Report: The NHL Could See Its First Female Player Debut This Season
The Emergency Back Up Goaltender or EBUG has become somewhat of an interesting topic in the NHL in recent years. With individuals like David Ayres, Scott Foster, Jorge Alves, Thomas Hodges, Matt Berlin, and Jett Alexander appearing in games as EBUGs in the past one writer believes a better solution might be available for this season.
New Professional Women's Hockey League
Right after the NHL Draft this offseason, some huge news came out regarding women's hockey. A new league was to be formed joining together the PHF and PWPHA. The only problem is not all of the teams were to be joining the new league.
With the new league in place with 6 total teams, this means there will likely be 18 total goaltenders on the rosters for the new PWHL. This also means that 31 women will be out of a job in professional hockey. With each of these women without a place to play one individual had a creative idea to benefit both the hockey players out of a job and the NHL.
Women's Hockey's Best Take Over EBUG Role
Due to the new PWHL rosters many talented women will be without a spot on a roster. According to Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News, many NHL team's best option for an EBUG could likely be a player from the women's game.
Bringing in a player who has played professional hockey recently and understands the pressure of these moments would be very helpful to NHL teams. Women in the past like Manon Rheaume, Erin Whitten, Shannon Szabados, and Florence Schelling have all shown that women can compete and do well in professional hockey.
While these women do not need the NHL to show off how talented they are it would be amazing to see some of the best women's goaltenders get into an NHL game. The growth of women's hockey is continuing and while the PWHL gets on its feet the EBUG could provide some of the players an opportunity to continue to compete.
As Read On - The Hockey News - EBUG Alert: The Best Available Goalies This Year May Be Women
| POLL | ||
Would you like to see some of the best female goaltenders get a chance to play in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 944 | 54.3 % |
| No | 793 | 45.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
