Toronto Six to host Premier Hockey Federation all-star game: ‘Toronto is where we are for us’

The Toronto Six will host the first all-star game for the newly renamed Premier Hockey Federation as professional women’s hockey looks to expand its presence in Canada and draw more attention to itself.

It will be the first time the league, formerly the National Women’s Hockey League, has hosted an all-star game outside of the United States.

“This is a huge problem in the history of our league,” PHF Commissioner Tyler Tumminia told the Star in an exclusive interview. “We really felt it was important for the federation to claim their claim in Toronto, No. 1. But having our best athletes show up and perform there in Toronto was definitely of great importance.

“Plus, they’re the new guys on the block. So we want to make sure we send some love there. But yeah, Toronto is where it was for us. “

The game will take place on January 29 at York Canlan Sports, the home of the Six, who are now in their second season in a league established in 2015.

The game will be shown in Canada on TSN and for TSN Direct subscribers, worldwide through ESPN International’s distribution network, and in the United States on ESPN-Plus, the streaming service that also hosts many games. of the NHL.

The television deals are another sign that the league is striving to make itself more attractive to the sport’s best players, most of whom currently do not have a league.

To that end, the Star learned that the league was ready to sign its highest-profile player.

Kali Flanagan was going to sign a deal with Boston Pride for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. He won gold with the United States at the 2017 world championships and the 2018 Olympics.

Flanagan spent the past two seasons in tournaments with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, the non-league home for female Olympians. She was among 28 players invited to the US residency program for the 2022 Games, but was recently released.

While the PHWPA has been on the road with its stars, hoping for a league that pays a living wage, Flanagan’s arrival at the PHF is a victory for a league looking to improve the quality of hockey. The PHF has a salary cap of $ 300,000 (US) per team for a 20-game regular season schedule.

“We are preparing to be very attractive to current or post-Olympic Olympians to want to play here in the federation and to create an attractive environment for them to want to do that,” said Tumminia.

Flanagan is sure to be one of the brightest lights when the All-Star game hits Toronto.

The Six should have plenty of stars to consider, including Mikyla Grant-Mentis, the reigning league MVP and current leader in assists who was just included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for sports, along with players like Alphonso Davies, Vladimir Guerrero. Jr. and Nelly Korda. Grant-Mentis has two goals and six assists in three games this season.

Veteran Michela Cava is second in six touchdowns with three goals and three assists, and Lindsay Eastwood is among the defense leaders with one goal and two assists, while goalkeeper Elaine Chuli, Canada’s U-18 gold medalist in 2012, he is 3-0-0. with a 9.19 save percentage and 2.00 goals against on average.

The main event will actually be three mini-games, with three teams. The star selection process will take place in three stages: PHF players will be surveyed to determine three captains; the coaches of the six teams will identify 30 stellar participants; and fans will vote to select three final All-Star skaters and an additional goalie. Once the player pool is determined, the captains will be responsible for drawing up three 12-player rosters.

All three teams will compete in a free-for-all series. Each of the three single-period games will include 10 minutes of five-on-five hockey followed by five minutes of three-on-three and a shootout. All goals will count towards the final score, and the best team will be crowned champion of the stars.

“There is a lot we are trying to do, and doing it here and in this new territory is very poetic for me,” said Tumminia. “So we are very happy for this to happen.”