X75 Productions

Tag: Women’s Hockey

  • TXHT Official Statement Regarding the WWIHL

    Good Evening Hockey Fans,

     

    My name is Michael Lindenbaum and I created and run “The Xperience Hockey Talk”, aka TXHT, and I created TXHT with the purpose of being able to talk about the sport I love. At the same time I was working on creating TXHT the NWHL formed and I created a relationship with the league to add to my hockey coverage of not just the Washington Capitals and the NHL, but also Women’s Hockey for which I am a supporter of.

     

    It is truth be said that this current offseason in the world of Women’s Hockey has been a very interesting one with the CWHL folding, to the #ForTheGame Movement, and now Free Agency Signings in the NWHL. However, there was something, or someone, that came out of nowhere and that was Mr. Mark Bishop and his new league the World Women’s Ice Hockey League, aka WWIHL.

     

    With the WWIHL there was already intrigue with how it was buzzing  on social media, and made me genuinely interested in the league just like everyone else was and wanted to speak with the person in charge. So I reached out and asked for an interview for which Mr. Bishop agreed to. I researched the entire WWIHL website so I could prepare thorough and detailed questions for Mr. Bishop to answer so we can get a better perspective of his league and his vision.

     

    To Mr. Bishop’s credit, he took the time to give thorough and detailed answers to my questions, and there were questions I wondered if he was going comment on at all, so I definitely respect Mr. Bishop for taking the interview seriously and answering every question that I submitted to him.

     

    When the article published at 9a EST on Wednesday May 22nd, 2019, we believed that we were doing the right thing, and then it took off on social media. It raised more questions and concerns that people wanted to know. In Mr. Bishop’s eyes he felt that he was being attacked for his vision of a Women’s Hockey league. We ourselves engaged with our readers and expressed our views. Mr. Bishop also viewed that as an attack.

     

    Mr. Bishop requested at 714p EST the same day that the interview be deleted as he feels that we did this interview with the intentions of destroying him. I can clearly express our intentions was to not destroy Mr. Bishop or the WWIHL. Our intention was to give Mr. Bishop a platform to promote himself, the WWIHL, and to explain to us how he plans to make his league successful.

     

    The views and opinions expressed by Mr. Bishop in the interview are his and his alone. Mr. Bishop emailed us his answers and we copy and pasted them into our article. Mr. Bishop’s views and opinions do not represent the views and opinions of TXHT or it’s parent company X75 Productions. While we respect the views and opinions that Mr. Bishop made in the interview, we do not agree with them.

     

    It is with great sadness that we here at TXHT are announcing that we are pulling our interview with Mr. Bishop. We are saddened by this because we truly believed that this interview could open up more productive and constructive conversations on how we can grow the game of Women’s Hockey, but sadly it did not turn out the way we hoped.

     

    In closing I just want to say that it is ok to agree to disagree. We are allowed to express our opinions, and should be allowed to freely. However, with expressing your opinion that does not remove you from taking criticism, but it is how you deal with that criticism that matters.

     

    To Mr. Bishop and the WWIHL, we wish you the best in your future endeavors. TXHT will continue to cover the NWHL and is looking forward to the 2019-20 season to begin this fall.

  • NWHL Announces First Signing for the Whale

    NWHL Announces First Signing for the Whale

    Today the NWHL announced that the Connecticut Whale has signed defender Shannon Doyle to a one year contract.

    IMG_20190522_113311

    Terms of Doyle’s contract were not disclosed in regards to salary.

     

     

    Per the NWHL release they clarified the following:

    “A note on background: regarding pay, our policy since we started announcing signings this offseason is that it is the decision of each player whether or not to reveal it.”

     

    TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings are announced.

    *Graphics courtesy of the NWHL.

  • Whale Bring Back Doyle For Fifth Season

    Whale Bring Back Doyle For Fifth Season

    The Connecticut Whale made a signing today. Bringing back their veteran All Star blue liner Shannon Doyle, for a fifth season!

    Doyle had an amazing season last year, as she played in 13 games, registering 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. One of her goals came via the power play and she scored a game winning goal against the Riveters. She also accounted for 15 blocked shots, in the newly revamped defensive play that the Whale displayed last season. Also, in the playoff game against the Riveters, she recorded an assist and a blocked shot.

