Full-time NHL Woman Goalie?

[RichardGraham]

Hi,

Reading the last couple of messages in the "Sexism" thread, I had a thought:

How long before we see a full-time female goalie in the NHL?

Manon Rheaume and others have played at the pro level, but eventually, I figure a woman might make it to an NHL team and stick. Any thoughts?

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[sactosaxons]

Probably about the same time you see women in the NFL, MLB, NBA....

[TXGoalieMom]

Never say never.......it is a really long time. :-)

[JohnHockey1798]

I think you will see a full time women goalie in the minor leagues before you see one in the NHL. It will take time just like Roller Hockey will to have a pro league. It will just take time and then it will happen. Some team will give a female goalie a chance or they will draft one.

John

[RichardGraham]

Hi Seminole,

That begs a question: Why?

Because no woman can ever be good enough to play goal in the NHL? Or, because regardless of how good a woman goalie might be, sexism in the NHL would never allow it?

I'm very curious to know your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[TXGoalieMom]

Me too.......

[calselect89s]

Manon in her day was a great goalie. She is treated like a queen in Quebec and rightfully deserves it. Can she compete against the top level men? I think not. She didnt last long in the NHL.
Another female from Canada, Haley Wickenheiser is playing in the minors in Finland. She is tough and is doing surprisingly well (10 goals, 23 assist). Of the women I have seen playing college and Olympic level hockey, they do not have the size to match up with the Scott Stevens of the NHL.

[missionhockey21]

I dont know but if it happens it would have to be a few very special ladies. The NHL is so tough physically I find it hard to think a woman could play in the NHL. But I hope somebody does prove me wrong. :)

[missionhockey21]

I think there is a very small chance it could ever happen.

[missionhockey21]

Hockey is much more physical than the NBA or the MLB and woman cant hold up to the pros there imo. But is it really so bad to have a pro womans hockey league one day, I think that would be the best thing to happen.

[missionhockey21]

Maybe so, but I doubt if a woman can make it they wont be able to stay long.

[missionhockey21]

It will be a long time before a woman would be drafted, at least with a high pick, because there are tons of male goalies that never get drafted.

[missionhockey21]

Most men do not want to face Scott Stevens, I wouldnt like to see an open ice check on a woman from him.

[sactosaxons]

There may come a day when a woman with the size, talent and luck to play in the NHL actually happens but I don't think the top female hockey players can or would want to compete with the top men on a regular basis.

Co-ed rec leagues are some of the funnest leagues to play in and at that level, the skills of the men and women are often fairly equal. But in the top elite and pro levels, women physically are at a great disadvantage. Forget about all the other "women in men's leagues" issues - size alone is enough of a reason the vast majority of women could never make it.

But there's no reason there couldn't be a WNHL......

[Benny_Gulakiw]

Hey Joy,

FYI, there is a pro women's ice hockey league based in Canada in the very early stages of development. From the people I talked to, it's getting ready to break out anytime now.

Benny Gulakiw
President
Inline Hockey America

[sactosaxons]

Benny,

Thanks for the info - wasn't there talk of a women's league here in the states a while back? I believe Cammi Granato was to play? Hope Canada's efforts are successful!

[DannyG]

Having read all the discussion below, I feel that everybody has hit around the bulls-eye, but has missed the ultimate point...

Everyone agrees that gender is not the issue, but rather performance level, with physical ability as a major component of performance ability.

The fact is that a woman with hockey skills and appropriate physical attributes will some day make the "major leagues." It might be, as the sport develops in the NHL, that the size necessary to compete would become 6'3", 255 lbs.

Should a woman not physically be able to achieve this, then such participation probably would not happen.

-however-

A woman who was 6'3", 255 lbs, and could play defense like Scott Stevens, would be welcomed into the NHL immediately. Skill and size being equal, what NHL team wouldn't absolutely jump at the chance? Ticket sales would go through the roof.

Similarly, if a woman with commensurate NHL skills were 5'6", and 165 lbs, and the NHL game had a role or a place on a roster for a male player with the same skills and physical attributes, then the female would get a legitimate chance.

It is the level of the game of the NFL, the NBA, and probably the NHL that would probably preclude women from being considered. But I guarantee you that a woman who was 6'9", 345 lbs, and could run a 4.4 40yd dash, would be signed instantly by an NFL club.

The key is opportunities for development. As women get the same chances in opportunities to play, to receive coaching, to play at high levels of competition, more and more of them will reach high levels of ability.

If there is a game, ice or inline, that allows for players smaller in physical stature than the average, by the time we produce that women player who can take on the guys and outplay them, then she will get the chance to play.

