What is Home?

Photo by Michelle Jay

Home is different for all of us. In some way it’s warmth. Comfort. Happiness. We do what we can to protect it, right? 

You come here because some part of home for you is when you cross through the doorway a burst of cold air hits you in the face. That’s home. 

For many of us home was entering Warrior Ice Arena on the weekend and watching the Pride play. We’d cheer. Laugh. Have a beer. Home was Pride Hockey. 

It traveled with us. To our TVs and phone screens. Into our podcasts and reading material. Pride hockey was home. 

We lost home. 

We did. For a brief moment we didn’t have it and everything told us we wouldn’t get it back for a long time. As the PHF crashed before us and the PWHL rose, we were left in darkness.

Pride hockey WAS home. 

I wasn’t content with that. Neither were you all and it took a day afterwards to fight for what we believed in. To fight for our home. There was a place at the table and we wanted it. 

Here’s where I want to interject. I always had a dream. In doing this I wanted to be able to tell my daughters as we watched the Pride play that their old man used to help with all this. That he remembers when games were on YouTube and Twitter before twitch. Laugh about postgame shows he hosted and brag about the players he met and friends he made. 

I get to tell her a new thing now: that there’s a team in Boston because of me.

You get to do that too. We saved women’s hockey in Boston. 

Yes, there were external factors at play. Arena size. Market. Sponsors. General managers, player pools, fans. But we put them back on notice. 

Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News noted a few weeks back that there was fan outcry. And outcry that brought Boston back to the docket. Our seat at the table. 

Rumors, rumblings, X handle leaks meant nothing until 11:00 EST on August 29, 2023. 

Minnesota, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Boston. We’re home. 

Stan Kasten announced the official name: The Professional Women’s Hockey League. Then came the official market announcements. No names. No logos. But the timing is being worked out.

The league expects to expand to 32 games after the 24 game inaugural season. Gearing toward an October schedule release, the league continues to search for venues and training facilities. During the inaugural season we can expect to see neutral site games in play for the set markets. 

With a September 3 declaration date for the 15 round draft, the time for play is coming. 3 players can sign before the draft and then other free agents that went undrafted can work to select their teams. 

We’ll see who selects Boston. I like to speculate even if it’s way too early for that. 

There is no team in Boston without you folks. You signed the petition. When we needed it, you rallied the hashtag and tagged the PWHPA. And as it came down to the wire you spoke up and made their representatives know the massive mistake it would be to remove Boston from the professional women’s hockey circuit. 

There’s no team name yet. No home arenas. Heck, we might even shift arenas halfway through the season. We don’t know.

But it feels like home. There is a promise that we will see each other at the rink and keep championship-level hockey in Boston. 

Thank you all for your fight. 

As for us, a name change is coming. That’s a promise. The podcast is going to see some retooling. A new coat of paint and logo is on the way. And yes, once we know GM’s and President’s we’ll work to re-establish the relationship we had with the Pride. 

As for us? We’re us. Yeah, our Twitter is going to be sassy, we’re going to host post-game shows and fireside chats. We’ll see new writers and friends. But we’re not changing that much. Diehards is Diehards. You’ll know us as you always have.