LOWELL, Mass. — At the end of an early-season PWHL game between Montreal and Boston, the speakers blasted the Olivia Newton-John classic “Let’s Get Physical.”
And that’s exactly what the players did.
In a departure from previous top professional women’s hockey leagues, the PWHL has incorporated more body checking into its rules than ever before.
Skaters say the leeway will give them a better chance to showcase their skills, restoring the traditional balance between finesse and physicality familiar to hockey fans around the world.
“This was a long, physical game,” Toronto defender Renata Fast said. “We all train every day. We are strong enough. We are healthy enough to play a physical game. We are playing the game to a level where players are protected and avoid injuries from head contact. I think it would be great for gaming and entertainment value if we could move forward with that.”
Checks, and even grappling, have been a part of men’s hockey for more than a century, with players sending messages by using their bodies to pull opponents away from the puck and their fists to lay hands on star skaters or unsuspecting goalies. I did.
Those who support the more brutal aspects of the sport say there is no doubt that allowing players to police themselves actually makes the game safer, and that dropping the gloves can bring the crowd to their feet. It is claimed that.
However, most international leagues (both men’s and women’s) have banned matches and threatened severe penalties, including suspension. Even the NHL is trying to minimize this practice by increasing penalties for instigators and those who leave the bench to participate in brawls.
Women’s leagues have long avoided not only fights but even harsh body checks. While brawls occasionally break out in women’s hockey, regular fighting has never been a part of the sport.
Players say the lack of physicality was probably due in part to a misguided attempt to protect his frail body.
“I feel like people always said things like, ‘Oh, they can’t hit,’ about the women’s game,” said Montreal forward Gillian, a former Harvard University captain and the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer. Dempsey said. Hockey Federation, the predecessor of the PWHL. “And it’s like, ‘Well, that’s really true.’
“But now I’m glad I can do it more within the rules,” she said. “It gives us the freedom to go out there and show the strength and power that a lot of our players have.”
PWHL Rule 52, “Body Check,” allows contact “when there is a clear intent to play or ‘gain possession’ of the puck.”
Two players chasing the puck “are reasonably allowed to push or lean against each other so long as ‘possession of the puck’ is the sole purpose.”
The league also gives stationary players the right to “stand their ground” even if they are between an opponent and the puck. “It is up to the opponent to avoid physical contact with such a player. …The opponent must skate around the stationary player.”
This is clearly different from the NHL, where checking (at least the way the rules apply) is legal if there is a plausible argument that the batter is trying to dislodge the puck. And what the rules say is sometimes more important than how individual referees interpret them.
“It’s just a different level, a different type of physicality,” Minnesota goaltender Nicole Hensley said. He said: “I think it’s good for the game, but at the same time we need to make sure everyone understands how to take and give blows.”
Montreal’s game against Boston on Feb. 4 featured several full-body attacks, as would be expected in a close game, several of which were heavy enough to knock players off their skates.
But there were no NHL-style bone-crushing hits that occur long after the puck disappears.
In many cases, players skating close to the boards simply had their muscles ripped off the puck.
At the Tsongas Center, a 19th-century textile center, Boston’s Jessica Digirolamo raised her hands and stick and slammed Montreal’s Laura Stacey into the boards, drawing gasps from the crowd of 4,210 for a rough penalty. There was one. 1 hour northwest of Boston.
Montreal coach Cori Cheveley said most of her team’s women’s teams haven’t played with this many checks since they were young, and she has to play against the men’s teams to find competition for them. He said that he had no choice but to do so.
“I think it makes the game even more exciting,” said Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner, who represented Canada at three Olympics. “I think our skills showed more. In fact, the game didn’t slow down. It made us better.”
PWHL director of hockey operations Jayna Hefford, who won four Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, said the league has been working with players to find the right balance.
“Physicality was one of the areas they were really excited about,” she said. “These girls are skilled, strong, fast, train hard every day, and want to be able to compete. That’s something we knew right away that we wanted to add to their game. did.”
Hefford said the increased hitting power has not led to an increase in injuries, which is a relief for a young league. But crowd reaction has been positive, which is no small factor for a company hoping to stay in an area where other women’s professional hockey circuits are in decline.
“The fans love it too. It helps me get noticed,” said Dempsey, who is 5-foot-4 and weighs 135 pounds. At 5-foot-4 and 135 pounds, he’s more likely to take hits than give them. “It’s not fun to go bad a few times, but yeah, that’s a fun aspect of the game that we can have right now.”
