Professional women's hockey in North America was unified Thursday when a co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck a deal with the Premier Hockey Federation, two people with direct knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The deal will result in a new women's hockey league that is projected to launch in January, one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. Mark Walter's firm acquired what the other person described as "certain assets" of the PHF.