Professional Women's Hockey League
| Title | Professional Women's Hockey League |
| Current Season | 2025–26 PWHL season |
| Logo |  |
| Logo Upright | 0.8 |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Inaugural | 2023–24 |
| Owner | Mark Walter Group |
| Teams | 8 |
| Countries | Canada (4 teams) United States (4 teams) |
| Champion | Minnesota Frost (2nd) |
| Champ Season | 2024–25 |
| Most Champs | Minnesota Frost (2) |
| Broadcaster |
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; «Ligue professionnelle de hockey féminin», LPHF) comprises eight ice hockey teams, four each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a regular season to earn one of four places in a postseason tournament that determines the winner of the Walter Cup. The PWHL is wholly owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group.
Differences between the PWHL and other North American professional hockey leagues include a 3-2-1-0 points system, terminations of penalties following a short-handed goal, best-of-five shootouts, and greater restrictions on body checking. The league's matches are broadcast nationally in Canada by the CBC and TSN, their French-language affiliates Radio-Canada and RDS, and in both languages on Amazon Prime Video. In the United States, it is broadcast by regional sports networks based in each U.S. city with a team. It is streamed on YouTube internationally, excluding Canada, as well as on Nova Sport in Czechia and Slovakia.
The collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League in 2019 led to the establishment of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), a non-profit organization that advocated for greater professionalism in women's ice hockey. PWHPA members boycotted existing leagues, including the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), with the goal of establishing a stable, unified professional league, and worked to build a collective bargaining agreement with Mark Walter and Billie Jean King Enterprises. The Mark Walter Group acquired the assets of the PHF following its 2022–23 season. Subsequently, the PWHPA worked with the Mark Walter Group to establish a unified league with new ownership and management. The league's first draft took place in September 2023, and its first season began in January 2024.
History
Antecedents and the PWHPA
Top-level and professional women's hockey in North America has developed in starts and stops since the late twentieth century. The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) launched in 1999, featuring teams mainly in Ontario and Quebec. Some teams from Western Canada competed intermittently, but a Western Women's Hockey League was formed in 2004. The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) effectively replaced the NWHL and ran for twelve seasons, from 2007 to 2019, with teams competing for the Clarkson Cup. The CWHL, which operated on a non-profit basis, did not pay player salaries, but it did at times offer stipends and bonuses as it aspired to become a professional league. However, the league lacked financial stability and it abruptly folded in 2019. A new National Women's Hockey League—later renamed the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)—which did offer player salaries, was established in the United States in 2015, before expanding into Canada in 2020. However, after the dissolution of the CWHL, hundreds of prominent women's players, including Canadian and American Olympians, founded the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association (PWHPA) and opted to boycott existing leagues in pursuit of a unified, financially stable professional league. In the meantime, the PWHPA attracted partnerships with corporate sponsors and National Hockey League teams, organizing exhibition tournaments to generate support for their goal.
In 2022, the PWHPA entered a partnership with the Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises—led by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and Billie Jean King, respectively—with the intent to launch a new professional league. In 2023, the two business partners purchased the assets of the PHF, which ceased operations. The PWHPA negotiated a collective bargaining agreement ahead of the launch of the new professional league the union had been working towards.
Founding and inaugural season
2023–24 PWHL season
The establishment of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) was announced by the Mark Walter Group in August 2023, along with the location of its six charter teams: Boston, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Montreal, New York City, Ottawa, and Toronto. Teams began constructing their rosters that summer, with an initial ten-day free agency period to sign three players. Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, and Emerance Maschmeyer became the league's first players when they signed with Ottawa. The inaugural draft took place in September at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, where Minnesota chose Taylor Heise as the first pick in a fifteen-round, ninety-player draft from a pool of 286 eligible players. The league announced that, due to time constraints, the teams would not be given nicknames until after the inaugural season, and would wear jerseys featuring the name of the teams' locales in a diagonal wordmark..jpg)
Prior to the start of the inaugural season, all six teams congregated at the Utica University Nexus Center in early December for a five-day evaluation camp, including scrimmages used to experiment with new rules. The first game took place on January 1, 2024, when Toronto hosted New York at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. New York's Ella Shelton scored the league's first goal en route to a 4–0 win. The game's Canadian television audience of 2.9 million viewers was the largest for a sports or entertainment broadcast that day, beating the 2024 NHL Winter Classic. The attendance record for a professional women's ice hockey match would be set multiple times during the ensuing season: 8,318 at Ottawa's first home game at TD Place Arena on January 2; 13,316 at Minnesota's first home game at the Xcel Energy Center on January 6; 19,285 at the inaugural "Battle on Bay Street" match at Scotiabank Arena on February 16; and 21,105 at the "Duel at the Top" match at the Bell Centre on April 20. The latter two drew the largest ever crowds for women's ice hockey, surpassing the 18,013 that watched Canada play Finland at the 2013 Women's World Championship.
