ST PAUL, Minn. — Premier Hockey Federation commissioner Ty Tumminia is resigning following the end of this season, and after overseeing a major overhaul of the U.S.-based women’s hockey league.
League spokesman Paul Krotz told The Associated Press on Saturday Tumminia cited personal reasons by informing the board of governors in January that she was stepping down after two seasons. Krotz said she will remain in her current position through the conclusion of the playoffs next month and potentially into April.
Canada’s Sportsnet first reported the news earlier in the day.
Krotz said Tumminia has no plans of continuing any involvement with the league after stepping down.
Tumminia is a former baseball executive and scout, and partial owner of several minor league teams. She added hockey to her resume as chairwoman of the PHF-expansion Toronto Six, who were established in April 2020.
She was appointed interim commissioner in October 2020, before taking over the job permanently in August, during which the North America’s only women’s hockey league to pay its players a salary underwent a significant transformation.
Over that time, the PHF has revamped its structure to include private ownership, will have increased its salary cap per team from $150,000 to $750,000 starting next year, expanded into Canada with more teams coming next season, and rebranded itself last summer.
The former National Women’s Hockey League was established in 2015 by founder and former commissioner Dani Rylan Kearney.
The PHF has transitioned from each team being owned by the league to private ownership, and the addition of a board of governors. The league has grown from four teams to six, with franchises now based in Boston; Toronto, Newark, New Jersey, Danbury, Connecticut, Buffalo, New York, and Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The Minnesota Whitecaps, who have been a part of the PHF since 2018, are currently 5-9-1 for the 2021-2022 regular season.
On Saturday night, the Whitecaps beat the Metropolitan Riveters 5-2 at Tria Rink in St. Paul. With the win, the Whitecaps are two points behind third-place Boston Pride in the standings.
The PHF has already announced adding expansion teams in Montreal and at a yet-to-be-announced U.S. location next season.
Last month, the league announced it will increase each team’s cap to $750,000 as part of a board of governors’ commitment to invest more than $25 million over the next three years. The cash influx would also be used to provide players health care and improve facilities.
The league's regular-season concludes on March 20, and the PHF will hold its Isobel Cup playoffs the following week in Florida.
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