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U.S. women hockey players go pro [1]

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Date: 2024-01-08 21:02:16+00:00

Star forward Taylor Heise scored a goal January 3 to help her Minnesota team defeat Boston’s team during the first ice hockey game on U.S. ice of a new women’s pro league.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League had launched with an inaugural game January 1 in Toronto, and there New York beat the home team 4–0. The PWHL consists of three teams each from the U.S. and Canada, powerhouses of women’s hockey. The U.S. or Canadian national teams have won every ice hockey Women’s World Championship since the international competition began in 1990.

The new league comes as U.S. women are finding increased opportunity for success in athletics. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team has driven that sport’s growing popularity in America. Women are also earning top roles in sports management.

Before the PWHL’s opening game on New Year’s Day, U.S. tennis great Billie Jean King met with both the New York and Toronto teams and congratulated players for achieving their dream, the Associated Press reports.

“Today, I think, is really the birth of women’s hockey. This is the moment,” said King, a longtime champion of women’s athletics, who helped start the hockey league, to the New York team. “It’s special. Thank you for playing.”

The PWHL will play a 72-game schedule before the playoffs start in May. The league’s teams are from Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto.

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[1] Url: https://share.america.gov/us-women-hockey-players-go-pro/

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