Toronto finished atop the standings at the end of the inaugural season—they chose to play fourth place Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs, leaving Montreal and Boston to play the other series. Minnesota defeated Toronto in a five-game series, while Boston defeated Montreal in three straight games, with every decision coming in overtime. In the final, Minnesota defeated Boston in a five-game series to capture the first Walter Cup championship. Natalie Spooner was the league's first scoring champion and the inaugural winner of the league's Billie Jean King Most Valuable Player award, while Taylor Heise led the playoffs in scoring and was given postseason MVP honours.
2025 expansion teams
Prior to the start of the 2024–25 season, the league announced that it was exploring expansion, opening up a process for proposals and stating that it would ultimately look to add two new teams when possible; by November 2024, the league had received more than two dozen expansion proposals. On April 18, 2025, reports suggested that the first new expansion team would be in Vancouver, with Seattle reportedly a top choice for the second. On April 23, 2025, the league announced that Vancouver would receive the first expansion team in league history, with the team playing home games at the Pacific Coliseum beginning in the 2025–26 season. One week later, on April 30, the league announced that Seattle would receive the second expansion team for the 2025–26 season, with the team playing home games at Climate Pledge Arena, home of the NHL's Seattle Kraken, who will have a supporting role with the team after supporting its expansion bid. On May 21, the PWHL named Meghan Turner as general manager for the Seattle team.
Organization
The PWHL and all eight of its teams are owned by the Mark Walter Group. The Advisory Board of the PWHL is formed by Billie Jean King, Ilana Kloss, Stan Kasten, and Royce Cohen. Jayna Hefford is the Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations and Amy Scheer is the Senior Vice President of Business Operations. Former hockey player and broadcaster Cassie Campbell-Pascall is an advisor to the Board. The league hired over 100 staff members to support league operations, distinguishing it from past women's hockey leagues that have lacked such operational support.
The PWHPA organized a formal players' union in early 2023—the PWHL Players Association (PWHLPA)—that became the players' union representing all PWHL players. Unique to professional women's hockey, the PWHL established an eight-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players' union. The CBA establishes that each team must sign at least six players to a minimum salary of $80,000, and no more than nine players to a league minimum salary of $35,000, with teams instructed to achieve an average salary of $55,000. The base and average salaries are slated to increase 3% per season through the end of the agreement in 2031. The CBA further outlines performance and team bonuses, including a $63,250 bonus for the championship-winning team, and other financial incentives, including housing stipends. Brian Burke acts as the executive director of the players' union.
Format and rules
| Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Example of the 3-2-1-0 system: A leads B, as A earned points for their overtime losses (green), while B earned no points for their regulation losses (red). |
The inaugural PWHL season consisted of a 24-game schedule lasting from January to May. For the 2024–25 season, the schedule comprised 30 games played from November to May, with each team facing the other five teams six times each. The schedule included a mid-season break during the annual IIHF World Women's Championship in April. For the 2025–26 season, the schedule will again comprise 30 games played, with each team facing the other seven teams a minimum of four times. The schedule includes a mid-season break for the Winter Olympics. A 3-2-1-0 points system is used for classification, whereby a team is awarded 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, and 1 for an overtime or shootout loss. At the end of the regular season, the best four teams qualify for a postseason tournament that determines the champion, comprising two semi-finals and a final played as best-of-five series. The teams compete for the Walter Cup, a trophy named after the league's financial backers, the Walter family.
