By Scott Lowe – MYHockeyRankings

The news and activity surrounding the new Professional Women’s Hockey League has come at us at a fast and furious pace since the league’s formation was announced during the summer.

In the last four-plus months, the PWHL’s leadership has been announced, host cities were selected, a start date and schedule parameters were set, coaches and general managers were introduced, a player draft was held, free agents were signed, a logo was introduced, uniforms were created unveiled and training camps opened.

Whew!

Despite all of that activity, news about the league continues to drop almost daily.

It recently was revealed that the PWHL will use slightly modified National Hockey League playing rules and select its officials from a pool that includes American Hockey League officials as well as top recommend officials from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. It also was announced that a league-wide preseason evaluation camp would be held – including a scrimmage and FanFest that will be open to the public – in Utica Dec. 3-7.

Then, on Monday, the NHL and PWHL told the hockey world that a PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase would be included as part of the National Hockey League’s All-Star Weekend festivities in Toronto Feb. 1-3, 2024. The showcase will be held at Scotia Bank Arena on All-Star Thursday, which includes the NHL All-Star Player Draft, the NHL Alumni Man of the Year presentation and a ceremony honoring the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs.

NHL All-Star Thursday gets underway at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 and will be televised by Sportsnet in Canada and streamed on ESPN+ in the United States.

A day later the league announced the dates and venues of the home openers for all six PWHL teams.

Since its inception, PWHL officials have stated that the league would work closely with the NHL but that the relationship would continue to evolve and become more clearly defined as the season approached. The two leagues have worked hand-in-hand in developing the PWHL’s playing rules and now on the All-Star Thursday PWHL Showcase, which will be sponsored by Canadian Tire.

“We’ve been working really hard on the rules and regs and the officiating side of the league,” Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, said recently in discussing the decision to implement a modified NHL rulebook for the inaugural 2024 season. “And as a result of our great relationship with the NHL, they’ve been very supportive of this.”

Hefford was equally effusive in her praise of the NHL and the partnership the two organizations are building when discussing the 3-on-3 Showcase.

“We can’t wait to showcase our new league and our incredible athletes on NHL All-Star Thursday,” she said in a press release. “We’re delighted to be collaborating with the NHL, and we appreciate the opportunity to grow the game through the All-Star platform. Over the years, the inclusion of women’s hockey in NHL events has created some very special experiences for players and fans, and we’re certain NHL All-Star Thursday will provide even more memorable moments.”

Given the turbulent history of women’s professional hockey in North America and the breakneck pace at which the league’s plan has come together, the period of time from the initial announcement in late June until the opening of training camps in November seemed almost like a dream.

The league’s organizers and star players have done a remarkable job promoting the PWHL and generating excitement within the North American hockey community, but unfortunately attempts at developing professional sports leagues for women often tend to be met with at least some skepticism. While legitimate pro hockey leagues have existed for years in other parts of the world, attempts to create a pro league in North America have failed to gain much traction.

Unlike past efforts to create viable professional hockey leagues for women, this isn’t an everybody-gets-a-trophy and whoever-wants-to-play feel-good operation. The PWHL is a legitimate professional league with a strong operational and marketing plan, solid and smart strategic partnerships, a leadership team with a proven track record and substantial financial backing.

Those components, along with the full buy-in of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association – which had pushed for this opportunity by creating barnstorming-style professional league that played weekend events at venues around North America – and the support of players and owners from the rival Professional Hockey Federation, have come together in a perfect storm to provide an unprecedented opportunity for the best players in the world finally to make a livable wage playing hockey.

A definite and understandable wait-and-see mentality exists among most fans when it comes to these types of league announcements, but this dream that was hatched in late June has become more tangible almost daily as the January 1 launch date approaches. And things are about to get very real in the next week.

Teams are required to trim their rosters to 27 players in the days ahead in preparation for next week’s league-wide evaluation camp in Utica. A number of players suddenly will find themselves out of work as some teams will have to cut two or three players and others will release a half-dozen or more to meet the roster requirements.

That’s just the beginning, though, as all rosters will be limited to 23 players when the season opens in January. So more players will be let go before the league’s opening faceoff.