     

    Earlier this week, she posted this:

     

    Here are a couple of highlights that she provided last season:

    https://twitter.com/WSportHilites/status/1064262804595793921

    https://twitter.com/WSportHilites/status/1069355814568243201

    https://twitter.com/WSportHilites/status/1094711430144774145

     

    After she signed, she posted this on Twitter:

     

     

    Tweets from Women’s Sports Highlights were used with their permission, you can follow them on Twitter here: @WSportHilites

  • NWHL Announces First Two Signings for 2019-20 Season

    NWHL Announces First Two Signings for 2019-20 Season

    Today the National Women’s Hockey League announced their forst two player signings for the 2019-20 NWHL season.

     

    First signing announced at 1030a was that Kaleigh Fratkin resigned with the Boston Pride.

    IMG_20190520_112937.jpg

    Fratkin signed a one year contract for $11,000.

    IMG_20190520_112941.jpg

     

    Then at 1130a today it was announced that Madison Packer resigned with the Metropolitan Riveters.

    IMG_20190520_113134.jpg

    Packer’s contract is for one year and $12,000.

    IMG_20190520_130137.jpg

     

    Also per the NWHL:

    “Players competing in the 2019-20 season will also receive a 50 percent cut of all revenue from league-level sponsorship and media deals. Players also receive 15 percent of the revenue from apparel sold with their names on them.”

     

    TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings are announced.

     

    *Graphics courtesy of the NWHL.

  • Women’s Hockey News – 200 Women to Boycott for a Viable Long Term Hockey League

    Women’s Hockey News – 200 Women to Boycott for a Viable Long Term Hockey League

    A little before noon today over 200 professional female hockey players announced that they will be boycotting this upcoming season until the get a “Long-Term Viable” Professional Women’s Hockey League.

    IMG_20190502_112527

     

    In the statement above that was released by around 200 professional female hockey players it states that it is time to create a sustainable league for Women’s hockey that will give them the abilities to have health insurance, have the ability to train adequately for games, and most importantly, making a livable wage playing hockey.

     

    A couple hours after the #ForTheGame announcement was made, NWHL put out the following statement:

    Screenshot_20190502-134630_Yahoo Mail

     

    In this statement from the NWHL, the biggest takeaway is that they have all intentions moving forward with the 2019-20 season, and that they will be offering increased salaries, and a 50-50 in revenue from sponsorships and media rights deals after long constructive and positive conversations with the NWHL Player’s Association over the past month.

     

    In regards to the NWHLPA, Director Anya Battaglino had the following statement when reached for comment on the news:

    “In the off season the NWHLPA has been working hard to continue to drive the betterment of our professional athletes every day. This announcement halts our ability to finally have the best players on one stage, and unfortunately sets the Women’s Hockey game backward. With the powerful opportunity we have this year to drive unprecedented growth, this new fragmentation will only slow that growth.”

     

    While examining Mrs. Battaglino’s statement here, we have to agree with her assessment on this situation. While yesterday, May 1st, marked the official end of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) as they closed their doors, the NWHL acted swiftly and added two more teams to their league with the prospects of a third team to make it an 8 team league when the initial announcement was made in an effort to give more women an opportunity to play professionally in the NWHL.

     

    Also, look at the growth of Women’s hockey in these last two years specifically. From the US Olympic Hockey Team winning the gold medal against Team Canada, to setting a US attendance record for a Women’s hockey game at the NWHL All Star Game in Nashville, to having Kendall Coyne Schofield becoming the first woman to participate in the NHL All Star Skills Competition. These women have made great gains only to halt it’s momentum to a near dead halt, and it’s a damn shame.

     

    Do these women deserve to play professionally, and make a living wage doing so? Oh hell yes they do. They deserve it, and most importantly they’ve earned it, but what they are doing does not seem like the way to go about it. While we don’t have the answers here ourselves, we do believe that there has to be a better way to accomplish the ultimate goal, and that is to have the ultimate professional Women’s hockey league that brings great stability and a long term viable option for women to play the game.

     

    We do know that one player has spoken out against the #ForTheGame movement as reported by The Ice Garden, and that is Boston Pride player Kaleigh Fratkin.

     

    We will have more here on TXHT as everything unfolds, but to quote our Connecticut Whale writer Christopher Vasilas ( @shaggy901516 ):

    “We’re definitely at the crossroads, every decision by the league and players is gonna have huge impact on future generations”

  • TXHT Podcast – 4/2/2019

    TXHT Podcast – 4/2/2019

    The TXHT podcast is back with Serious Hockey Talk for Serious Hockey Fans!