PWHL rules closely follow National Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) standards, with some notable innovations. A "jailbreak" rule allows a team to terminate a minor penalty against by scoring a short-handed goal. During best-of-five shootouts, any player is eligible to shoot at any time, including taking multiple attempts. Like the Swedish Women's Hockey League, the PWHL breaks women's ice hockey and IIHF conventions and allows body checking, with the rule-book outlining that checking is permissible "when there is a clear intention of playing the puck or attempting to 'gain possession' of the puck", allowed principally along the boards. League executive Jayna Hefford has stated that body checking was included at the behest of the players. There are two main factors which determine the legality of a body check. The first is being able to determine whether or not gaining possession of the puck is the sole purpose of the player initiating the body check—a blatant example of an illegal body check would be if a player is across the ice from the puck, and they initiate a body check against another player. The second factor is the movement of players. Under rule 52.1, "a player who is stationary is entitled to that area of the ice. It is up to the opponent to avoid body contact with such a player." If a player were to initiate a body check on a player who is stationary and without the puck, there would be grounds for a referee to assess a penalty.
Prior to the 2024–25 season, the league announced the introduction of the "No Escape Rule", whereby when a team takes a penalty, all of the penalized team's players must remain on the ice until after the ensuing faceoff; this rule is similar to the existing rule which keeps players on the ice after their team ices the puck.
Teams
Current teams
As of the 2025–26 season, eight teams compete in the league, the original six (Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres from Canada, and Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, and New York Sirens from the United States) as well as expansion teams Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes. The six original clubs have been described as the league's own "Original Six" and by the PWHL as its "Inaugural Six". The teams' locations were chosen for being markets of National Hockey League franchises with "track records of supporting hockey and, specifically, the women's game." The teams are located in five of the seven Premier Hockey Federation markets—the Buffalo Beauts and Connecticut Whale were not given PWHL replacements, while Ottawa gained a team. Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and London, Ontario, were also considered for inaugural teams.
Potential team nicknames were registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in October 2023: Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, Ottawa Alert, and Toronto Torch. However, the league ultimately opted to forgo unique club identities for the inaugural season, emphasizing league branding instead. This meant that teams lacked nicknames, crests, and stylized jerseys, and were identified by their city. On September 9, 2024, ahead of the league's second season, team names and logos were announced, with none of them matching the trademarked names from 2023: the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres.
Some teams experimented with multiple venues during the inaugural season, and the league also organized a number of neutral-site games. As of the 2025–26 season, Minnesota plays its home games at the Grand Casino Arena, the largest-capacity venue in the league at 17,954, Seattle in the second largest at Climate Pledge Arena, and New York in the third largest at Newark's Prudential Center. Boston hosts games at Tsongas Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Montreal at Place Bell in Laval, Ottawa at TD Place Arena in Lansdowne Park, Toronto at Coca-Cola Coliseum, and Vancouver at Pacific Coliseum. The league has presented one-off matches at other large venues, including the Bell Centre in Montreal and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto in games dubbed the "Duel at the Top" and "Battle on Bay Street" rivalry matches between Montreal and Toronto. Other one-off match venues have included Little Caesars Arena in Detroit; PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh; and the Prudential Center in Newark. In November 2024, the league announced the PWHL Takeover Tour for the 2024–25 season that would see teams play nine neutral site matches in Seattle, Denver, Buffalo, Raleigh, Detroit, St. Louis, Quebec City, Vancouver, and Edmonton. The league also suggested that it would consider games in Europe in future seasons.
| Boston Fleet | Lowell, Massachusetts | Tsongas Center | 6,003 | Marmer | Kris Sparre | Megan Keller | 2023 |
| Minnesota Frost | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Grand Casino Arena | 17,954 | Melissa Caruso | Ken Klee | Coyne Schofield | 2023 |
| Montreal Victoire | Laval, Quebec | Place Bell | 10,062 | Sauvageau | Cheverie | Poulin | 2023 |
| New York Sirens | Newark, New Jersey | Prudential Center | 16,514 | Daoust | Fargo | Zandee-Hart | 2023 |
| Ottawa Charge | Ottawa, Ontario | TD Place Arena | 8,585 | Michael Hirshfeld | MacLeod | Jenner | 2023 |
| Seattle Torrent | Seattle, Washington | Climate Pledge Arena | 17,151 | Meghan Turner | Steve O'Rourke | Hilary Knight | 2025 |
| Toronto Sceptres | Toronto, Ontario | Coca-Cola Coliseum | 8,100 | Kingsbury | Ryan | Turnbull | 2023 |
| Vancouver Goldeneyes | Vancouver, British Columbia | Pacific Coliseum | 16,281 | Cara Gardner Morey | Brian Idalski | Ashton Bell | 2025 |
All-Stars
For its inaugural season, the PWHL announced that it would collaborate with the National Hockey League on its All-Star festivities, intending to host its own All-Star game in future seasons. PWHL All-Stars participated in the "PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase" on February 1 during the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto; it featured 24 PWHL players divided between Team King and Team Kloss—named after Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, respectively—coached by Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Meghan Duggan.
