What the PWHL Got Right

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The PWHL rewards 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime/shootout loss, and 0 points for a regulation loss. This makes things a little bit different for everyone because it incentivizes winning during regulation. 

I have advocated for this for years. It's truly the most fairest way to deliver points. Regulation wins are more important than overtime wins. OT wins are more important than shootout wins. Those 3 points make for exciting finishes. Imagine pulling a goalie in the last 90 seconds of a tie game because you need the 3. The reward for a regulation victory is not what it needs to be right now.

Audra Martin announced last night that the home opener had an attendance of over 13k. Outstanding for MN hockey fans. Of course, next on the list is a tv contract (and I'd target the CW), and then viewership. So, how does the home gate get split? That's in the details, I'm hoping home team keeps it all. 

The women's players must know that they are pioneers. Getting help from the NHL gives them an advantage over starting from scratch, and that's a good advantage. But, players have got to know that they will have to work harder, for less pay, and all be ambassadors for the game. Appearances will be key as they travel the state and show up at girls games across the state. This generation of players will not be the ones that reap the benefits, that is at least 2 generations from now.

Chances are, some of our commenters were at the home opener. I'd really like to hear what their experience was like and what kind of a show was put on? Would you return for another game? Was it worth your entertainment dollars?

48 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I have advocated for this for years. It's truly the most fairest way to deliver points. Regulation wins are more important than overtime wins. OT wins are more important than shootout wins. Those 3 points make for exciting finishes. Imagine pulling a goalie in the last 90 seconds of a tie game because you need the 3. The reward for a regulation victory is not what it needs to be right now.

Audra Martin announced last night that the home opener had an attendance of over 13k. Outstanding for MN hockey fans. Of course, next on the list is a tv contract (and I'd target the CW), and then viewership. So, how does the home gate get split? That's in the details, I'm hoping home team keeps it all. 

The women's players must know that they are pioneers. Getting help from the NHL gives them an advantage over starting from scratch, and that's a good advantage. But, players have got to know that they will have to work harder, for less pay, and all be ambassadors for the game. Appearances will be key as they travel the state and show up at girls games across the state. This generation of players will not be the ones that reap the benefits, that is at least 2 generations from now.

Chances are, some of our commenters were at the home opener. I'd really like to hear what their experience was like and what kind of a show was put on? Would you return for another game? Was it worth your entertainment dollars?

I wasn't at the opener but definitely plan to go to a game this season.  Since the opener is going to get the most attention, I figured I'd go to a game later in the season as the shiny new thing wanes a bit in people's minds.

The other thing is that I noticed a bunch of women in their 40s-50s in the crowds that have on jerseys from what I figure used to be women's teams from years ago, and some of them are from other areas like Denver.  I highly suspect that a good portion of that crowd was not from Minnesota, and that a lot of people to the west who wanted to be a part of that game traveled to be there.  Yes, there seemed to be a significant Minnesota presence, but Minnesota and Ottawa are the teams furthest to the west in the entire league and I don't think it's a coincidence that those games had the highest turnout in their openers.

I had a feeling that would be the case and it's another reason why I'm planning to go to at least one game this season.  I've managed to get my girlfriend interested in hockey enough to follow the Wild, but she seems excited about the PWHL, and we both want it to succeed.  Typically I go to at least one Wild game a year.  It gets to be expensive, but that because I try to get tickets in the 3-10 row range on the sides.  Glass would be nice but that's a bit much.  The PWHL tickets are well in the range where I can go a bit more.

The WNBA took about a generation to grow into what it has.  If the PWHL doesn't try to expand too quickly and plays their cards right, I figure it could be about the same.  I don't think it would take 2 generations.  I mean, unfortunately women's sports will probably never get to the same kind of commercial success as men's sports, and hockey in general is less prominent than football, basketball, and baseball, but I'm hoping that in 10-12 years that there's at least 12-16 teams in the league as more girls grow up knowing that they could strive to potentially play hockey professionally.  I'd like to be wrong and that eventually there are 32 teams or something in 30-40 years, but I'm not sure it will generate that amount of revenue to get there.

The games are being televised.  They are on Bally.  We've watched both games there and it sounds like they plan to air all the games this season.

Another thing I'd add to the article is that I've seen a lot of comments about people saying they aren't interested in watching women's hockey because there's no checking.  There IS checking in PWHL.  It's a bit limited, but hockey is a contact sport and so it's good to see that be a part of the game.  It sounds like a lot of the players were adamant that checking be allowed and so checking can occur if a player has control of a puck.  I feel like the league is still a bit touchy with it though.  A Minnesota player (I forget who) was skating into the offensive zone just inside the blue line and she put the puck through the legs of the defender and tried to go around, but the Montreal defender saw she was off balance and knocked her to the ice.  The Minnesota player still basically had possession as it happened right as she made the move.  It just seemed like a good play by the Montreal defender.  Checking against the wall seems to be fine, but I think they still need to figure out open-ice stuff a bit.

The new league only has six teams, so that makes it harder to build support. Some of those teams are focused on major cities, so most of the USA / Canada have no team even remotely close. The previous leagues had more teams.

I think a minimum of 8 teams is needed, with better Geographic distribution. Instead of focusing on big market cities, put the teams closer to where the future players might come from. In a small league, you obviously don`t want one team located far away from everyone else, but you can still have a decent spread.

I would have 8 teams, with no state or province getting more than one. The best locations, would be Manitoba, Minnesota, Ontario, Michigan, Quebec, Massachusetts, Maritimes and Pennsylvania. 

