Back in 1996, Connecticut hosted one of the original teams of the first American women's professional basketball league, the American Basketball League. Now, Connecticut will be home to one of the four inaugural teams in the first women's professional ice hockey League in the U.S., the NWHL.
The Connecticut Whale will join the New York Riveters, the Boston Pride, and the Buffalo Beauts in the inaugural season of the National Women's Hockey League, which begins in October. Each owner must hire an 18-player roster within a $270,000 salary cap, meaning the average salary will be around $15,000 per player for the 18-game season.
Despite the modest salary, the fledgling league expects to fill rosters with some of the best players in the world.
"The current professional league in Canada, the women aren't paid there, so the opportunity to get paid is a big motivator," said NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan. "Since it is a paid league, we can offer visas for international players, so the women who may have gone to college in Boston, and want to stay in the Boston area will still have the ability to do that, because they'll have the visa."
Free agent signing gets underway in June, and college juniors will be drafted in October.
The NWHL will use the same rules as NCAA Women's Hockey, meaning full face masks and no checking. Dani Rylan said the "no checking" rule leads to a much different style of play than men's hockey.
"A lot of fans actually appreciate watching it because you can watch plays develop, and their puck movement capabilities, it makes for a very fun game to watch," Rylan said.
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The Connecticut Whale is a familiar name to Connecticut hockey fans. Howard Baldwin renamed the Hartford Wolfpack the Connecticut Whale during the 2010-2011 season as a tribute to the Hartford Whalers. The team returned to the Wolfpack name in 2013. Baldwin gave the NWHL permission to use the Connecticut Whale name.
Connecticut Whale games will be played at Chelsea Piers in Stamford.
