PWHL expansion wasn't all doom and gloom for Original Six cities

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It doesn’t take a social-media deep-dive to find out just how hurt fans of the original six PWHL teams have been by the expansion process.

Despite the league’s stated desire for immediate competitive balance before the expansion draft and exclusive signing window for the league’s two newest teams opened, the reaction from many fans has been shock at what their respective teams had to give up to make this happen.

There’s an argument that the league went too far and have created two super teams in this process. That argument won’t be settled until the league is back up and playing.

But in the meantime, there’s another more positive side to expansion as well that often gets lost in all the whining and complaining.

Jess Kondas is proof of that.

A reserve defender for all but one game over two seasons for the Toronto Sceptres, Kondas was signed to a standard player contract in the middle of all that roster plundering that went on to ensure there was competitive balance when both PWHL Vancouver and PWHL Seattle take the ice next fall.

In addition to a sizable pay bump — reserves receive a stipend of a minimum of $15,000 per season — Kondas will now receive the $1700 per month living allowance as well to offset the rent she has been playing out of pocket until now.

A Calgary native, Kondas made the decision to stay in market in Toronto that allowed her to practice daily with the team over these past two seasons. Reserves are not required to stay in market, but it would be hard to stay game-ready should an opening arise if a player wasn’t in market.

Kondas, for instance got into one game over two seasons, a post-Christmas win over Boston this past season, and even scored in that game as she filled in for Rylind MacKinnon, who had incurred a one-game suspension.

It was without question the high point of her two years with the Sceptres until she got that call from her agent telling her Toronto had signed her to a standard contract for the coming season a couple of weeks ago.

The goal was big, but so too was the ability to show staff she can play at this level.

“I definitely think a one-game, one-goal statline might have helped, but I mean I know you can look at that in different ways,” Kondas said. “Just in conversations with Gina (GM Gina Kingsbury) and Troy (head coach Troy Ryan) there was that question of was I ready to fit into the pace of the game at this level? I think that was the biggest question mark around myself from what I was hearing.

“So just getting in a game and kind of showing that I can fit in. I don’t stick out in a bad way. I think that definitely contributes to a better understanding of how I can play in the league.”

As hard as it was to see teammates like Sarah Nurse, Hannah Miller and, more specific to Kondas’ situation, defenders like Megan Carter and MacKinnon moving on through the expansion and free-agent signing period, it was that growth by the league through expansion that opened up a spot for Kondas.

“To be honest, throughout the whole of last season I knew I was kind of there and ready to be in a position to be in the league,” Kondas said. “So I think just knowing expansion was coming, I had that in mind and I was like, ‘OK, I feel pretty confident to have a spot in the league the next season.’”

The timing of the news turned out to be just about perfect for Kondas, who is back in Calgary this summer working at her gym. Her news came a few days before her only sibling and older brother was getting married and, with all the family home for the wedding, it became a bit of a double celebration.

Kondas doesn’t get to this point without a lot of perseverance on her part, not to mention some sacrifice over these past two years, but in her mind the process has always been about working through the tough times until she got the opportunity she always knew she deserved.

“It is definitely not easy to play that (reserve) role, especially two years in a row,” she said.

“The second year I was really hoping to finalize that spot and get that opportunity so it was a hard decision to continue to do that a second year in a row. But my perspective, I have always kind of been an underdog. I don’t get looked at a lot so I think I’ve had to have the mentality that if you keep working through things and you keep that perseverance, things will happen for you. Not to say your luck changes, but that’s just how I see things.

“When you work through the hard parts, good things come to you,” Kondas said. “Good karma. Being a reserve for two years is definitely tough and you have some tough days when you do question it but yeah looking back now there’s nothing I’d say I would want to change.

“Obviously, it would be great to be a wanted draft pick, but that was my path and I just had to embrace what I was given.”

To a degree, Kondas understands the prevailing sentiment of the fan base and the level of disappointment around the departure of key players to stock new markets, but only to a degree.

“Obviously fans may lose their favourite players in their markets, but ultimately it’s the goal of building this women’s hockey league and there’s a lot of girls who have been in my position too and a lot of us that have the talent to be in this league,” Kondas said. “I think the expansion is just a (continuation) of what we are creating.

“I’m going to miss a lot of the teammates I lost in Toronto, but it’s a new opportunity for girls and it all goes back to the expansion of the game,” she said. “We are just trying to create something that is sustainable so every year that is the goal through the league. Maybe some ups and down but there is definitely a lot of wins that we will see come out of this season as well.”

mganter@postmedia.com