One thing the PWHL got right is that it is good hockey. It is fast and skilled. There'd is enough physicality to give it an edge too.

On the Russo/LaPanta podcast, LaPanta made the point, he doesn't even want the 3-point system.  The NHL is the only major American sport that rewards the losers for making overtime.  Just get two points or get squat.  Anything is better than what's going on now.  The Wild are one of those, "Mushy Middle" teams that benefit from the loser point by being closer to the playoffs than they should be, but they gotta stop the lie just to placate a few markets with false hope.

We were there yesterday and the atmosphere was electric and super fun.

Showed up a little over an hour before puck drop and there were crowds swarming toward the X off of West 7th and Kellogg.  I was honestly a bit shocked, that is crowd level about half an hour before Wild games.

The PWHL severely underestimated the desire for Merch.  They only had two little stands set up and the lines when we arrived were the length of the concourse.  They were wiped out before the puck dropped.

It was also amazing and wonderful to see entire youth teams in their jerseys going bonkers.  It was pretty obvious they gave some discount rates to a couple sections (or boosters went all out), but damn that was joyful and fantastic.

The game is different.  Quite a few mistakes and teams feeling each other out.  About what I expected for game 2 in a brand new league.  Hella props to the Defense for throwing their bodies horizontal to block shots though.  Holy shit they are crazy.  Do not see that level of commitment in the NHL outside of the playoffs, which I get, because that fucking hurts and you can get hurt.  No fucks were given, they were there to play.

Though can we get some team themed pads and helmet to Rooney?  Her USA Olympic helmet and black and yellow CCM pads do not go with the purple. 

I am looking forward to the rest of the season.  We bought season tickets for a fraction of the price of our 10 game Club level Wild pack.  After one game, worth every penny.

Please continue to have PWHL articles.

17 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

LaPanta made the point, he doesn't even want the 3-point system.  The NHL is the only major American sport that rewards the losers for making overtime. 

A lot of people don't like the 3 point system for various reasons. But I certainly do. 

1. It encourages teams to play for the victory in the last 10 minutes of a game.
2. This is especially important when playing cross conference games.
3. It rewards teams who finish off opponents in regulation.
4. It helps cover the loser point inflated standings.
5. It allows teams further back in the standings to get hot and gain ground.

A team should not get the same reward of finishing off another team with a 3v3 gimmick as in finishing them off in regulation. If MN beats Dallas the next 2 games 5-2 and 6-3, that would be a telling sign. But, if they get the same points reward as 3-2 OT win and 4-3 shootout win, that's not a very good indication of how the games went.

Just a quick look at the standings reveals that the Islanders have the most OTLs with 10, followed by Seattle and CBJ. The Islanders are staying in the playoffs due to loser points, whereas a team who finishes off teams in regulation don't get their full reward. The Wild only have 4 OTLs, and they have 6 OT/SO wins. Montreal has the most wins with 9. 

If the goal is to get the best 16 teams into the playoffs, or at least the best 8 from each conference into the dance, then a 3 point format best accomplishes this. Teams should be rewarded for a draw in regulation, but teams also should be rewarded for finishing an opponent off in regulation.

14 hours ago, Wanderinginmn said:

Though can we get some team themed pads and helmet to Rooney?  Her USA Olympic helmet and black and yellow CCM pads do not go with the purple. 

 

I'm guessing this is mainly due to the fact that they haven't settled on team names and branding yet.  I also feel like there is no guarantee that the teams stick with the colors they have either.  Usually you develop what the team will be called before picking out team colors.  Now they are in an awkward situation of naming the team afterward and having to fit the colors they've started with or risk fan backlash for the people who have bought stuff already thinking that's at least the colors of the team.

It's probably the largest thing I would say the PWHL has done wrong.

I get that it's still getting rolling and the financial backers probably did not want to put a bunch of effort/money into designing team logos, etc if there did not seem to be enough interest, but it has the potential to backfire or for people to take it less seriously and not really give it a chance.

On 1/8/2024 at 10:55 AM, mnfaninnc said:

A lot of people don't like the 3 point system for various reasons. But I certainly do. 

1. It encourages teams to play for the victory in the last 10 minutes of a game.
2. This is especially important when playing cross conference games.
3. It rewards teams who finish off opponents in regulation.
4. It helps cover the loser point inflated standings.
5. It allows teams further back in the standings to get hot and gain ground.

A team should not get the same reward of finishing off another team with a 3v3 gimmick as in finishing them off in regulation. If MN beats Dallas the next 2 games 5-2 and 6-3, that would be a telling sign. But, if they get the same points reward as 3-2 OT win and 4-3 shootout win, that's not a very good indication of how the games went.

Just a quick look at the standings reveals that the Islanders have the most OTLs with 10, followed by Seattle and CBJ. The Islanders are staying in the playoffs due to loser points, whereas a team who finishes off teams in regulation don't get their full reward. The Wild only have 4 OTLs, and they have 6 OT/SO wins. Montreal has the most wins with 9. 

If the goal is to get the best 16 teams into the playoffs, or at least the best 8 from each conference into the dance, then a 3 point format best accomplishes this. Teams should be rewarded for a draw in regulation, but teams also should be rewarded for finishing an opponent off in regulation.

 

I much prefer a 3-2-1-0 system. Three points for a regulation win; two points for an OT/SO win and one point for a OT/SO loss; zero points for a regulation loss.