CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

[joecct]

Re: CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

The team is going to be based somewhere in the U.S. during the season. Between this and the fact that they just signed Noora Raty and Kelli Stack, I'm curious to find out just how "Chinese" they'll really be. Odd, given that the stated purpose is to get a Chinese team ready for the 2022 Olympics.

Edit: Apparently, I'm wrong about this. The article I read at The Ice Garden implied that they would be playing in North America, but everywhere else is saying that it will in Shenzhen, with the other teams traveling there to play 3 game series. I would presume that the Chinese government is picking up the travel expenses.

CBC agrees: http://www.cbc.ca/m/sports/hockey/cwhl-china-hc-red-star-kunlun-join-1.4147421

 

[ZedLeppelin]

Re: CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

"I thought it would be a totally different experience," [Kelli] Stack said of why she will make the move to China.
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I'm guessing she majored in Understatementology at Boston College.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

The team is going to be based somewhere in the U.S. during the season. Between this and the fact that they just signed Noora Raty and Kelli Stack, I'm curious to find out just how "Chinese" they'll really be. Odd, given that the stated purpose is to get a Chinese team ready for the 2022 Olympics.

That is really no different than the likes of Pele, Cruijff and Beckenbauer coming over to NA to play Football (As we call it accross the pond) to sell that game to the NA crowd. Well 20-30 years later the USA has improved leaps and bounds in Soccer as an indirect result of that. (There are other factors, but that was really the first impulse into the growth of the game in NA).

Secondly find it sad that there is two leagues CWHL and NWHL operating separately in what is already a niche market that can barely support one league. Looks like both leagues "JUMP" when an investor flashes money, but I'm not so sure that model is really sustainable in the long run without making sure you build a proper base/support structure.

 

[Eeyore]

Re: CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

That is really no different than the likes of Pele, Cruijff and Beckenbauer coming over to NA to play Football (As we call it accross the pond) to sell that game to the NA crowd. Well 20-30 years later the USA has improved leaps and bounds in Soccer as an indirect result of that. (There are other factors, but that was really the first impulse into the growth of the game in NA).

Long term, sure. But the stated reason is to prepare a Chinese team for the 2022 Olympics. That's a completely different time frame and has nothing to do with building a long term fan base.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: CWHL - The Best Kept Secret in Women's Hockey

Long term, sure. But the stated reason is to prepare a Chinese team for the 2022 Olympics. That's a completely different time frame and has nothing to do with building a long term fan base.

Correct. You are just re-enforcing the main point I was trying to convey in the second para of my post:

Looks like both leagues "JUMP" when an investor flashes money, but I'm not so sure that model is really sustainable in the long run without making sure you build a proper base/support structure