Season overviews
List of PWHL individual award winners
| Walter Cup champion | Regular season champion | Playoff MVP | Season MVP | Top scorer | Top goal scorer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 6 | PWHL Minnesota (3–2 vs PWHL Boston) | PWHL Toronto (47 points) | Taylor Heise (PWHL Minnesota) | Natalie Spooner (PWHL Toronto) | Natalie Spooner (PWHL Toronto) (27 points) | Natalie Spooner (PWHL Toronto) (20 goals) |
| 2024–25 | 6 | Minnesota Frost (3–1 vs Ottawa Charge) | Montreal Victoire (53 points) | Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge) | Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal Victoire) | Hilary Knight (Boston Fleet) / Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens) (29 points) | Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal Victoire) (19 goals) |
Titles by team
| Team | Seasons | Walter Cup champion | Years | Regular season champion | Years | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Frost | 2 | 2 | 2023–24, 2024–25 | 0 | – | 2 |
| Toronto Sceptres | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | 2023–24 | 1 |
| Montreal Victoire | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | 2024–25 | 1 |
Broadcasting
Production of all PWHL game telecasts are being handled in-house by the league, with Dome Productions (jointly owned by Bell Media and Rogers Sports & Media) handling host production for Canadian home games, and Raycom Sports handling production for U.S. home games.
In Canada, the league reached agreements for the inaugural season with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (via CBC Television and CBC Gem in English, and Ici Radio-Canada Télé and Ici TOU.TV in French), Sportsnet, TSN, and RDS (French) to carry packages of games throughout the season. Other games were streamed for free on YouTube, though this only happened for the first season. For the 2024–25 season, Sportsnet was replaced by Amazon Prime Video, which exclusively carries Tuesday night games, and holds rights to one semi-final series. The CBC primarily broadcasts Saturday afternoon games, while French-language coverage of Montreal Victoire games are split among the three broadcasters.
Distribution of games in the United States would initially rely on partnerships with regional sports networks, with the PWHL partnering with NESN, Bally Sports North (now FanDuel Sports Network North), and MSG Network for Boston, Minnesota, and New York games respectively. In February 2024, the league announced a partnership with the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform Women's Sports Network as its first national media partner in the United States. The Seattle Torrent partnered with KZJO and KONG.
Statistical leaders
Most shutouts in regular season games (all-time)
| Rank | Player | Games played | Shutouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corinne Schroeder | 35 | 5 |
| 2 | Maddie Rooney | 29 | 4 |
| 3 | Kristen Campbell | 43 | 3 |
| 4 | Gwyneth Philips | 15 | 2 |
| Nicole Hensley | 25 | 2 | |
| Emerance Maschmeyer | 41 | 2 | |
| Aerin Frankel | 41 | 2 | |
| 8 | Klára Peslarová | 4 | 1 |
| Kayle Osborne | 10 | 1 | |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | 37 | 1 |
Most points regular season games (all-time)
| Rank | Player | Games played | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marie-Philip Poulin | 51 | 29 | 20 | 49 |
| 2 | Daryl Watts | 54 | 22 | 22 | 44 |
| 3 | Alex Carpenter | 50 | 19 | 24 | 43 |
| 4 | Laura Stacey | 50 | 21 | 19 | 40 |
| Hilary Knight | 54 | 21 | 19 | 40 | |
| Kendall Coyne Schofield | 54 | 18 | 22 | 40 | |
| 7 | Hannah Miller | 52 | 17 | 21 | 38 |
| Jessie Eldridge | 54 | 16 | 22 | 38 | |
| 9 | Sarah Nurse | 45 | 17 | 20 | 37 |
| Ella Shelton | 48 | 15 | 22 | 37 |
References
- Where to watch, February 9, 2025, thepwhl.com, Professional Women's Hockey League
- December 30, 2023, Professional Women's Hockey League different than leagues that came before, live, December 31, 2023, January 23, 2024, CP24, The Canadian Press
- Timeline of Women's Hockey, live, June 7, 2023, January 7, 2024, Hockey Hall of Fame
- Cleary, Martin, September 30, 2007, Dreaming of a league of her own, October 23, 2007, Ottawa Citizen
