Women's hockey's best players finally have a league of their own

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A confusing and frustrating time for anyone who cares about women's hockey is about to end. Last night, a union made up of most of the world's best players ratified a collective bargaining agreement and a constitution for a new league that's been in the works for years before finally coming together rather suddenly over the long weekend.

While the details remain sketchy — we don't know exactly where the franchises will be located or even what the name of the new league will be — the bottom line is this: players from the archrival Canadian and U.S. women's national teams, which have squared off in so many memorable battles at the Olympics and world championships over the years, will finally compete in a single professional league alongside many of the world's other best players.

The genesis of the new league dates back to 2019, when the Canadian Women's Hockey League folded. Rather than join the rival, U.S.-based National Women's Hockey League, Canadian and American national team members decided to strike out on their own. They formed the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association with the goal of establishing their own "sustainable" league — one that would offer better pay, benefits and working conditions than anything that came before it.

That proved difficult to accomplish. So, for the past few years, when they weren't competing for their national teams, most of the best Canadian and American players toiled on the PWHPA's Dream Gap Tour — a barnstorming series that lacked the trappings (and fan appeal) of a traditional pro sports league. Meanwhile, the NWHL