Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment (22) moves up the ice in a game against Minnesota at the ISCC in Simsbury.
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced on Wednesday that the salary cap for each team will double to $1.5 million next season. The cap is currently $750,000 per team.
“This historic salary cap increase reflects the strength of our league and developing business model and supports an enhanced player experience that over the last year has introduced full healthcare benefits, facility upgrades, league expansion, and a record 84-game schedule,” said Reagan Carey, PHF Commissioner.
In three years, the salary cap has grown 900 percent, the league said in a release. In 2021, the salary cap was $150,00 per team, the PHF said.
The PHF currently has seven teams, including the Connecticut Whale, who began playing their home games at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury last week.
“We will not stop here and are very proud to continue our track record of establishing new records for women’s professional hockey,” Carey said. “The PHF was the first league to pay its players back in 2015, and our commitment to building the best home for women’s professional hockey requires us to continue leading the way forward. Greater financial opportunities for athletes is part of the new PHF era. We are doing the work, and we are seeing the results.”
The PHF was called the National Women’s Hockey League from 2015 through 2019 and the Whale have been with the league since it began.
Nine of the Whale’s 21 signed players have agreed to release the amount of their salaries. Those nine players earn a combined total of $332,800 with $417,200 left for the remaining 12 players, according to figures posted by SportTrac.com.
Defenseman Allie Munroe, a 25-year-old from Canada, has the highest salary among the nine Connecticut players who have agreed for their salaries to be public. Munroe signed a two-year deal for $105,600 or $52,800 this season.
The PHF gives players the option to allow their salary to be disclosed publicly by the team and league. The largest contact that has been publicly disclosed is Buffalo’s Dominique Kremer, who signed a two-year deal for $130,000 with a $6,500 signing bonus, according to SportTrac.com.
In addition to an increase in salaries, the league is investing in new and upgraded facilities for the teams. The Whale are one of three teams playing in new arenas this season. Connecticut has played their home games in four other rinks in the state in Stamford, North Branford and Danbury.
In Simsbury, the Whale have a dedicated locker room and they have some dedicated workout facilities at the Milford Ice Arena, where the team practices during the week.
How much of a difference is your own locker room? Without one, players have to carry in and take out after every game all of their equipment – pads, skates, sticks, helmets, shirts, socks and more.
“They actually want us here and to be honest every other rink (in Connecticut) we’re been an inconvenience so we’re really grateful and we really appreciate it,” Whale forward Alyssa Wohlfeiler said.
Seeing the team’s logo at center ice and up around the building showed the Whale that they are the primary tenant, not another team to schedule around.