     

    Audio Version:

     

    This week on TXHT, Michael Lindenbaum is joined by our friend from The Hockey Writers Nate Oliver.

     

    Both Michael and Nate talk about the sudden announcement of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League ceasing operations effectively May 1st.

     

    Plus they discuss the impact that this will have on Women’s Hockey, and the recent announcements made today by the National Women’s Hockey League.

     

    This week’s episode was recorded on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019

    Opening Music: “Human Chess” by Crimson Orchid

     

    Have a question you want answered on the show? Ask us! Comment on here or on one of our Social Media outlets, and we’ll answer it.

  • Three Stars and NHL Rookie of the Month (March 1-March 31) Announcements

    Three Stars and NHL Rookie of the Month (March 1-March 31) Announcements

    The National Hockey League yesterday announced the Three Stars of the Week and earlier today the Three Stars of the Month as well as the NHL Rookie of the Month was announced.

     

    First, TXHT will take a look at the announcements made for the Three Stars of the Week (week ending March 31)


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    The First Star of the Week went to Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

     

    Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would be named the First Star of the Week thanks to a four wins on the week with two shutouts and would extend the Blue Jackets win streak to five games.

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    The Second Star of the Week went to Detroit Red Wings F Tyler Bertuzzi.

     

    Tyler Bertuzzi shared the League lead with three goals and seven assists in four outings to power the Red Wings to a perfect week and their fifth consecutive victory overall.

    During the week, Bertuzzi would become the first Detroit player to record three consecutive three-point games since 1992-93.  Steve Yzerman achieved that feat twice during the 1992-93 season.


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    The Third Star of the Week would go to Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper.

     

    Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper would achieve a record of 2-0-1 to keep the Coyotes in the hunt for a wild card spot and earn two shutouts over the week.

    Over the season, Kuemper has achieved a career high 26 wins in 53 appearances and ranks  in the top 10 in the NHL in goals-against average (6th place with a GAA of 2.34) and save percentage (9th place with a SV% of .924).


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

     

     

    Second, the National Hockey League earlier today announced the Three Stars of the Month (March 1-March 31).

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

     

     

    The First Star of the Month would go to Edmonton Oilers C Connor McDavid.

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    McDavid would have 20 assists over a 14 game span during the month of March and lead the Oilers to a record of 7-5-2 for the month.  McDavid would also have 11 multi-point games over the course of March.

     

    The Edmonton captain also scored seven times, including his seventh career
    overtime goal March 16 at ARI and 40th goal of 2018-19 March 28 vs. DAL.  McDavid also ranks second in the NHL with a career-high 74 assists and 115 points in 75 total contests this season as well as sharing the League lead with nine game-winning goals.

     

    The Second Star of the Month would go to Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    Bobrovsky topped the NHL in wins, tied with nine and had four shutouts in 13 appearances.  In those 13 appearances for the month, Bobrovsky would compile a
    1.74 goals-against average and .940 save percentage to give the Blue Jackets a 9-6-1 March record and to the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

     

    The Third Star of the Month would go to Boston Bruins D Brad Marchand.


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    Marchand placed third in the NHL with nine goals and 14 assists in 15 games to propel the Bruins to a 9-6-0 March and help the Bruins clinch their third consecutive playoff berth.

     

    Marchand would register three points in four games (March 7 vs. the Florida Panthers, March 12 at the Columbus Blue Jackets, March 21 at the New Jersey Devils, and March 27 at home against the New York Rangers.

     

    Finally, the NHL also announced the Rookie of the Month for the month of March.

     

    St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington named as the NHL’s Rookie of the Month

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    The NHL earlier today would announce that St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington would be named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for the month of March.  This would also be the second consecutive month in which Binnington would earn Rookie of the Month honours.

    Binnington would compile a record of 6-3-0 with a GAA (goals against average) of 2.37 and a save percentage of .912.

    Binnington allowed three or fewer goals in eight of his nine appearances to spark the Blues (43-28-8, 94 points) to their seventh playoff berth in eight seasons and would help get the Blues from the bottom of the NHL standings on January 2nd to second place in the Central Division standings as of the completion of yesterday’s games.

    Binnington has also compiled a record of 22-5-1 since he made his first NHL career start on January 7th.

    Binnington joins Vancouver Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson as the only two rookies to earn Rookie of the Month honours twice during the 2018-19 campaign.

