Puck drops on inaugural season for first-ever Sask. senior women’s hockey league

The Saskatchewan Senior Women’s Hockey League hosts its very first game of its inaugural season in Saskatoon.

The puck has dropped on the inaugural season of the Saskatchewan Senior Women’s Hockey League (SSWHL).

The 11-team league is the province’s first and only competitive senior hockey league exclusively for women, which fills a long-standing gap, according to SSWHL co-founder Megan LeBlanc.

“We realized how much interest there is around the province and how many girls nowadays do pursue higher levels (of hockey), and once it’s done, it’s done and there’s nothing else to do,” LeBlanc said.

Saskatchewan recently added a U22 women’s hockey league, but after athletes age out of that league or graduate from university, there isn’t another competitive league for women to play in the province.

League co-founder Jenna Merk said it leaves women with a tough decision: “Do I have to give up my sport or am I moving?”

• ‘It should have always existed’: Sask.’s first women’s senior hockey league to begin play this fall

Merk had been traveling more than 700 km from Regina to Calgary just to play a competitive game after she finished her university hockey career. She’s happy she no longer needs to do that.

“It’s exciting to know that it (this league) wasn’t just for me, but also all the girls I coach, knowing that they have somewhere to go next,” said Merk, who is the assistant coach for the University of Regina women’s hockey team.

“They’re putting their all into their sport, they’re working their butts off for this and now it doesn’t have to end.”

Saskatchewan has about 24 senior men’s hockey leagues made up of more than 100 teams, Merk said. In some cases, male athletes are paid to play.

LeBlanc said part of the inspiration for the SSWHL came from former players watching their boyfriends and husbands play hockey in competitive settings all winter long.

“I think it’s time for women to have the same opportunity,” LeBlanc said.

Growing the game

Five teams will play in the SSWHL’s North Division, while six teams will play out of the South Division. Each team will play 12 regular season games.

Alana Serhan, forward for Bridge City Storm, said the season is structured in a way that allows women to balance the sport and their personal lives.

“We’re mothers, we’re aunts, we’re family people. We have jobs,” she said.

“To have the season a little bit shorter, condensed so that people can plan around their schedules and we can have good quality talent, I think is really important.”

Those involved in the SSWHL expect this first season to have growing pains. Many players are coming out of years-long retirement to play in a league that was built from the ground up. Funding and ice time availability have already been challenges for some teams.

“This is step one. This is the groundwork,” Merk said, adding they hope to expand the league and increase competition in the coming years.

“It’s going to become something, and we’re a part of that first step.”

With the introduction of the Professional Women’s Hockey League in 2023, Merk said interest in women’s hockey across the country has “blown up.”

In 2010, more than 85,000 women and girls were registered in Hockey Canada programs. Registration numbers increased by 23,000 in the 2023-24 season.

Hockey Canada is aiming to have over 170,000 women and girls playing hockey across the country.

Savanna Stevenson, who plays defence for the Bridge City Storm based in Saskatoon, hopes the league encourages girls to stay in the sport longer.

“I hope that some younger girls in the province come out and watch a couple games and have that knowledge that there’s a place for you after you’re done playing, that you have a place to land,” she said.

OT thriller kicks off inaugural season

The Bridge City Storm faced off against the Dalmeny Sabres Sunday evening, a week earlier than the rest of the league’s scheduled home openers due to limited ice time availability.

Stevenson said she was nervous for her team’s home opener. She hadn’t laced up for a competitive game in about five years, after COVID cancelled the final season of her NCAA division one career. But once she stepped onto the ice, the nerves went away.

“It’s awesome to actually get back on the ice and be with girls that want to be here and have played at competitive levels before,” she told CTV News after the game.

“Hockey was always an escape for me. So being able to get on the ice, I was able to leave everything at home. It was kind of therapeutic for me.”

About 100 fans showed up to watch the two teams face off in a close game that was decided in overtime. The Storm netted the league’s first victory, icing on the cake for players who were just excited to be back in the rink.

“To have family support, community support and support of loved ones is really, really important. It speaks to hockey in this province and in this country and how passionate we are,” Serhan said.

The SSWHL’s official opening weekend is Oct. 17-19 when most of the teams will kick off their season.