A Spotlight on Professional Hockey in Brooklyn.

As part of a larger conversation about hockey in Kings County, the Brooklyn Historical Society invited Commissioner Dani Rylan and Coach Chad Wiseman, Madison Packer and Gabie Figueroa of the New York Riveters, to chat about the inaugural year of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL).

What a Difference 365 Days Makes

The Thursday evening event was moderated by Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Sarah Kwak, who kicked off the evening discussing the birth of the league. From opting to start a new league to questions about the viability of a market for women’s hockey in the United States, Rylan stayed confident and optimistic that the creation of the NWHL is indeed, good business.

“It’s remarkable to think that January 1st, 2015 the league was not even launched yet .. for the public to know about yet, and December 31st, 2015, a year later, we were playing at Gillette Stadium at the Winter Classic, an event hosted by the NHL.”

Rylan continued, “It just goes to show how much support we’ve had from the hockey community, and everyone as a whole.”

Rylan took to Google to research leagues, both men’s and women’s, to find the key ingredients for a 21st Century “start-up” professional league. Eliminating travel costs via a regional focus, playing only one game per week, and players engaging in grassroots social media marketing are just a few characteristics of the NWHL.

“I think it is great for this day and age that we’ve spent zero marketing dollars, and we’re a professional league. It goes to show how much of a reach social (media) can bring you … it brings a different level of accessibility to our players as well.”

When asked by Kwak if she was told the league wouldn’t work, Rylan responded without hesitation, “Oh, all the time!” Rylan admitting that there is much to prove, but that potential investors and players alike have come around.

“It’s part of human nature to question change and be skeptical of something different, so the people who were skeptical six months ago and wanna be involved now … I’m glad that we’ve proven enough to make you jump onboard now, and it’s gonna be really interesting to see what the league looks like next year. Not only from some of the business contacts … but also a lot of players who wanna join the league next year … the league will definitely have a different feel next year, for sure.”

However, Rylan was able to find at least 88 players who were ready to come onboard for the first season.

Thoughts from the Pioneers

Although the NWHL is the first North American league to pay women to play professional hockey, many of the players work full-time jobs. Figueroa, a engineer working on the Kingsbridge National Ice Center project for Gilbane Building Company, reflects on the difficulty she had playing hockey in Manhattan last year, “ … there are so many people in Manhattan, so many people that want to play that the only time I was able to play was when my boss would invite me to play on Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m.”

The opportunity to play the game that she loved was so important that Figueroa admitted she would have played for free. However, when Rylan’s petition for a CWHL team fell through, even the option to play for free while living and working in New York City was not a possibility for the Princeton alum.

Therefore, when asked how she maintains a full-time job, attends late night practices and travels throughout the northeast on Sundays for games, just to start all over again Monday morning, the Riveters defender simply replied, “you just do it!”

“I missed playing hockey so much, it was such an important part of my life for so long, and so, when I got the opportunity to play, I was just so thankful for that … so to be paid to play is just, icing on the cake.”

Although Packer was not sure she would have moved to New York City to play for free, she was equally enthusiastic about the opportunity to play hockey again. The former Wisconsin Badger, appreciates the opportunity to play the game she loves while also inspiring the next generation of NWHL players.

On getting her first paycheck, Packer remarked, “It’s such a cool feeling … having the opportunity to validate our worth as athletes and recognize that there is a market of people who will pay to watch us play”. While the pay is not near the amount of NHL counterparts, Packer believes that women in the NWHL know there is more to this opportunity that just being paid to play hockey.

“It’s more for the little kids who look at us and say, ‘one day, I wanna be like them’ … they have people like Gabie and me to look up to.”

A Coach's’ Perspective

Former NHL player Chad Wiseman is the first Head Coach for the Brooklyn-based Riveters. Knowing he wanted to coach, but wanting to limit the time spent away from his family, Wiseman acknowledges Rylan’s flexibility as a factor in deciding to pursue coaching with the NWHL. The recently retired player travels back and forth from his home in Toronto, where his wife and two children live.

The first time coach has had to adjust his approach to the game, trusting his players to execute the gameplan and be a stern, yet supportive coach. Wiseman also noted that, him having a daughter might contribute to his team’s ability to “pull on the heartstrings a bit”. Overall though, Wiseman noted that at the end of the day, he is coaching professional athletes.

As a player, Packer agreed with her coach on the latter point, “I don’t really think there is a difference. I think that once you get to a certain point as an athlete, we all like to compete … you get to an age, you get to a point in your career as an athlete where you just wanna be pushed. You just wanna win; it doesn’t matter what gender you are, you just wanna play.”

So, what’s next?

By the Q&A portion of the evening, it was clear that both the Brooklyn Historical Society and Dani Rylan were onto something. Perhaps Kings County is ready to become a hockey town again, and perhaps America is ready for women to get paid to play. Fans of the NWHL and BHS alike enjoyed a fun, entertaining and informative evening. From the sound of it, the NWHL will be back next year, and possibly with more business partners and players.

Rylan did make it clear that the end game for the NWHL is to be directly connected to the “NHL engine”. She consented that a formal partnership may involve the CWHL, but was sure that what is best for women’s hockey is a partnership with the NHL.

Rylan also feels that the NWHL is coming at the right time to capitalize on the 2014 Olympic Gold Medal Game, where 4.9 million people tuned in to watch USA take on Canada, with another 1.2 million streaming online. Figueroa is very happy with where the league is at, and reminded the crowd to put the league’s existence into context. Women’s Hockey wasn’t an Olympic sport until 1998. Eighteen years later North America has two professional leagues, and one that is paying players.

“When you look back at when the NHL started,” said Figueroa, “a lot of the guys playing in the NHL had multiple jobs, wore multiple hats … that’s what we’re doing now. It’s not going to go from zero to one hundred miles per hour like that. I think we’re going 70 miles per hour, which is great.”

Whether 70 miles per hour is too fast or too slow is yet to been seen. For now, perhaps we should just enjoy the ride.

Additional Notes:

With the recent challenges surrounding the first place Connecticut Whale, many are questioning if Rylan is ready for the big leagues. However, the NHL has its own personnel challenges at the present time. Although unpleasant, and ripe with opportunities for improvement, perhaps these challenges are residual effects of the business of professional sports. How the league and the players respond will determine the longevity of the league.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @ELindsay08