Canadian Women's Hockey League Growth to Professional

The best women's hockey leagues are located in the North America; Western Women's Hockey League and the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The CWHL has teams in Toronto, Brampton (Ontario), Burlington (Ontario), Montreal, and Boston. The WWHL features teams in: Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Strathmore (Alberta), and Minnesota.

Despite these leagues featuring the best of the best in North American women's hockey circles, these two leagues have a semi-professional status. Women from the Canadian and American Olympic national teams fill out the rosters, yet most of the women who play in the leagues have to work other jobs to survive. So this begs the question, can these leagues reach professional status where not only they draw in the top talent from North American but also from the world?

In my optimistic opinion, I think yes. The growth of women's hockey in North America is steady and actually showing signs of moving ahead of boys hockey. In an article in The Hockey News it was stated that if not for the increase in female hockey registration, minor hockey in Canada would have seen a significant drop in youth registration last year. But will men accept women's professional hockey? As male hockey player myself, I hope that more males will accept this league and appreciate the skill these hockey players possess.

While the WWHL has been in operation since 2004, the CWHL has actually seen more growth in national media attention having articles about the league and its players published in The Hockey News and news coverage on TSN. 


One event that helped the CWHL was they had the first ever women's entry draft in 2010. Toronto was awarded the first pick and they selected Canadian Olympian Tessa Bonhomme. The draft was held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada and received national coverage.

Canadian Olympian Tessa Bonhomme was the 2010 CWHL 1st Overall Draft Pick

The CWHL features 17 players that played in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and also features one Swedish player; Danijela Rundqvist (You can follow her blog HERE). Danijela cannot get any money while playing over here because the league cannot grant work permits for international players since they do not have a high enough operating income. It seems though that Danijela has a sponsorship deal worked out with Bauer so I don't think she is hurting for money right now.

According to the CWHL's Blog, the league has seen a 700% increase in fan attendance this season. And taking a look at their stats website, the average attendance is just above 200 fans per game. The league will need even a larger increase in fan attendance to become a full professional league. But what is positive though, is the league is taking its growth slow and steady.

Expansion south of the border happened this season with the Boston Blades becoming the first US based team to play in the CWHL. The Blades are stocked with ex NCAA Division 1 and American Olympians including Angela Ruggiero. The Blades recently played a home game on Cape Cod in the new Hyannis Youth and Community Center. The game saw 600 fans fill into the new arena and most of those fans where female youth hockey players coming to see their heroes.

"I loved it," said Samantha Knox, a 12-year-old defenseman for the Waves who wears No. 4 and was thrilled to see Olympic silver medalist and fellow No. 4 Angela Ruggiero on the ice.(Cape Cod Times)

 At the end of the WWHL and the CWHL playoffs, the winners of the leagues will meet up to battle it out for the Clarkson Cup. The Clarkson Cup is named after the The Right Honourable Adrienne Louise Clarkson who was Canada's 26th Governor General (Canada's Representative to Queen Elizabeth II).

The CWHL is already getting set for the 2011 Draft with players able to register for the upcoming draft on the website. There has been no mention of more expansion for next season, but I think another US team based in New England would help Boston's travel schedule.

I truly hope the CWHL can continue to see growth to where it can pay its players a full-time salary and also bring in the best female players from other countries. There have been rumours that the CWHL league brass have been trying to get an affiliation set up with the NHL similar to what the NBA has with the WNBA. But with the NHL in the hands of Gary Bettman and his mind focused on the NHL's growth issues in the southern markets (Phoenix, Atlanta, Florida, etc.), this could just be a pipe dream. But for now, I look forward to getting a chance to see a CWHL game in the future and hope that it will continue to grow and expand.

Montreal with the Clarkson Cup (photo from The Hockey News)