Women's pro sport in Canada 'ripe for investment' but investors need patience - and happy fans

In a country madly in love with hockey, why has the women's game never been able to ride the excitement of big events like the Olympics and form a full-time league?

For Canada's best female hockey players, it remains a sorepoint, a perplexing and never quite answered question.

Brianne Jenner, who has been part of the Canadian national team's core for more than decade, has been trying to answer that question for years.

"It's tremendously frustrating that more fans won't see the prime years of [long-time Team Canada captain] Marie-Philip Poulin," Jenner told CBC Sports. 

"For our generation, it's frustrating that outside of the top 50 players that are playing on their respective national teams in North America, players 50 through 200 have to get 9-to-5 jobs and never have the opportunity to realize their potential as pro players."

WATCH | Professional women's hockey struggles to take hold:

The Premier Hockey Federation, the one existing women's professional league, has two of its six franchises based in Canada. But since the Canadian Women's Hockey League folded in 2018, there has been no domestic league in Canada.

More than two decades after women's hockey arrived with a bang at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Canada's best are still searching for traction and widespread relevancy.

Jenner says there is a "momentum" around women's sports that will change this narrative.

"The public is starting to realize some things that those involved have known for a while... it's entertaining sport, [and] there's money to be made there."

A new report released this week by Canadian Women & Sport entitled It's Time supports Jenner's assertion.

BCG paints a rosy picture of the possibilities, estimating the total size of the Canadian