<font color=purple>DannyG</font color=purple>

[RichardGraham]

Hi Seminole,

Thanks for your answer. My argument would be that a goalie is highly unlikely to ever take a hit from Scott Stevens (as someone argued), and that dexterity and movement are more important to a goalie than size. Some of the best NHL goalies have been relatively small. I think that physically a woman could do the job, and I think that there are women that are definitely leaders who can handle pressure. So, I believe that the only thing that can keep a woman from eventually being an NHL goaltender is sexism.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[TXGoalieMom]

You must have been reading my mind. Precisely the reason that when my daughter started playing hockey....ice and inline.....I encouraged her to develop her skills in goal because I knew she would be competitive in goal a lot longer.

[sactosaxons]

You're absolutely correct - and in fact we're seeing this happen already. The skill level of today's girl/women players is much higher than five years ago. Shoot, five years ago it was hard to find quality girls/women's teams! Now there's talk of girls playing at age level instead of using the 1-year exception - unheard of five years ago.

There will come a day when a woman will have the required skill, size, etc. to play in the NHL. Then the question will be "will any team sign her?"

[missionhockey21]

I see your point Danny. I know several girls that have great puck handling skills, shooting accuracy and skating abillity. But if a girl of that kind of skill was matched to a boy of the same size, the boy has the physical advantage. Take for instance the playoffs this year, Scott Stevens lays a big hit on Kariya and Kariya was able to return to the game and score. I really doubt that a girl of that size would of been able to take a hit like that and come back to the game, let alone score. You would think there would be a woman in the MLB, the least physical sport of them all. But nope it hasnt happened. If a girl cant physically match a guy in baseball, then why could she in hockey. This isnt a post to bash women, because I know women can and have develop tremondous skill in hockey. But having skill and being able to match a male physically are two way different things. I think a woman with good skills could play in one of the pro roller hockey leagues that are non-checking, but many the NHL? Many guys who are great hockey players might not even be able to handle the NHL.. But like I have said before I hope someone will prove me wrong, it would be good for the game and defeintly women's hockey :-)

[missionhockey21]

I think if a woman could ever make it would be as a goalie. I havent seen too many women dominate a Adult "A" league in scoring, but I have seen a few in the net that were amazing.

[RichardGraham]

Hi Seminole,

Are you telling me that if a woman had the skills of Patrick Roy, and was obviously better than any male goalie, that she'd NEVER make it to the NHL? If so, why, if not for sexism?

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[TXGoalieMom]

Post deleted by TXGoalieMom

[RichardGraham]

Hi Seminole,

One day, when women have the right to vote and can be doctors and lawyers, there will be a female NHL goalie...

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[RichardGraham]

Hi Seminole,

I don't have a problem with your posts besides disagreeing with them. /wtimages/icons/wink.gif

You have the right to your opinion, and that's what this forum is for.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[RichardGraham]

Hi TXGoalieMom,

I don't know why you deleted your post. It made sense to me.

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[TXGoalieMom]

It made sense to me too, but I was concerned that I was "proving a point" in some distorted sort of way.

[RichardGraham]

Hi TXGoalieMom,

I didn't see it that way. /wtimages/icons/smile.gif

Sincerely,

Richard Graham
Editor
Inline Hockey Central

[columbus_RHstar]

Maybe someday it will happen. For a female to play in the NHL she would most likely have to play goalie. Most women don't have the size or physical toughness to match up agaisnt a Scoot Stevens or Derian Hatcher, few men do.

In a game that's become about size and strength and defense first, unlike the game that Gretzky dominated where most teams played a wide open offensive style, it makes it harder for a woman to compete because of physical disadvantages.

For a woman to play offense she would have to be able to go into the corners and fight for the puck, she would have to stand in front of the net and take cross checks, if there was mroe of an offensive game then she would have more of a chance to succeed.

To play defense a woman would have to be big enough and strong enough to handle the men playing offense, she would have to be able to tie her man up agaisnt the boards, battle in front, tie up sticks, move him out of screening the goalie, etc.

For a woman to play goalie she would not have to be as physically tough as she would to play offense or defense, she would have to be mentally tough. She would rely more on quickness and reflexes. Now some peopkle will say men shoot harder then women so she would have to get used to the speed of the shots and such. Well don't the goaluies who are drafted and come out of juiors have to get used to the speed of shots and of the play? So why can't a woman?

No matter what posistion a woman were to play in the NHL I think if she had grown up her whole life playing agaisnt boys it would help her.

[goaliesaurus]

As a father of a 12 year old daughter, who is a goalie, I think we can see the women run with the best of the men.
My daughter is a student of Erin Whitten, the first US woman Goalie to play and win for a professional hockey team, the Toledo Storm of the Detroit Redwings. Erin has quite a history with men's hockey