- Rutherford, Kristina, March 31, 2019, Questions, frustration remain in wake of CWHL's decision to fold, live, April 2, 2019, January 15, 2024, Sportsnet
- Kaplan, Emily, April 22, 2020, NWHL adding first Canadian team, in Toronto, live, May 3, 2020, April 22, 2020, ESPN, en
- Kaplan, Emily, May 2, 2019, Women's hockey stars to boycott pro leagues, live, May 3, 2019, January 6, 2024, ESPN
- Wawrow, John, March 2, 2022, PWHPA inching closer to forming women's pro hockey league, live, March 14, 2022, January 15, 2024, CBC Sports, Associated Press
- Salvian, Hailey, May 24, 2022, PWHPA, Billie Jean King considering new league: Source, subscription, live, June 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, The Athletic, en
- Wyshynski, Greg, June 29, 2023, Sources: Premier Hockey Federation sale could unite women's hockey, live, June 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, ESPN
- Salvian, Hailey, June 30, 2023, What we know about the PHF shutdown, and more on the new pro women's hockey league, subscription, live, June 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, The Athletic, en
- Mather, Victor, August 29, 2023, With Feud Over, New Women's Ice Hockey League Is Set to Begin, subscription, live, August 29, 2023, August 29, 2023, The New York Times
- August 29, 2023, PWHL unveils locations of first six teams, player selection process, live, August 30, 2023, January 4, 2024, Sportsnet, Associated Press
- Wyshynski, Greg, August 29, 2023, New Professional Women's Hockey League reveals six franchises, live, August 29, 2023, August 29, 2023, ESPN
- Sadler, Emily, September 13, 2023, Recapping where each PWHL team stands following first signings, live, September 14, 2023, September 19, 2023, Sportsnet
- September 5, 2023, Jenner, Clark, Maschmeyer become PWHL's first players after signing with Ottawa, live, September 5, 2023, September 19, 2023, Sportsnet, The Canadian Press
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- Salvian, Hailey, November 22, 2023, Why the PWHL is launching with temporary jerseys — and without team names or logos, subscription, live, December 25, 2023, January 4, 2024, The Athletic
- Donkin, Karissa, December 3, 2023, Let the scrimmages begin: PWHL gathers in Upstate New York with final cuts on horizon, live, December 5, 2023, January 5, 2024, CBC Sports
- December 7, 2023, New York beats Toronto in scrimmage in preview of PWHL season opener, live, December 8, 2023, January 5, 2024, TSN, The Canadian Press
- Donkin, Karissa, November 28, 2023, Toronto to host New York in PWHL's 1st regular-season game on New Year's Day, live, December 5, 2023, December 13, 2023, CBC Sports
- January 1, 2024, New York defeats Toronto in PWHL's first game, live, January 2, 2024, January 4, 2024, ESPN, Associated Press
- Donkin, Karissa, January 5, 2024, Players beaming as physical play, new rules and historic moments highlight PWHL's 1st week, live, January 5, 2024, January 5, 2024, CBC Sports
- January 5, 2024, 2.9 Million Canadians Watch Opening Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) Game, live, January 6, 2024, January 5, 2024, PWHL, en-CA
- Brennan, Don, January 2, 2024, A Night to Remember: Montreal scores OT win in Ottawa's historic PWHL opener, live, January 4, 2024, January 2, 2024, Ottawa Sun, en
- January 7, 2023, PWHL game in Minnesota sets attendance record with 13,316 fans, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The Guardian
- Salvian, Hailey, February 16, 2024, PWHL breaks women's hockey all-time attendance record with 'Battle on Bay Street' in Toronto, live, February 17, 2024, February 17, 2024, The Athletic, But Friday night's draw of 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena is the largest crowd to watch women's hockey ever , ..., The previous women's hockey attendance record was 18,013 fans at a preliminary round game between Canada and Finland at the 2013 Women's World Championship in Ottawa.
- Rowe, Daniel J., April 20, 2024, Nurse OT winner breaks Montreal hearts as Toronto wins PWHL 'Duel at the Top', live, April 20, 2024, April 21, 2024, CTV News Montreal, The 21,105 fans who attended the game broke the record for attendance at a female hockey game set in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena...
