The email arrived on June 29 at around 5 p.m.
There will be a town hall meeting with league leadership in three hours. Make your attendance a priority.
Many of the players in the Premier Hockey Federation didn’t think much of the message. Meetings with the leadership of the women’s league had been called before, and they typically covered routine developments. Some players didn’t think twice about skipping the call and going to dinner or the gym.
The players who joined the virtual town hall that evening didn’t have to wait long before league commissioner Reagan Carey dropped news that was anything but routine. “There’s a lot we’re going to be sharing, a lot of info coming your way, and I just want to reinforce what a moment this is for our sport,” she began.
Carey then explained that the PHF was shutting down after eight seasons. The recently signed contracts of over 100 players were being terminated. But then she delivered a silver lining: In the PHF’s place, a new professional women’s hockey league would begin play in January 2024. It would be backed by Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and would consist of franchises in Canada and the United States.
“There was panic, a lot of confusion and heartbreak, honestly,” said one…
