We’re unfortunately at that time of year where there’s no hockey being played. While I do my best to keep my sports brain occupied with baseball and watching highlights of last season, I am awaiting October like all of you.
Here in the D.C. area, we were treated to an absolutely wonderful season of hockey by our Washington Capitals. Fueled by career years from some of the team’s burgeoning talent, and a historic record chase by the team captain Alex Ovechkin, we watched the Caps storm their way to the top of the Eastern Conference early in the year and never look back. And while the playoffs didn’t go the way we all hoped it would, it was still a season to remember, and hopefully the beginning of a new era of Caps hockey.
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Elsewhere in the hockey world, the PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League, formerly the PHF) began a new era of their own after their own season ended, announcing expansion to Vancouver and Seattle. This is exciting news for the league, as it means they’ve seen enough success over the course of their first two seasons to add to the stable of six teams they started with.
As I’ve written about before, if you’re not rooting for the success of the PWHL, you’re only robbing yourself of excellent hockey. The ladies in this league have played some outstanding hockey over the first two seasons of this league’s existence (many of them having long, storied careers prior to that as well), and the continued growth of this league only means the continued growth of the game as a whole.
To put it more simply, a hockey fan shouldn’t be looking at the PWHL as competition to the NHL (although it probably is considered that from a business sense). Its’ shorter, 24 game season doesn’t begin until January, with the league champions being awarded the Walter Cup before May is over. And by virtue of being a new league, it still does not have the same reach as the NHL.
That reach though, is clearly growing. This past season, the PWHL announced it was expanding to Vancouver and Seattle, with the league eyeing more expansion in the years ahead. And after the league’s successful Takeover Tour last season (league games being played in neutral sites, like Detroit), things are looking great for the PWHL.
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Many cities make sense for future PWHL expansion, but there’s one I’m going to try my best to make a case for here.
Jan 13, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Boston players gather to celebrate the win against Montreal during overtime in a PWHL ice hockey game at Verdun Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Why should the PWHL eyeball the D.C. area for its next expansion?
It seems obvious that cities like Chicago, Detroit, or Denver make the most sense in the U.S. for PWHL expansion. They are, after all, cities in which hockey has been enshrined for a very long time. They have massive fan bases, decades (or more) of hockey history, and have successful NHL franchises.
But there is a case to be made for the PWHL to get into less-traditional markets, and I’d like to take this opportunity to make the argument for Washington D.C. as a future spot for expansion.
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There are multiple factors that we can attribute the growth of the popularity of hockey in the DMV region to, but the biggest reason would be the growth of the Washington Capitals, both as a brand and the on-ice product.
Ted Leonsis purchased the Washington Capitals in 1999 and has overseen massive growth in the team’s value and popularity. With Leonsis at the helm, the Capitals have exploded in their market valuation, earning a 95.7% increase in value from 2004 to 2010, and are among the ten most valuable NHL franchises now.
All of this money is coming from somewhere, and that would be the fans, of course. Looking at yearly attendance averages, the Capitals have consistently drawn, on average, over 18,000 fans each year since 2008 (with the exception of 2023, where they fell about 150 shy of that number).
Those totals coincide not only with the drafting of generational phenom Alexander Ovechkin, but with the team’s success overall. Simply put, the Caps have been one of the NHL’s most successful franchises since 2008, with numerous divisional wins, a couple of President’s Trophies, and a Stanley Cup win too.
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When a fan has had players like Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, et al. to cheer for over recent decades, it’s obvious why they would be interested in playing the game they’re watching their on-ice heroes play. Ovechkin is an internationally-known name in the sports world, and is a major reason for the explosion of the sport’s popularity in the region of course.
It’s because of he and the Caps that rinks have been built in the area (or renovated and expanded), and teams have been created for both youth and adult players alike. USA Hockey registration has nearly doubled since 2005-06.
And this includes women/girl’s hockey, which has more than doubled in that same time period. It has led to the creation of girl’s youth organizations, like the Loudoun Killer Queens, and players like Haley Skarupa, a Rockville, MD native who played professional hockey and is an Olympian too. Or Linda Sinrod, who was certified as the oldest Woman’s hockey player in the world, only recently handing up her skates at age 84! Yup, she played in the DMV.
Or how about my friend and The Hockey News – D.C. writer Sammi Silber herself, who credits Ovechkin and the Capitals with her obsession with the game, and led her to lace up the skates for herself.
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More representation in hockey is never a bad thing, and a PWHL team in the Capital-region would only promote the game to more girls and women interested in lacing up skates for themselves. Likewise, it would give youth girls a local professional team to look up to, and aspire to be one day.
To sum all of this up, hockey is not only alive and well in the D.C. area, it’s growing. People of all ages and backgrounds want to watch the Capitals and Ovechkin play the game. Many of these same people want to play the game, too. And promoting the women’s game only increases the visibility of the sport and supports the idea that hockey is truly for everyone.
What stands in the way?
Naturally, it isn’t as easy as just plopping a team in the area. From a business standpoint, the league doesn’t operate with franchises like the NHL. Instead, each of the eight teams is owned by the Mark Walter Group (TWG). So it isn’t as simple as an investor like Leonsis and MSE petitioning the league for an expansion franchise. It would have to make good financial sense for Walter to start a team in the region.
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Of course, this team needs a place to play. Obviously the biggest option here is the home of the Capitals, the Capital One Arena, owned by MSE. This makes a ton of sense, as the PWHL’s shorter season (12 home games) wouldn’t (theoretically) be too hard to schedule around the Capitals’ much more crowded slate of games. They would be the second team to do this (alongside the Minnesota Frost), and who wouldn’t love the idea of a hockey double-header of PWHL Washington and the Caps in a single day? Perhaps a brand partnership with the Capitals, or asking Alex Ovechkin very nicely to be a team ambassador?
So, will it happen?
Jan 6, 2024; St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota and Montreal players shake hands after a PWHL ice hockey game at XCel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Sadly, I’m not getting my hopes up for this. At least, not in the short term. While hockey has exploded in popularity in the area, there are cities (such as the aforementioned Detroit or Denver) where hockey has enjoyed generational success. TWG is likely going to be looking to these areas first for expansion before less-traditional markets like D.C., especially when you consider that the PWHL didn’t target D.C. for its first Takeover Tour last season.
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But I still believe that bringing a PWHL team to the area would be a great move for the growth of the PWHL and Women’s hockey in general. There’s no shortage of hockey fandom in the area, and no reason to think that the region wouldn’t support another pro team. If the numbers have proven anything, it’s that the region may only continue to embrace the fastest game on ice.
Now, someone just pass article this off to Mark Walter, please.