- Rainbird, Daniel, April 20, 2024, Toronto beats Montreal 3-2 in OT before record crowd in PWHL, live, April 20, 2024, April 21, 2024, Global News, The 21,105 attendance set a high-water mark for a women's hockey game , ..., The previous record of 18,013 at the 2013 world championship in Ottawa stood for a decade before the PWHL started this year.
- Sadler, Emily, May 6, 2024, Toronto chooses to face Minnesota in first round of PWHL playoffs, live, May 7, 2024, May 7, 2024, Sportsnet
- Salvian, Hailey, May 17, 2024, PWHL Minnesota advances to finals with reverse sweep of Toronto: 3 takeaways, live, May 21, 2024, May 21, 2024, The Athletic, The New York Times
- May 15, 2024, Boston knocks Montreal out of playoffs in PWHL semifinal, live, May 15, 2024, May 15, 2024, Montreal Gazette
- Salvian, Hailey, May 30, 2024, PWHL Minnesota wins first-ever Walter Cup championship, live, May 30, 2024, June 1, 2024, The Athletic, The New York Times
- June 11, 2024, Toronto's Spooner wins Billie Jean King MVP as PWHL hands out awards, live, June 12, 2024, June 12, 2024, The Sports Network
- May 29, 2024, PWHL Minnesota's Heise wins Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award, live, May 30, 2024, June 1, 2024, The Sports Network
- Donkin, Karissa, November 25, 2024, With new season on the horizon, PWHL evaluating more than 25 expansion proposals, live, December 2, 2024, January 3, 2025, CBC Sports, The PWHL has received more than 25 proposals for expansion, as the league looks at the possibility of adding two teams as early as next season.
- Wawrow, John, April 18, 2025, PWHL chooses Vancouver as 1st expansion city with 2nd market to be determined, AP source says, live, April 19, 2025, April 19, 2025, AP News, Associated Press
- Donkin, Karissa, April 23, 2025, Vancouver announced as newest PWHL franchise for 2025-26 season, live, April 24, 2025, May 1, 2025, CBC Sports
- April 30, 2024, Seattle joins Vancouver into PWHL as second expansion franchise revealed, live, May 1, 2025, May 1, 2025, TSN, The Canadian Press
- May 21, 2025, Meghan Turner Named General Manager of PWHL Seattle, May 21, 2025, ThePWHL.com, Professional Women's Hockey League
- May 21, 2025, Meghan Turner named GM of PWHL Seattle expansion franchise, May 21, 2025, ESPN, Associated Press
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- Staff, live, February 1, 2024, February 1, 2024, www.thepwhl.com, en-CA
- Cassie Campbell-Pascall leaving Sportsnet, joins PWHL as special advisor, live, February 1, 2024, February 1, 2024, Sportsnet.ca, en
- Salvian, Hailey, February 23, 2023, PWHPA organize formal union, negotiating CBA with their investor group, subscription, live, February 24, 2023, September 9, 2023, The Athletic, en
- Ayala, Erica L., September 18, 2024, Professional Women's Hockey League: How PWHL was formed and why top players have high hopes for new league, live, September 24, 2023, January 26, 2024, CBS Sports
- September 6, 2023, Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull and Renata Fast sign with Toronto's PWHL franchise, live, September 7, 2023, September 7, 2023, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press
- Kennedy, Ian, July 3, 2023, CBA Compensation Details: New Professional Women's Hockey League, live, October 1, 2023, January 17, 2024, The Hockey News
- August 29, 2023, Brian Burke named executive director of pro women's hockey players' union, live, October 3, 2023, October 18, 2023, Sportsnet
- Donkin, Karissa, November 30, 2023, PWHL releases full 72-game schedule ahead of inaugural season, live, January 6, 2024, January 14, 2024, CBC Sports
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- Donkin, Karissa, October 15, 2024, 2nd PWHL season set to begin Nov. 30 with expanded schedule, October 15, 2024, CBC Sports
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- Morhardt, Meghann, December 14, 2023, PWHL Playoffs To Feature Top Four Teams, Best-of-Five Series, dead, December 14, 2023, January 14, 2024, TheMessenger.com, The Messenger, The PWHL playoffs are set to take place in May and will follow a typical bracket format with two semifinal series setting up a championship series
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- April 4, 2024, PWHL unveils Walter Cup as championship trophy, live, April 5, 2024, April 13, 2024, CBC Sports, The Canadian Press
- January 1, 2024, PWHL tweaks penalty, short-handed goal, shootout in rule book, live, January 4, 2024, January 15, 2024, CBC Sports, The Canadian Press
- January 1, 2024, PWHL to feature new shorthanded goal rule, three-point standing system, live, January 15, 2024, January 15, 2024, Sportsnet
- Donkin, Karissa, January 6, 2024, PWHL showcases physicality of women's game, with full approval from players, live, January 6, 2024, January 7, 2024, CBC Sports
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- Kennedy, Ian, November 19, 2024, PWHL Continues To Innovate Through Unique Rule Changes, live, December 4, 2024, November 26, 2024, The Hockey News, The PWHL continues to innovate, creating unique rules to improve the flow of hockey in the league, including the implementation of a new "No Escape Rule" this season.
