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What ever happened to the Bikini Hockey League?

Photo of Igor Burdetskiy Igor Burdetskiy Follow on X January 9, 2014
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Many may recall the announcement back in the summer of 2012 that a Bikini Hockey League (BHL) was being formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Well we all waited and waited and even went through an NHL lockout without hearing anything more about the whereabouts of this so called BHL. So what gives exactly? Was it all just hype or is this so called girls rollerblading in bikinis while playing hockey league for real?

It is now 2014 and at this present moment there are two different BHL websites “http://www.thebikinihockeyleague.com/” and “http://bikinihockeyleague.com/” on the glorious thing we can’t live without called the Internet. Both sites have given little to no information on what has transpired since the promo video was shot for the BHL back in that very summer of 2012. The Facebook fanpage hasn’t been updated in nearly 10 months either:

lastbhlstatus
Checking their twitter page doesn’t give much resolve in the matter as well as most posts are retweets and mini-promotions, and hold little to no value in what the BHL has been (if anything at all) doing for the past year and half. So it leads me to truly ask has this just been all hype? Were we all made to believe something grand was going to come out of this one day and quite possibly fill the summer void of no NHL hockey?

Sure, the BHL caught all of our eyes one way or another in 2012, but has since practically vanished off the face of the earth. We’ve been through an entire NHL lockout for Christ-sake. Wouldn’t it have been quite an opportune time to capture an audience and grow the brand when everyone was pleading for the lockout to end? What about last summer when one would assume the BHL would take place and make an appearance, but once again nothing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to pick a fight and trash-talk the BHL. I’m simply making observations from the evidence laid out in-front of us all here. In the start of their promo it clearly states, “On a quest to show the most compelling sport of our time. They are ready, the players are ready, are you ready?”

And then there’s the “phenomenal” ending to the promo with the narrator saying something along the lines of, “Hockey fans are suffering through another lockout. The THIRD one in EIGHT years and they are starving for hockey. The BHL is their answer.”

Just hold up a minute please if you can. Yes there was a  recent dreaded lockout at the start of the 2012-13 season. And yes there was a full lockout for the 2004-05 season. So that’s TWO lockouts in Eight years and it doesn’t take a math whiz to know that. Unprofessional is one way to put that video but lets look past that and focus on the being ready part or that the BHL is the answer for an average hockey fan. I’ve been ready since the summer of 2012 girls and apparently so have all of you but again where in the world has the BHL fiddled off to?

BHLWC

Then there’s also the BHL Winter Classic event that was being promoted but fell short because the original fundraising goal of $60,000 amounted to only $261 raised. Some of that raised money also ended up coming from actual players’ pockets to hit the hammer over the head, oof! Finally there’s the abbreviated mission statement on the BHL twitter page that goes like:

“We provide a positive alternative to the hockey community & a venue for adult female hockey athletes to continue in their sport. Twice as nice without the ice!”

Uh huh, do go on BHL. You know I have a tremendous respect for female hockey players as someone who currently plays on not one or two but count it THREE teams with fellow lady teammates. Its become a joke to think anything worthy is going to come out of this as the clock keeps ticking and lets also be honest, girls in bikinis playing hockey is degrading to the true professional female hockey players out there. If you watch hockey, as I assume those who are reading this do, then you’re not watching it to see a players’ skin and flesh but the beauty of the skill and talent that unfolds in the game itself. I know, I know, it’s a marketing gimmick as we all heard before “sex sells” but if you watched the promo all the way through it’s just another Keeping Up With The Kardashians spin-off on rollerblades. I guess it wouldn’t help the cause to mention that the BHL was formed around the time of the 2004-05 lockout too and again has yet to deliver.

So again, going back to my original question, was it hype? Of course it was from the get-go, and the spotlight is back on what fans really give way to, the NHL. And with the 2014 Winter Olympics coming up in Sochi next month, this hockey fan will be tuning into watching ladies play some puck but it’ll be on the ice (which is way more nice) and with a product that actually delivers and doesn’t disappoint.

Igor Burdetskiy

Igor Burdetskiy

Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & CEO at Hooked on Hockey Magazine
I grew up playing Ball and Roller Hockey day and night somewhat religiously throughout elementary and middle school. The two don't compare though when I lace up the skates and hit the ice. I live and breathe hockey beyond the perspective of "it's just a game" and I will gladly talk hockey for hours with anyone. Hockey is more than just a lifestyle, it's a culture of passionate people who make memories every time the puck is dropped. Hockey has not only helped me get through some of the hardest times in life but has created some of the best memories to date. Want to talk hockey with me? Shoot me an email: iburdetskiy@hookedonhockey.com and let's talk some hockey!
Igor Burdetskiy
Photo of Igor Burdetskiy Igor Burdetskiy Follow on X January 9, 2014
0 3 minutes read
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