A Hockey Globetrotter Finds Her Showcase at Home

The demise of the C.W.H.L. led to the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, a group of more than 200 players who pledged not to play in a North American pro league this season because of concerns about operations and low wages. The highest announced salary in the N.W.H.L., a five-team outfit now in its fifth season, is $15,000.

The P.W.H.P.A. has made no bones about its desire to partner with the N.H.L. to launch a league styled after the relationship between the N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. The connection between Russia’s top men’s league and its women’s league may provide another template.

“I think it would be great to take a look at that league,” said Carpenter. “I mean, there’s things that we could do better, there’s things that are great already, but I think just taking a look at that overall, due to their backing with the K.H.L., I think would be a really great start for us moving forward.”

After playing her first pro season in 2016-17 with the N.W.H.L.’s Boston Pride, Carpenter headed for China after she was cut from the 2018 Olympic team that went on to win gold medal over Canada in Pyeongchang.

Her father, former Ranger Bobby Carpenter, was coaching the men’s Kunlun Red Star team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League and suggested she come over and join the women’s side, one of two women’s teams based in Shenzhen and affiliated with the C.W.H.L.

Carpenter returned to China for the 2018-19 season, when Red Star and the Vanke Rays merged into one squad. This season, the Vanke Rays joined up with the W.H.L., which has been backed by the K.H.L. since 2015, giving Carpenter a chance to stay in China for a third year — and to get a sense of how a women’s pro league that’s affiliated with Russia’s top men’s league operates.

“We didn’t know what to expect going into it,” Carpenter said. “We came from the C.W.H.L. and we’d bounce back and forth between China and North America for a month and a half at a time.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/sports/hockey/rivalry-series-usa-womens-hockey.html?emc=rss&partner=rss