The Ice Girls, "loved by Flyers fans but fired after last season amid reported complaints, are returning for the Oct. 9 regular-season home opener against the Devils," according to Randy Miller of NJ.com. There were "more loud boos again" during Tuesday night's preseason game at Wells Fargo Center "when the Flyers’ new all-guys ice cleaners skated out with shovels during a first-period stoppage." The "constant booing" during their "frequent on-ice appearances during the Flyers’ first two preseason games led to a change of thinking" (NJ.com, 9/30). In Philadelphia, Peter Mucha wrote the Flyers' "reasons for dropping the Ice Girls haven't been shared, though many believe an article in Mother Jones played a role." The article quoted members of the squad "complaining about pay and working conditions, like wearing skimpy outfits in freezing weather while holding doors open for fans." They supposedly also had to "immediately leave any restaurant or bar whenever a player walked in." There is "no word either if the Flyers have changes in store that might address some of the criticisms" (PHILLY.com, 10/1).
POWER TO THE PEOPLE? THE HOCKEY NEWS' Adam Proteau noted "all it took for the club to reverse course and abandon their plans was a few thousand Philly fans to start booing the group of young men dressed in full orange jumpsuits." Proteau: "Nothing says 'the courage of your convictions' like cowering in the face of some sad males who don’t enjoy hockey enough to appreciate it without hyper-sexualized women. ... More importantly, do the Flyers actually believe fans will stop coming to games if they didn’t have women displaying their thighs, stomachs and shoulders like dehumanized meat products on the ice?" Going from an all-female crew to an all-male unit "wasn’t the ideal solution, as the organization put young women out of work when they could just as easily have given them the same full-body jumpsuits as the men and continued to employ them as members of a mixed-gender ice team." Instead, the Flyers have "bungled the situation by making it an all-or-nothing showdown" (
THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 10/1).
