According to TSN, The Canadian Womens Hockey League sees having a draft as a step towards becoming a professional league. The CWHL will draft players at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. "It makes it real for us, the knowledge that we're taking the next step," goaltender and CWHL co-founder Sami Jo Small said."The fact that it's at the Hockey Hall of Fame, it does legitimize it.It makes it something we want to be at and be a part of. If it was just on the internet I feel there wouldn't be as much excitement." Only three of the five teams in the league will take part in the draft.
Toronto, Brampton, and Burlington will select players from the Greater Toronto Area.
Boston and Montreal will choose players from their areas. ``We`re not paying enough money to make a woman move from here to Boston,`` CWHL executive director Brenda Andress said.``It`s not feasible or logical at this point.``
Defender Tessa Bonhomme, who won gold for Canada last February at the Vancouver Olympics. Former national team members Delaney Collins, Ashley Riggs, and Correne Bredin, and Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler are expected to be some of the wanted players at the draft. The three GTA clubs can protect players who have played one season or more in the last three before they start to draft. Toronto has the first pick and the next pick will be decided by a coin flip between Brampton and Burlington. Another coin flip will determine the order in the other rounds.
The CWHL does not pay players, but their ice time and travel costs are covered. However players pay for their equipment. Coaches and general managers are volunteers. According to Sami Jo Small, The CWHL draft is significant because it is a sign of professionalism in their sport and the players` desire to have more parity in the league.``In other professional leagues, people get place on different teams and people get traded and we in women`s hockey have never really experienced that,`` she said. ``It`s been your choice as to where you want to go.`` `
``Now you go where you are drafted and you have to make it work there and you really have to work hard to make it work.``
Toronto and Boston are new additions to the league. None of the teams have names yet and the draft will change the rosters that had little changes year-to-year a lot on the established clubs. ``There`s a little bit of sadness because the players you`ve played with for a while and who have been your teammates and you`ve sat together on long bus trips with them are now going to be your adversaries,`` Small said. ``That`s going to be hard initially, but I think deep down we all know this is going to be the best thing for women`s hockey.``
Former olympian Small and 2010 gold medalist Jennifer Botterill are on Toronto`s protected list. Cherie Piper, Gillian Apps, and Jayna Hefford, who all won gold for Canada in Vancouver last February, are protected by Brampton. Burlington has protected four-time Olympic defenceman(and three-time gold medalist) Becky Kellar. ``We are a professionally run league going into this season and we are not professional yet in that the players still don`t get paid, the GMs and coaches don`t get paid, but that`s what we`re really hoping to do to attract new sponsors and to be able to showcase that we`ve made the changes necessary to have the best women`s hockey league in the world,`` said Sami Jo Small.
Boston was a convenient addition to the CWHL because of travel distance and the fact it is a hockey market where some U.S. national team members live, Brenda Andress said. Olympians Kacey Bellamy, Caitlin Cahow, Molly Engstrom, and Erika Lawler are expected to play for the Boston team next season. Tessa Bonhomme had to apply to be drafted by a CWHL club because she`s been playing in the Western Women`s hockey league. 2010 and 2006 Canadian gold medalists Caroline Ouellette, Kim St.Pierre, and Sarah Vaillancourt will play for Montreal.
As a supporter of women`s hockey, I think a draft is a huge step in the right direction. I think that women`s hockey is a sport that deserves support.
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