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Jessica DiGirolamo didn’t know where to go. Following an accolade-filled career from 2017-22 at Syracuse, she didn’t have a natural next step to take in her hockey career.

“I knew that I wanted to play professional hockey, but I knew that there wasn’t an established league yet,” DiGirolamo said.

She entered her name into the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) draft, though its unstructured, nonprofit setup wasn’t what she envisioned for a professional setting.

But that changed in 2024. On New Year’s Day, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) launched, hoping to introduce a new era into a sport that’s seen several different leagues experience significant instability. DiGirolamo, along with fellow SU alumnae Shiann Darkangelo and Allie Munroe, are representing Syracuse in the PWHL, which features six teams between Canada and the northeastern United States. They say the league has been life-changing and has brought an enhanced energy to the sport.

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“The first game, we saw the sold-out crowd and we didn’t get the win, but that was a pretty surreal moment for me,” said Munroe, a Syracuse defender from 2015-19 who plays for PWHL Toronto. “Just seeing all the people and how excited they were and the whole buzz around the day. It was amazing.”

The path to the PWHL’s inception has taken decades. Through the final quarter of the 20th century, the Central Ontario Women’s Hockey League (COWHL) fluctuated between 3-and-9 teams. With just three teams in 1997-98, the league expanded and rebranded, forming the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) in 1999. Players were not paid salaries.

The NWHL ended in 2007. In 2015, though, a new NWHL was formed, giving players a minimum salary of $10,000. But two years in, salaries were cut by 50%. The NWHL rebranded in 2021 to the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) before being sold to Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and terminated in 2023.

Opting to enter the PHF, Munroe joined the Connecticut Whale. Yet Munroe, like DiGirolamo, continued struggling to find structure in professional hockey after an illustrious career at Syracuse — which included two CHA Best Defender awards.

After graduating in 2019, Munroe planned on entering the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL). But the league shut down due to insufficient revenue, forcing Munroe to play for Djurgårdens IF Hockey of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League. Following two years there, she returned to the U.S. to play for Connecticut until the PHF’s termination.

In 2022, groups led by Walter and tennis legend Billie Jean King entered a partnership with the PWHPA. A year later, the two bought out the PHF. The league quickly ceased operations and unveiled its master plan: players from both leagues would converge into one: the PWHL.

Despite many leagues in the past attempting to advance women’s hockey, the PWHL is the first of its kind in making substantial advancements.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed between the PWHL and PWHL Player’s Association that runs through July 31, 2031, players are guaranteed a minimum salary of $35,000. The average annual salary during the 2023-24 season must be $55,000 for each team, which will increase by 3% each year of the deal.

PWHL players can focus solely on being a professional athlete. In past leagues, due to the low salary base, players were forced to work a “day job,” according to Darkangelo, while simultaneously performing at the highest level.

Darkangelo faced that same challenge throughout her career. After graduating from college in 2015, Darkangelo went to the NWHL, forcing her to have another job to supplement the salary.

She worked as an account executive — where her schedule consisted of waking up early to train and lift weights before heading to her job from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Following work, she practiced with her team.

When Darkangelo signed with the Toronto Six of the PHF, she earned a two-year contract that no longer required supplemental income — prompting her to quit her day job. Once the PHF’s players were moved into the PWHL draft pool, Darkangelo was taken with the 70th overall pick by PWHL Boston.

“Obviously, it wasn’t easy, but it’s definitely taught me a lot going through that and having to figure that out,” Darkangelo said. “But yes, it’s nice not having a full time job now. And being able to focus solely on hockey.”

Another huge difference is the financial backing of the league. Due to its founders and immense number of corporate partners, the league has financial stability. Walter — who has a $5.8 billion projected net worth — owns all six teams.

The PWHL is also giving an unprecedented amount of exposure to women’s hockey.

In its second-ever game on Jan 2., Ottawa hosted Montreal in front of 8,318 fans — the largest-ever crowd for a women’s hockey game. The record stood for just a few days before Minnesota broke it with a crowd of 13,316 on Jan. 6 at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Seeing 13,000-plus fans in Minnesota just shows that there’s an appetite for women’s hockey,” said Danielle Marmer, PHWL Boston’s General Manager. “People want it, people are going to come out and support it and watch it.”

The record-setting total is larger than the average attendance through the first 10 home games of 2023-24 for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes’ home stadium is Mullett Arena, which holds a capacity of 5,000.

The league has made games accessible to fans on the broadcasting side as well. All games are live-streamed on the PWHL’s YouTube channel. The three U.S. teams — Boston, New York and Minnesota — are broadcasted on cable television by NESN, MSG Networks and Bally Sports North, respectively.

For the three Canadian teams — Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa — games are rotated between TSN, CBC and Rogers Sportsnet. With all three networks simulcasting the inaugural game, viewership peaked at 1.1 million.

For DiGirolamo, the attention the PWHL has received has been flattering, but its structure is what she’s longed for. After her career at Syracuse, DiGirolamo was drafted by Team Adidas of the PWHPA. The league was much different than what she previously experienced at SU. Practices were mixed between the PWHPA’s four teams and they participated in showcase games rather than an ordinary, league-structured schedule.

“I used to practice with girls that were obviously from the Toronto region, but we were all on different teams,” DiGirolamo said. “So it was like we couldn’t get to do any type of systems because we’re all in different teams so it doesn’t make any sense to have any kind of line formations.”

DiGirolamo was selected 34th overall by Boston in the PWHL draft. Now, DiGirolamo is back to a similar structure that she had at Syracuse, spending much of the day with her teammates at Boston’s facility.

The PWHL so far has had success in giving young players an avenue for a professional career. During the pregame ceremony before Minnesota’s record-attendance game, each player skated out with a young, female hockey player — representing the next generation the PWHL was formed for.

Syracuse’s current roster has immersed itself in the PWHL as well. In the past on bus rides home from away games, SU players would ask head coach Britni Smith to put NHL games on the bus’s television. But since the PWHL’s formation, players clamor to watch the women’s games. After splitting a series with Penn State on Jan. 19 and 20, the Orange watched New York defeat Boston 4-1 on their way back to campus.

Graduate student Marielle McHale is in her sixth and final season with the Orange. At SU, she played with Munroe and DiGirolamo and seeing them thriving in the PWHL has inspired her to take the next step upon graduating.

“It’s nice to know that there’s something else after college because when I grew up and came (to Syracuse), college was the destination,” McHale said.

The PWHL’s director of player experience, Alexis Miller, said there will be a draft every year. They’ll also comply with the NCAA in order to make sure players have the opportunity to complete their collegiate education.

“There’s obviously been many professional leagues that we’ve deemed appropriate for us in the past in North America. But at the end of the day, we’ve always been fighting to have the opportunities that we have right now,” Miller said. “Through consistent play, through accessibility, through the broadcast, the venues, the support staff. All of those things are everything we’ve ever worked for.”

Published on January 24, 2024 at 11:50 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky