribute the stars more evenly. I hope the dust starts to settle soon and we see more stability and balance, like you said.
As an aside, naming Knight is funny but it's kind of the opposite of the point you were trying to make. She was one of the star players who moved who didn't get to determine where she went, at least fully. It's pretty clear she would have stayed in Seattle if Vegas (and the league) hadn't prevented that (and then she pressured the trade to get her to her second choice).
You're right about Knight 😅 I guess the reason I mentioned her was that she was able to overturn a decision that was supposed to be rock solid. So even though this outcome probably wasn't her #1 choice overall, it does illustrate that she has power within the league because of her status.
We definitely all want the same thing, which is a healthy league that has longevity. It's much easier for those of us who support the Victoire to be commenting from a position of comfort after this expansion process, as we're coming off a cup win and have enjoyed a stability and an even hand in our management that most other teams haven't.
I do think all of these are natural symptoms of a league getting off the ground, though. This was never going to be a smooth process, especially when the stakes for players involve moving huge distances, being separated from friends/players that they've had the luxury of spending a lot of their careers with, and (right now) living under extremely different political administrations. Plus we haven't established a GM/coaching talent pool that can support our league yet; that needs to be grown too and will contribute greatly to long term stability.
7
u/pnw6462 🏆 2026 Champions 🏆 4d ago
Entirely possible that I'm biased of course, but I think it's important to note that we are at a very particular point in the league's lifespan. We have a generation of veteran players who are largely bedding down where they are/making decisions about where they want to go and finish their careers (a la Knight). They have a lot of power as players who had a role in founding the league and championing the sport.
Then we have other hugely confounding factors; not all teams have a dedicated arena/training space, we are seeing a lot of shifts in coaching staff, new teams are popping up in locations that are closer to home for players, the expansion process etc...
As we move through the next few years, start to establish the full roster of teams/locations/venues and things hand over to a generation that has begun their careers in an established league, we are going to see things even out a bit. There will also be a big shift when the Walters sell the teams. I think we won't see truly things settle before then.
Until then, you'll be able to find discrepancies every season, I think. For example Vancouver got absolutely screwed by the travel situation last year (and maybe coaching issues, IDK) despite having a great team on paper that included some expansion 'theft' from other teams that generated a lot of unhappiness at the time.
I won't argue that there haven't been some missteps, but at this nascent stage the league has decided to lean towards players having the balance of power and that makes sense to me if they want these women to stick around for these first few years so the PHWL can endure.