Following the initial roster cut downs, players will get to show what they can do in real game action at the evaluation camp. Scrimmages will be held there to aid teams in making final roster decisions and allow them to scout other players who may be released in the near future and capable of filling holes on their rosters.

“The GMs have helped us work through the waiver process as far as the dates and timing,” Hefford told The Hockey News recently. “That’s a process that they’ve been engaged in with us, and we’re all on the same page on how we’re going to get rosters down to that 23-player number. With the scrimmages, obviously, they’ll have a chance to see the players compete in game situations.”

In a press release announcing the evaluation camp, Hefford added: “{The camp} is a unique opportunity to bring all six teams together to build towards final roster selections and preparation for our inaugural season,”

The scrimmages, which will begin Monday, Dec. 4, with all six teams participating, should go a long way toward helping teams make final roster decisions and find additional players to fill needs. Games will be played at the Utica University Nexus Center, which will host the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship next April.

All but one of the scrimmages will be played behind closed doors. The 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 matchup between Ottawa and New York will be open to the public. PWHL FanFest also will be open to the public beginning at 6:30 p.m. that evening. All other games and camp-related activities, including educational seminars for the players and other league business, will be closed.

“Whether this becomes and annual event or not, first let’s see how this year goes,” Hefford said. “I think this is a really unique opportunity for us to bring all the teams together in Year 1 and gives us a chance to work through some things, whether it’s the educational pieces for us to talk to the players about concussions or doping or many of those big issues that are important … or for us on the hockey ops side to work on our game presentation or on the marketing side to try some things and make sure when games are played in January that we’re ready to go. It can be a little experimental for us in certain ways while also providing a really great evaluation process for the GMs and coaches.”

The schedule of scrimmages can be found below. This online form must be completed to reserve attendance at Fan Fest.

 

PWHL Evaluation Camp Schedule – Utica University Nexus Center

Monday Dec. 4:
1:00 p.m. ET – Boston vs. Toronto
4:15 p.m. ET – Minnesota vs. Ottawa
7:30 p.m. ET – New York vs. Montreal

Tuesday Dec. 5:
12:00 p.m. ET – Toronto vs. Minnesota
3:15 p.m. ET – Montreal vs. Boston
6:30 p.m. ET – FanFest (open to the public)
7:30 p.m. ET – Ottawa vs. New York (open to the public)

Thursday Dec. 7:
10:00 a.m. ET – Minnesota vs. Montreal
1:15 p.m. ET – New York vs. Toronto
4:30 p.m. ET – Boston vs. Ottawa

Much work remains before the league begins play in January. Teams need to be named, the regular-season and playoff schedules have to be completed, tickets must be printed and sold and travel arrangements need to be coordinated, among may other details.

Dates for home openers and host venues were games were announced Tuesday.

The first game in league history will be a New Year’s Day 12:30 p.m. ET tilt between host Toronto and New York at Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto. Five league openers will take place during the first six days of 2024. The venues utilized for the opening games are among the primary venues that will host PWHL contests throughout the inaugural season.

 

PWHL 2024 Home Openers

New York at Toronto – Monday, Jan. 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET at Mattamy Athletic Centre

Montreal at Ottawa – Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. ET at The Arena at TD Place

Minnesota at Boston – Wednesday, Jan.3 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell

Toronto at New York – Friday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Total Mortgage Arena (Bridgeport, Conn.)

Montreal at Minnesota – Saturday, Jan. 6 at 3:30 p.m. ET at Xcel Energy Center

Boston at Montreal – Saturday, Jan. 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET at Verdun Auditorium

 

The Schedule

The inaugural 2024 PWHL campaign will feature a 24-game regular-season schedule followed by playoffs beginning in January and running through May and possibly into June. Future seasons will be 32 games in length and start in November.

Some teams may play home games in different arenas and “home” games also may be played at neutral sites in cities that don’t have NHL teams or in NHL arenas. Arena sizes also are likely to vary as the league attempts to determine what works best for the teams and their fans based on interest, attendance and other factors.