     

    One final note to close out this article…

    Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman released his “31 Thoughts” blog post for the week.

    One big highlight on this week’s “31 Thoughts” blog post is the news with the CWHL shuttering operations on May 1 and what the NHL needs to do to make a viable partnership with the NWHL.

    https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1113112788853972992

     

  • Women’s Hockey News – CWHL to Cease Operations on May 1st

    Women’s Hockey News – CWHL to Cease Operations on May 1st

    In shocking news, it was announced yesterday that the Canadian Women’s Hockey League will be ceasing operations effectively May 1st, 2019.

     

    A key note from the press release was this:

    “Unfortunately, while the on-ice hockey is exceptional, the business model has proven to be economically unsustainable.”

    This is an interesting note indeed given the recent success of the Clarkson Cup the weekend prior which brought in 175,000 viewers, a record for Professional Women’s Hockey.

     

    Since the announcement the NWHL has issued a series of statements starting with the following:

    IMG_20190331_202014

    A major takeaway from the statement is that it acknowledges the fact that the two leagues were meeting, and had more meetings planned for this month. However, with the recent announcement by the CWHL those meetings have been canceled.

     

    When reached for comment about the players and fans up in Canada, NWHL Commissioner and Founder Dani Rylan had the following to say:

    “We will pursue all opportunities to ensure the best players in Canada have a place to play. Those conversations have started already and have quickly become a priority.”

     

    With these comments a lot of speculation has begun in regards to what the NWHL will do. While a major theme to this past season was the players wanting one league, the more likely preferred scenario would have been for the two leagues to merge. However, given that both leagues have differing business models, logistically there would be a lot of hurdles both sides would have to overcome including the ultimate goal of having all of the players paid a living wage and how that would be accomplished.

     

    A while back during this past season comments by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman were made noting that both the CWHL and NWHL business models were not ideal to how the NHL would like and insinuated that if both leagues were to fold then the NHL would step in to create a professional women’s hockey league of their own. Obviously these comments, or at least the way the comments were made, did not sit well with many. It also shows how out of touch Bettman is when it comes to the women’s game and why their business models are constructed the way they are.

     

    Now with the NWHL as the only professional women’s hockey league, whether Bettman likes their business model or not, it is time for the NHL to embrace them and get behind them 100 percent to help them grow.

     

    Currently the NWHL has five teams based in Buffalo, Minnesota, Boston, Metropolitan (New Jersey), and Connecticut. Of the five, three have partnerships with NHL franchises while the Buffalo Beauts are owned by the Pegula Family who own the Sabres. The only franchise to not have a partnership with an NHL franchise is Connecticut.

     

    For the CWHL they have three teams with NHL partnerships that could come into the NWHL to make it an eight team league starting this upcoming season if the NWHL chose to. Those three teams would be Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary. It also helps as they are three of the four most marketable teams in the CWHL. The fourth being Markham.

     

    With the World’s starting on April 4th, one would have to agree that the timing is horrible to announce this news. The CWHL has 25 players playing in the tournament, and now instead of being asked on ice World’s questions, instead they will be bombarded with off ice questions pertaining to the CWHL folding. It’s not fair to the women, the game, and their mutual growth.

     

    In due time we will see what both the NWHL and NHL will do in regards to this latest news, but one thing we must be is patient. There are a lot of moving parts right now, and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

     

    As more information becomes available, we will report on it.

     

    We also highly recommend reading this amazing article by Michelle Jay of The Ice Garden:

  • March 18th, 2019 — News and Notes

    March 18th, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Monday, March 18th, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

     

    There were seven NHL contests in action yesterday.

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    Yesterday’s results (Home team is in CAPS):

    COLORADO 3, New Jersey 0

    The Colorado Avalanche would defeat the New Jersey Devils with the 3-0 shutout win and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon would reach the 91 point mark on the season for the second consecutive season.

     

    BUFFALO 4, St. Louis 3 (SO)

    The Buffalo Sabres would take down the St. Louis Blues in the shootout frame with the 4-3 win.  Sam Reinhart would score the game winner for the Sabres.

     

    NY Islanders 3, MINNESOTA 2 (OT)

    The New York Islanders would move back into first place atop the Metropolitan Division with their 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild yesterday afternoon. 

