New commissioner Carey aims to push PHF into the future

It would be an understatement to say the Premier Hockey Federation has undergone a lot of change over the past couple of seasons.

From a rebrand in September 2021 that moved on from the National Women’s Hockey League name, to the salary cap doubling to $750,000 (including full healthcare benefits for the players) for the 2022-23 season, to games being broadcast nationally in the U.S. and Canada, the league has hit a lot of milestones in a short amount of time.

On the leadership side, founder Dani Rylan Kearney stepped down as commissioner in October 2020 and was replaced by interim Tyler Tumminia. In February, Tumminia announced she would not be renewing her contract and would step down at the end of the 2021-22 season, paving the way for the league’s third commissioner in two years.

Enter Reagan Carey.

Named the third commissioner in PHF history on April 26, Carey’s resume includes time with USA Hockey, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. With USA Hockey, her eight-year stretch (2010-18) at the helm of the women’s program included four U18 women’s championships, five Women’s World Championship titles and Olympic gold in 2018.

Now, she’s ready to lead the PHF into the future by capitalizing on the momentum the league has been riding. 

“My experience with working at the pro level at the start of my career and having the exposure to different ways of doing it from the NBA and the NHL, I think that serves me well in this,” Carey told TSN. 

“[I] had a lot of time in fan involvement and marketing as well as just sport development prior to my time at USA Hockey, so I think all of it really [leads] well into needing to understand a lot of aspects of the business and not just what’s happening on the ice.”

Offici