A new era of professional women’s hockey is here in 2024. It is the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and it’s a big move for professional hockey. Back in August of 2023, the then professional women’s hockey league, Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), was bought out and replaced by the PWHL. 

There are six franchises that have three American teams and three Canadian teams. Those six franchises being Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Minneapolis, and New York. 

These six franchises started constructing their rosters in the summer of 2023, and the season is finally here. The season consists of 72 total games and the six teams playing 24 times. The season’s schedule is available online.

The future is bright for this league as many women who are playing hockey in college or even high school, can look forward to possibly continuing their professional hockey careers. This includes women abroad from all around the world as they can look at the PWHL as the next level.

The league has faced some criticism as some of the potential names for the teams are very unique and not typical sports team names. The proposed names are: Toronto Torch, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, Boston Wicked, Ottawa Alert, and New York Sound. 

According to The Hockey News, ¨Can’t believe we waited THIS long for PWHL branding to get these names, they’re criminally bad. Also Boston going from Pride to Wicked sure is… something.¨ 

There are some geographical ties to some of the proposed names like the New York Sound being based around the Long Island Sounds, and also the Minnesota Superior as they border Lake Superior.

I think the addition of the PWHL to the professional sports world is amazing. People all around the world can watch both the NHL and PWHL either at home or go to the arena. There are many things to look forward to in the future for this league. One of those being the addition of the highly favored Winter Classic that can be adapted from the NHL. 

More information about our local women’s hockey team, including future games, are available online.