This isn’t Red Wings-related, but it’s very good and quite important in my belief. The Athletic’s Hailey Salivan wrote an article which discusses the uphill climb which the University of Michigan women’s hockey team is making as it attempts to earn varsity sport status:
The women’s club team will be in its 30th year when the puck drops for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday. And the appetite for women’s hockey in the State was apparent when a Professional Women’s Hockey League game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit drew a record crowd for a game back in March.
“Part of our mission statement at the University of Michigan says ‘to serve the people of Michigan.’ And right now, the people of Michigan are not being served. There is a demand for women’s hockey at (Michigan),” [University of Michigan regent Denise] Ilitch said during the meeting. “Women belong on the same ice as men. The University of Michigan must show that on our ice, we support varsity women’s hockey. That’s leadership. Hockey is for everyone, and we are ‘HockeyTown.‘”
Michigan president Santa Ono said he would look into launching a feasibility study with athletic director Warde Manuel.
The athletic department launched the study in May; it is expected to be completed sometime in the fall.
The study is a significant step toward a potential future for elite women’s hockey at one of the biggest schools in college athletics. It’s the first real look at adding the sport in decades. This time, though, the push for women’s hockey comes at a historic moment for the sport, with a new professional league and more eyes on the game than ever before.
“It almost feels like we’ve got this perfect storm,” said Jenna Trubiano, the club team’s head coach. “I personally would have wished it happened many years ago. We can’t change the past but you can focus on the future.”
Continued (paywall)
