Women’s Hockey: The Team USA Canada rivalry continues at LCA

Little Ceasars Arena, the home of the Detroit Red Wings will host a Team Canada vs. Team USA event this February.  The women’s hockey rivalry will continue as the national teams will square off in a three-game series this winter.

The competition will take place on February 17th in the confines of the arena the Detroit Red Wings call home.  It will be the third game of the three-game set which means, the already hostile rivalry could have the potential to boil over at this point.

Games one and two will take place on February 12th in London, Ontario and February 14th in Toronto, Ontario.  The teams already dislike each other; the games often become as rough as the officials will allow it.

During the Olympics, the USA, Canada women’s hockey is must-see TV.  It’s intense, fast and the two teams seem to always find themselves competing for the gold medal.  I don’t follow Women’s hockey on a regular basis other than the Olympics, so I am bringing in a friend who is involved with women’s hockey to learn more about it.  I am curious what we can expect when the two teams meet once again.

More from Octopus Thrower

• Detroit Red Wings forward Carter Mazur injured in Prospect Tournament
• Detroit Red Wings: What does Klim Kostin’s role look like in 2023-24?
• Detroit Red Wings: 3 players who will make biggest impact in first year
• The Detroit Red Wings need Andrew Copp to start fast in 2023-24
• Detroit Red Wings had a busy off-season; but was it enough?

Ramina Shlah is the site expert over at flameforthought.com.  Check her out for any top-notch Calgary Flames information.  I’ve asked Ramina a few questions to get a much better perspective on the situation, more than I could provide on my own.  I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Bob Heyrman: Hey Ramina, I understand that you are involved with women’s hockey… could you tell us about your role?

Ramina Shlah:  I’m the social media manager for the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL. It’s basically what it sounds like: I run all their socials. On top of that, I help with press releases if they ever need someone to help. This season we’re trying to do more personal type stories on the site, so I’m helping with those, I help with in-game events, and if we ever have a video we need to film for either a sponsor or just for fun (we’re currently doing something called the Sister Act with the Hickel sisters and the Murray sisters).  I also help with that! Even the very odd time (usually in the off-season), I might write a piece for the CWHL’s site. Last year I wrote about their trip to China and how the game is growing internationally, so I’m hoping to do more this year! I also do weekly Inferno reports for Flames Nation.

BH:  Who would you say is currently regarded as the best female hockey player in the world.  Where is she from?

RS:  Oh jeez that’s hard to answer. I can probably give you the top 3 players in the world which would be Marie-Philip Poulin, Brianna Decker, and Hilary Knight. Poulin is from Canada, Decker and Knight are from the United States. For the record, Decker plays for the Inferno! Poulin and Knight both represent the Les Canadiennes. Also, it’s worth noting that Knight and Decker both played with the NWHL but came to the C for this season (Knight came at the end of last season) meaning they have faith in this league!

BH: Could you tell us how far women’s hockey has advanced over the past 20 years? It seems to have grown significantly during this time… Can you think of any reasons why? Are girls choosing to play hockey as children now more than ever?  When I was a kid it was rare to see girls hockey leagues, now it seems a lot more common, and it’s great!

RS: Yeah I remember as a kid THE female hockey player was Hayley Wickenheiser, but I was only able to watch her basically at the Olympics. Definitely with the starting of women’s hockey leagues in North America has helped it’s growth a lot. There’s still a long way to go and to be honest; they need help with promotions from men’s leagues. They don’t bring as many people out to the games, not for lack of talent or anything, but so many people are just unaware that there is even a women’s team in their city. Actually, I was talking about this with Jacquie Pierri last season (retired to do her masters in Barcelona this year), and it’s even grown so much within the previous five years. She was telling me about how in their first season like 5-6 years ago, they had to pay for their flights, their equipment, their food on the road, their trainers, etc. Now, the flights are handled, and they get lots of equipment donated or given by companies. So it helps a lot. It also helps with young girls being able to come out to the games and seeing their role models and getting their autographs after the games and stuff. So definitely with creating leagues has helped a lot.

BH: What is the highest level of professional women’s hockey? We know about the NHL for men, is there a league similar for women?

RS: It would probably be the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League — although there is an American team and one China team) and the NWHL (National Women’s Hockey League). There are a few leagues in Europe, but I think the highest is the C and the N.

BH: What is the approximate pay scale for a professional player?

RS: So it’s actually minimal, and most of these women either have full-time jobs or are full-time students. The CWHL has a team cap of $100,000 (which is nothing, split between 23 players). Some of the higher-skilled players obviously get more, but the highest a player can receive is merely around a $10,000 base salary.  The C also didn’t start paying its players until last season.

BH: What should we expect to see if we decide to purchase tickets for this rare event in February?

RS:  Fun, high-level hockey for (probably) a cheap price, and a game that is most likely going to OT or shootout. These women are so skilled, and Canada vs. USA games are always so fun and exciting. I don’t know if your readers happened to see the gold medal game in 2014, but that was INTENSE. Probably one of the most intense games I’ve ever seen. And these past Olympics, it went to a shootout. Actually, for the CWHL semis, it was the Inferno against Kunlun, and it went to triple OT. I was losing my mind. But yes, entertaining and FAST hockey since there’s no hitting.

Our original conversation ended there, but I had to get a hold of Ram again after her final comment about the women’s leagues having no hitting.  From what I’ve seen during the Olympics the women could certainly handle themselves if hitting were a thing.  All the women do wear protective face cages or full face visors. So our bonus question is in regards to hitting.

BH: Do you think hitting should be allowed in the women’s game?

RS: I don’t think there should be hitting. Since these women have full-time jobs or school, it’s much harder to have their bodies heal since they don’t get that much time to rest or nearly as many resources to recover.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading this; I know I had a lot of fun writing it.  I would like to thank Ramina again for spending some time with us, as we learn more about the women’s hockey leagues, salaries, and love for the game. Still be sure to check out more from Ramina over at Flameforthought.com.