PWHPA inching closer to forming women's pro hockey league

Talks with select NHL teams and major corporate sponsors have intensified in the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association's bid to form a league within the next year, two people with direct knowledge of discussions told The Associated Press.

While progress is being made, one of the people said an announcement is not imminent, while also cautioning against placing a timeline on when a proposed league made up of the world's top players could be ready for opening faceoff.

"No timeline, but we're getting closer," said the person, who like the other AP source spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

In a text, PWHPA executive Jayna Hefford declined to comment Wednesday.

Details of how the proposed league would operate are unknown, though the most ideal scenario would involve NHL franchises on both sides of the border co-sponsoring women's teams competing in a regular-season schedule followed by playoffs.

What's also unclear is when and how long a PWHPA league's season would run. The top players have U.S. and Canadian national team commitments, including competing at the women's world championships in August, as well as a yet-to-be scheduled series of rivalry games expected to be played in November.

The NHL, as an entity, has backed off funding a pro women's league after the coronavirus pandemic blew a major hole in its budget. That hasn't stopped the league from supporting women's hockey, which most recently included the U.S. women's team taking part in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 and paying for a charter flight for the team to travel from its Minnesota base to Los Angeles en route to the Beijing Olympics last month.

It also hasn't stopped NHL franchises from forming their own