Top women hockey players announce series of tournaments

Kendall Coyne Schofield and a majority of the world’s top female hockey players are set to hit the ice in their ongoing push to establish a single, economically viable North American professional league.

The newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association announced Wednesday it will hold a series of tournaments starting in Toronto on Sept. 20-22. Two more events are also scheduled for Hudson, New Hampshire, on Oct. 4-6 and Chicago on Oct. 18-20.

The union also announced its members will play exhibition games against Boston College on Sept. 21 and against the Sharks alumni in San Jose on Sept. 22.

The tournaments are being billed as “The Dream Gap Tour,” which represents the gap girls have in their dreams of one day play professionally.

As Coyne Schofield told The Associated Press, her only options growing up ended at playing college or potentially the Olympics, where the two-time Olympian helped the United States win a gold medal last year.

The union is made up of players who have pledged not to compete professionally in North America this season in a bid to form a league that pays them a livable wage and provides health care.