“Because of the circumstances and because of feeling like this year is a little bit experimental, we’re going to play in different types of buildings,” PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten told The Hockey News. “We’re playing in small buildings in some cities and in others we’ll be playing in NHL venues. We understand that we will not be filling up or selling out the bigger venues, but we’re working with our ticketing people to make that look the best it can look while also learning. If it’s a cold Tuesday in January and there are not many people in the venue, that is not a failure. We’re prepared for that. We’re prepared to learn from that. As I’ve told our marketing people, we can learn something from everyone who buys a ticket and learn something from everyone who doesn’t buy a ticket.”

 

Ticket Information

Obviously, with the host venues and the schedule still in the works, tickets are not available yet. Still, the league accepted monetary deposits for tickets to determine the level of interest in the six home markets. Fans who made a $50 deposit by Nov. 14 will be able to purchase tickets first when they become available. They also receive a gift and are considered “Founding Fans” of the PWHL. That $50 will serve as a credit toward the final purchase of tickets at a later date.

The league has not divulged details about the number of deposits received, but Kasten says he is “pleased” with the results and that the PWHL will use the information obtained to create an individualized marketing plan for each city.

 

Ownership and Other Details

There are no individual owners of PWHL franchises. The league and all six teams are owned by the Mark Walter Group. The league’s logo was unveiled in October, and team jersey designs were presented Nov. 14 as training camps were getting underway.

Kasten said that he expects each team to be named prior to the initial puck drop Jan. 1, but it remains unclear if the teams will have their own individualized logos or if logos will be added to the jerseys for the initial season.

He also said that the PWHL has had productive discussions with interested television and media partners in hopes of having every game televised via a partner network. Any games not televised on a network would be available via webstream, according to Kasten.

At this point, everything is in motion for the PWHL to begin play on New Year’s Day 2024. The league is more than halfway there and no longer living on a prayer.

This dream is set to become reality in fewer than six weeks.

 

The Rosters

Prior to the PWHL Draft Sept. 22, each team signed three cornerstone players to build around as free agents. The draft was 15 rounds, with each team required to add at least 10 more free-agent hopefuls after the draft to compete for roster spots prior to the Nov. 13 start of training camp.

International superstars such as Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota), Sarah Nurse (Toronto), Renta Fast (Toronto), Hilary Knight (Boston), Alex Carpenter (New York), Brianne Jenner (Ottawa), Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal) and Ann-Renée Desbiens (Montreal) were among the initial team signings.

Minnesota selected up-and-coming Team USA star forward Taylor Heise from the University of Minnesota with the first overall pick of the draft. Canada’s Jocelyne Larocque (Toronto), Swiss star Alina Müller (Boston), Canada’s Ella Shelton (New York) Team USA defender Savannah Harman (Ottawa) and Team Canada defender Erin Ambrose rounded out the first-round selections.

Teams were required to bring at least 28 players to training camp and to have at least 20 of them signed to contracts by the time camps opened. A collective-bargaining agreement that was ratified by the PWHPA stipulates that player annual salaries will range from $35,000 to $80,000. Most contracts will be one or two years in duration, but each franchise is required to sign six players for three years at a salary of $80,000 per year.

Each team’s cornerstone signings can be found below along with the hockey operations staff and links to their training-camp rosters:

 

Minnesota

GM: Natalie Darwitz

Coach: Charlie Burggraf

Key Free agents:

Lee Stecklein, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Kelly Pannek

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

Toronto

GM: Gina Kingsbury

Coach: Troy Ryan

Key Free agents:

Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbell, Renata Fast

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

Boston

GM: Danielle Marmer

Coach: Courtney Kessel

Key Free agents:

Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, Hilary Knight 

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

New York

GM: Pascal Daoust

Coach: Howie Draper

Key Free agents:

Alex Carpenter, Abby Roque, Micah Zander-Hart

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

Ottawa

GM: Michael Hirshfeld

Coach: Carla MacLeod

Key Free agents:

Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark, Emerance Maschmeyer 

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

Montreal

GM: Danièle Sauvageau

Coach: Kori Cheverie

Key Free agents:

Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey, Ann-Renée Desbiens

Link to training camp rosters and waivers information 

 

Fans can stay connected to the PWHL and register for email updates by CLICKING HERE.

Follow the new league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus all six team accounts @pwhl_boston, @pwhl_minnesota, @pwhl_montreal, @pwhl_newyork, @pwhl_ottawa, and @pwhl_toronto.