- Donkin, Karissa, November 22, 2024, An attempt to jump-start scoring: A deeper look at the PWHL's new 'no escape' rule, live, November 30, 2024, November 26, 2024, CBC Sports
- Mather, Victor, August 29, 2023, With Feud Over, New Women's Ice Hockey League Is Set to Begin, subscription, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The New York Times, The six teams in the new Professional Women's Hockey League will be evenly divided between the United States and Canada, with teams in Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, the New York metropolitan area, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. With the start of the new league, Buffalo and Connecticut are losing their teams, while Ottawa is gaining one.
- Clipperton, Joshua, October 6, 2023, 'An amazing thing for hockey': NHL players excited for PWHL puck drop, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, CBC Sports, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York City area have been tabbed as the new league's Original Six.
- September 9, 2024, New Names, New Logos, New Looks – (Re)Introducing the Inaugural PWHL Six, live, September 9, 2024, September 9, 2024, thepwhl.com, PWHL
- Wawrow, John, Whyno, Stephen, August 30, 2023, Professional Women's Hockey League unveils its Original 6: 3 teams based in the US and 3 in Canada, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, Associated Press, The new league unveiled its Original Six franchises on Tuesday, putting each one of them in NHL markets with track records of supporting hockey and, specifically, the women's game.
- Salivan, Hailey, January 2, 2024, Six teams, one draft and loads of Ikea furniture: How the PWHL was made in six months, subscription, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The Athletic, That wasn't the original "original six," either. According to multiple PWHL sources, the league looked at Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and London, Ont., among others.
- Salvian, Hailey, October 26, 2023, Potential names for PWHL's original 6 franchises revealed, subscription, live, October 31, 2023, October 26, 2023, The Athletic, en
- Sullivan, Tara, May 25, 2024, PWHL has made a name for itself — and a place in the sports landscape, live, September 9, 2024, September 9, 2024, The Boston Globe, MSN
- Morhardt, Meghann, December 21, 2023, PWHL Toronto GM Says Nailing Down Team Name and Logo Are 'Low on Priority List', dead, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The Messenger, When the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) starts its inaugural season on Jan. 1, the league's six teams won't have names and logos. For now, the players will be wearing simple jerseys that have the city name across the front.
- Ibrahim, Abdulhamid, January 2, 2024, PWHL sorting out missing pieces like team names and logos as it goes along, limited, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The Globe and Mail, However there are some missing pieces, such as names and logos for the six teams. "I don't, I don't," PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten said Monday on whether he has a timeline for those key elements to be included.
- Stechyson, Natalie, September 9, 2024, 'Good, bad and ugly': Love them or not, the new PWHL names give teams — and fans — identities, live, September 9, 2024, September 9, 2024, CBC Sports
- Shipley, John, September 25, 2023, Minnesota's PWHL team set to play home games at Xcel Energy Center, subscription, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Xcel Energy Center officially seats 17,954 for Minnesota Wild games...
- Shefte, Kate, November 6, 2025, PWHL Seattle officially announces its team name, November 7, 2025, The Seattle Times, en-US
- September 13, 2024, New York Sirens to call Prudential Center home for 2024-25 season, live, September 30, 2024, October 7, 2024, Sportsnet
- Healy, Emma, November 28, 2023, PWHL Boston will play home games at Lowell's Tsongas Center, including home opener Jan. 3, limited, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, The Boston Globe, ...the PWHL announced Tuesday that its Boston team will play home games at UMass Lowell's Tsongas Center...
