Sportsnet in Canada has agreed to a broadcast deal with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

The four-year deal, which starts this season, entails broadcasting three Clarkson Cup games – the CWHL’s playoff tournament – and special event games. The CWHL will also have a place on the Sportsnet website, which will include live scores.

Currently CWHL games are available for streaming for a one-time $10 fee on the CWHL website.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled that Sportsnet is on board to be our official Canadian playoff and special event broadcast partner,” said CWHL commissioner Brenda Andress. “This deal means unprecedented exposure for the female game, with more fans getting the chance to see our talented players in action, and more young girls getting inspired to lace up their skates and pick up a stick.”

Toronto Furies goaltender and CWHL co-founder Sami Jo Small told the Toronto Observer that the deal is a huge step in the right direction for professional women’s hockey.

“Showing more games on television will certainly expose our product to people right across the country which I think is really exciting,” she said. “People across the country have followed these players as they’ve grown up and played college hockey and now they can watch them play at the highest level.”

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League was founded in 2007. It is one of two major women’s ice hockey leagues in Canada. The CWHL currently has five hockey teams: two in Ontario (Brampton Thunder and Toronto Furies), One in Quebec (Montreal Stars), one in Albert (Calgary Inferno), and one in Boston, Massachusetts (Boston Blades).

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A college hockey fan and hockey player, Krista Patronick decided to pursue a career in sports management after earning a degree in English from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in 2009 and spending three years in journalism. She received her Master's of Sports Management from Southern New Hampshire University in 2013. After realizing she was meant to work in the hockey world, Krista went to work in any press box she could get into. She kept statistics, wrote shot charts, tweeted and live-blogged her way to a job as an operations coordinator and marketing director at The Hockey Academy in Hudson, N.H. She works with the company's two junior teams, adult hockey players, and youth teams. Krista is a goalie and enjoys playing hockey in her spare time. She is a die-hard Bruins and River Hawks hockey fan. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @KristaPatronick

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