The CW trophies, so where did they go?

"Destroying those books is a way of saying that the culture itself no longer exists; its history has disappeared; the continuity between its past and its future is ruptured. Taking books away from a culture is to take away its shared memory. It's like taking away the ability to remember your dreams. Destroying a culture's books is sentencing it to something worse than death: It is sentencing it to seem as if it never lived." - Susan Orlean, The Library Book

For a league that didn't have books written about it (other than the stats book by Richard Scott), the trophies value was perhaps even greater, as they were one of few resources that served to communicate the existence and results of the 12 year old league.

I wonder who bought the CWHL trophies. Or if the CWHL eventually settled its debts. And why it came to an end the way it did.

A year or so ago, I watched Katie Million, then commissioner of the WCHA, do an online fundraiser to help the WCHA raise funds, and a sponsor for the weekly awards. She also caught the attention of John Buccigross with her appeal for a Championship trophy for the WCHA. An almost 20 year old league, with no Championship trophy! Buccigross' charity bought the WCHA a Championship trophy to award.

This sweet new @WCHA_WHockey Final Faceoff Trophy from our friend @Buccigross is up for grabs today! Who will take it home today @BadgerWHockey or @GopherWHockey ? Good luck to both teams and THANK YOU @Buccigross ! 👊🏻🏒😊#WeAreWCHA #WMNSHKY #Grateful pic.twitter.com/JlzDuH1HMY

— Katie Million (@katie25million) March 4, 2018

One elite women's league finally gets some hardware, and a year later another is auctioning theirs off. There is a part of me that still can't believe this was necessary; a part of me that wonders if the board was trying to make some sort of point or statement about the severity of lack of support, and figured it was worth it, no matter how much it would upset people. That is likely too charitable a view..

In the end, the MVP award sold for $6,200, the top goalie and defender trophies went for $2,600, and the coach of the year award sold for $2,000. The goalie, defender, and coach of the year dollar amounts might be the result of a parent buying the trophy, but that $6,200 MVP trophy is a pretty steep price. Still could be a parent I suppose. I'm curious who else would be buying these.

Am I the only one that wondered if Graeme Roustane purchased some of the hardware, perhaps to use in a new league? Is it possible some #ForTheGame folks have the trophies and they will be awarded again? Do gooder companies that will donate the artifacts to the hockey hall of fame? Parents?

Meanwhile, after the Angela James trophy was removed from the auction once it was determined it was not owned by the CWHL, the Jayna Hefford, Chairman's and Humanitarian trophies were removed too:

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League is in discussions with third party entities on purchasing trophies without bids and having them donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame. As such we have removed the Jayna Hefford, Chairman’s, and Humanitarian trophies.

— CWHL (@TheCWHL) April 30, 2019

I wonder what became of those third party negotiations.

It's funny, the NHL season isn't even over yet, and I'm kind of missing women's hockey. All in due time. Need the right league, and then they will be back. It's a shame they lost valuable evidence of their history as part of the price.