- September 4, 2024, Laval's Place Bell to be PWHL Montreal's primary home arena in 2024-25 season, live, September 9, 2024, September 9, 2024, CityNews, Montreal
- Pringle, Josh, September 2, 2023, New women's pro hockey team in Ottawa will play at TD Place, live, January 18, 2024, January 18, 2024, CTV News Ottawa, Ottawa's new professional women's hockey team will play its games at TD Place this season.
- September 3, 2024, PWHL Toronto relocates to Coca-Cola Coliseum for 2024-2025, live, September 4, 2024, September 9, 2024, TSN
- Donkin, Karissa, November 6, 2025, Vancouver Goldeneyes, Seattle Torrent unveiled as names of newest PWHL teams, November 6, 2025, November 7, 2025, CBC, en-US
- Ibrahim, Abdulhamid, February 16, 2024, PWHL Toronto tops Montreal 3-0 in front of record-setting crowd at Scotiabank Arena, live, February 17, 2024, April 21, 2024, CP24, Toronto took the "Battle on Bay Street" over Montreal 3-0 in Professional Women's Hockey League action on Friday. The PWHL's first game at Scotiabank Arena...
- March 16, 2024, Saturday's hockey: PWHL sets attendance record in Detroit; UM edges Minnesota, live, April 21, 2024, April 21, 2024, The Detroit News, A record crowd of 13,736 watched Boston beat Ottawa, 2-1, in a shootout at Little Caesars Arena.
- Antonio, Rossetti, March 17, 2024, Toronto edges Montreal before nearly 9,000 fans during PWHL Takeover Weekend at PPG Paints Arena, live, March 27, 2024, April 21, 2024, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Fans from all over Pittsburgh and Canada filled the lower bowl at PPG Paints Arena , ..., as part of Professional Women's Hockey League Takeover Weekend.
- Menning, Rick, April 20, 2024, Boston Spoils New York's Prudential Center Debut, live, April 21, 2024, April 21, 2024, The Hockey News, PWHL Boston forward Lexie Adzija spoiled New York's inaugural party at the Prudential Center...
- Kulesa, Anna, November 18, 2024, PWHL to play 9 games at neutral sites across North America, live, December 29, 2024, January 3, 2025, nhl.com, National Hockey League
- November 18, 2024, PWHL announces 'Takeover Tour' with stops in Vancouver, Quebec City, January 3, 2025, The Sports Network, The league is also exploring the opportunity to hold neutral site games in Europe after this season., The Canadian Press
- January 15, 2024, Poulin, Knight highlights PWHL representatives at NHL All-Star weekend, live, January 16, 2024, January 17, 2024, TSN, CP
- Ayala, Erica L., January 16, 2024, 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend: Brianne Jenner among 24 PWHL players set to participate in women's 3-on-3 showcase, live, January 17, 2024, January 19, 2024, CBS Sports, en
- Dachman, Jason, January 30, 2024, Inside the Whirlwind Launch of the Professional Women's Hockey League's Broadcast Operations, live, February 3, 2024, February 3, 2024, Sports Video Group, en
- December 29, 2023, Professional Women's Hockey League announces national broadcast partnerships for inaugural 2024 season, live, January 2, 2024, January 4, 2024, CTV News
- Donkin, Karissa, 2025, Break Away: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game, Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton, New Brunswick
- November 15, 2024, PWHL Adds Prime Video as Broadcast Partner; Brings Back TSN, RDS, and CBC/Radio-Canada for Second Season, December 20, 2024, Sports Video Group, en
- Shircliff, Elaine, December 31, 2023, How to Watch the Inaugural PWHL Season, live, December 31, 2023, May 29, 2023, fullpresshockey.com
- Lingeswaran, Susan, February 15, 2024, PWHL nets first US media partnership with Women's Sports Network, December 20, 2024, Sportcal, en-US
- Stecker, Brent, November 18, 2025, PWHL team Seattle Torrent will air games on free local TV, November 21, 2025, Seattle Sports, en
- PWHL Goalies ‑ All-Time Shutouts Leaders, November 11, 2025, quanthockey
- Skater Stats, November 12, 2025, PWHL
External links
Category:Professional ice hockey leagues in Canada
Category:Professional ice hockey leagues in the United States
Category:Multi-national ice hockey leagues in North America
Category:Women's ice hockey leagues in Canada
Category:Women's ice hockey leagues in the United States