     

     

    Vancouver 3, DALLAS 2 (SO)

    The Vancouver Canucks would go on to defeat the Dallas Stars yesterday with the 3-2 shootout win.

    https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1107464818871533568

     

    Philadelphia 2, PITTSBURGH 1 (OT)

    After a scoreless 40 minutes, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins would tie the game at 1-1 at the end of the regulation with the Philadelphia Flyers getting the win in the overtime frame.


    *Infographic is the property of the Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

    ANAHEIM 3, Florida 2

    The Anaheim Ducks would get a much needed win after downing the Florida Panthers by the score of 3-2 yesterday afternoon.

    https://twitter.com/AnaheimDucks/status/1107500443142230016

     

    VEGAS 6, Edmonton 3

    The Vegas Golden Knights would take down the Edmonton Oilers last night with a 6-3 win yesterday.

     

     

     

    Today there are four contests in NHL action…

     

     

    Yesterday concluded the 2018-19 NWHL season with the Minnesota Whitecaps defeating the Buffalo Beauts by the score of 2-1 in the overtime frame.  The Minnesota Whitecaps would win the Isobel Cup in their inaugural season in the NWHL in front of a sold-out crowd yesterday afternoon at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minnesota.

     

    THXT has your full coverage of yesterday’s Isobel Cup Final at the following page.

     

     

    We here at TXHT congratulate the Minnesota Whitecaps on winning their first NWHL Championship, as well as all other teams across the league for a great and exciting season.

    NWHL, as well as other women’s hockey news, will continue on TXHT.

  • March 12th, 2019 — News and Notes

    March 12th, 2019 — News and Notes

    Today is Tuesday, March 12th, 2019, and these are your news and notes.

     

    There were seven contests in NHL action last night.

     


    *Image is the property of the NHL, NHL Public Relations and their respective owners

     

    Yesterday’s Results (Home team is in CAPS):

     

    Tampa Bay 6, TORONTO 2

    The Tampa Bay Lightning would take on the Toronto Maple Leafs and would win the contest by the score of 6-2.

    The Lightning would go on to out shoot the Maple Leafs in the contest.

    Tampa Bay’s Cedric Paquette and Tyler Johnson would each score twice in the contest to give the Lightning their 53rd win on the season.  And would be the seventh club to get the 110 point mark in 70 games or fewer.

    TXHT has your complete coverage of the contest between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the following page.

     

    NY ISLANDERS 2, Columbus 0

    The New York Islanders would go on to defeat the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2-0 win and in the contest, Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss would have 31 saves.

     

    PHILADELPHIA 3, Ottawa 2

    The Philadelphia Flyers would go on to defeat the Ottawa Senators with a 3-2 win, thanks to three unanswered goals in the second period to seal the win for Philadelphia last night.

     

    San Jose 3, MINNESOTA 0

    The San Jose Sharks would go on to shutout the Minnesota Wild with a 3-0 win and with the win, San Jose would move to the top of the Pacific Division standings.


    *Image is the property of the San Jose Sharks, NHL, NHL Public Relations, and their respective owners

     

     

    CHICAGO 7, Arizona 1

    The Chicago Blackhawks would take on the Arizona Coyotes and would go on to crush the Coyotes by the score of 7-1.

    Chicago’s Brendan Perlini would go on to register a hat trick in the contest.

    Chicago’s Jonathan Toews would also go on to successfully register a penalty shot in the contest.

     

    Carolina 3, COLORADO 0

     

    The Carolina Hurricanes would go on to face off against the Colorado Avalanche and would escape with a shutout win.

    Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov would go on to score twice in the contest to guide the Hurricanes to the win.

     

     

    EDMONTON 3, NY Rangers 2 (OT)

    The Edmonton Oilers would have three different goal scorers in the contest and would go on to get a much needed win against the New York Rangers last night with the 3-2 overtime win.

     

     

     

    Today’s NHL schedule of games…

     

    For more news, notes, information, and stats, please check out the NHL’s Morning Skate at the following page.

     

     

    FB_IMG_1551878102760

     

    Due to the postponement of the semifinal game on Sunday between the Metropolitan Riveters and the Minnesota Whitecaps, that contest will now be played on Friday night with the winner taking on the Buffalo Beauts on Sunday at 2 p.m., ET/1 p.m., CT at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minnesota.

     

     

    The announcement of rescheduled contest was made yesterday and it would be determined that the 2019 NWHL Isobel Cup Final would be played at TRIA Rink.

     

    For more news on that, please check out the following tweets per the NWHL.