Classic Erica L. Ayala for you
Or is it Vintage Erica L. Ayala? Enjoy either way
Hi! Howard Megdal here. Our Erica L. Ayala is on assignment in Seattle covering the NHL Draft (men apparently play hockey! Who knew?)
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So enjoy this classic (or vintage) Erica column from May 2021. She’ll be back with us next week, powered by T-Mobile Park garlic fries. And Jessica Taylor Price will be in your inboxes first thing tomorrow with Gymnastics Saturday.
Please leave a comment about whether this is Vintage Erica or Classic Erica.
Breaking news: Nothing has changed
It would appear the conversation about the relationship between the MNHL and WoHo is making rounds again. Wild thing is, the story hasn’t really changed all that much. Here is a recap:
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The MNHL isn’t fully funding a women’s hockey league
Alright, wanted to keep things short and sweet as I get ready to head to Brooklyn for the New York Liberty season opener against the Indiana Fever. Catch you next week!
Jokes aside, what else is there to say?
All these think pieces by MNHL writers, more often than not, don’t offer any additional information. If you’ve read The IX for the last 2.5 years, you’ve read me write the same thing over and over and over again.
The NHL has been “talking” to women’s hockey leaders since before the NWHL started in 2015. There was one league, the CWHL and they didn’t move to do anything with the “WNHL”. Then the NWHL paid salaries (and then abruptly cut the salaries) and still, the WNHL remained on the shelf.
Then the CWHL and NWHL both paid players …
And then the CWHL folded …
And then the PWHPA started …
and where is the WNHL?
According to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly earlier this month (and always since the beginning of time), the MNHL’s position is to “let it remedy itself, and then we can evaluate what that means and how we move forward.”
I will say what I’ve always said about women’s hockey:
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for
AND
WE DON’T NEED JUST ONE PRO OPTION!
Look at the WNBA, with only 144 (editor’s note: ish) spots and so much talent left on the table. If you wanna be like the best women’s pro league in the world, start learning from their mistakes.
