IIHF says women's pro hockey in North America key to strengthening international game

A unified North American women's pro hockey league could bolster the international game in the same way the NHL does on the men's side, says the International Ice Hockey Federation's women's committee chair.

But the IIHF is a bystander in the current division between the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association and Premier Hockey League.

The PWHPA of roughly 150 members currently doesn't want to join the PHF, which is expanding to seven teams in its eighth season.

"To be honest, we haven't too much influence on what they are doing in Canada and the U.S.," IIHF council member Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer said.

"We are in contact with both organizations and we would be very happy if they could find somehow an agreement and somehow join their sponsors, their knowledge, to build one really strong league."

About 30 per cent of NHL players were from outside North America in 2021-22. One reason the men have 25-player rosters for their world championship is so countries can add players to their teams after the first round of NHL playoffs.

A North American women's league featuring Canadian and American stars, and also providing jobs to players outside the continent, can strengthen the international game, Kolbenheyer told The Canadian Press.

"That could be a very important league for all national-team players, not only for the North Americans, but also for other nations," she said. "The best players could play there and then help their teams coming back to the world championships."

The majority of the Canada's team and half the U.S. roster at the world championship in Denmark are affiliated with the PWHPA, while seven PHF players are sprinkled across non-North American rosters.

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