On Oct. 1, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) released the highly anticipated schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 season. As the PWHL gears up to start season three, there are several changes happening. For one, the league is introducing two new teams in Seattle and Vancouver. These two teams are the first to hit the West Coast, which will call for increased travel from the inaugural six teams. In the 2024-25 season, each team faced off against each other six times, three home and three away. For the 2025-26 season, each team will still play 30 games; the number of games has not increased. Now each team will play each other either four or five times.
Another change coming to the league is the start of the season. In the 2024-25 season, it began the weekend after American Thanksgiving, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, and ended in May. This upcoming season will now begin the weekend before, Nov. 21-23, and it will conclude in the middle of April.
Related: 5 Must-Watch PWHL Games this Season
Now that the schedule is out for all the teams, let’s look at the New York Sirens’ schedule.
Sirens Open the Season on the Road
On Nov. 22, the Sirens will play their first game of the season. Just like the season prior, they are starting the 2025-26 season on the road. They will take on the Ottawa Charge, who lost to the Minnesota Frost in the Walter Cup championship. After that, they will travel to take on the Montreal Victoire on Nov. 25. The Victoire were the first overall team last season, recording the most points in the regular season. The Sirens will play tough teams to start the season. They have to be at the top of their game as they go into these first two matchups.
Sirens Play Home Opener on Nov. 29
After they play their first two games on the road, New York will play their home opener on Nov. 29. They will host one of the two new teams joining the league, PWHL Vancouver. Facing this team on home ice should hopefully give the Sirens a bit of an edge.
On top of this, this matchup will be Gabby Rosenthal’s first game back in New York after she was claimed by Vancouver in the expansion draft. She played her first PWHL season with the Sirens and recorded four points in 29 games.
Sirens Face Seattle and Vancouver Back-to-Back
After the Sirens have one home game under their belt, they hit the road to face off against PWHL Seattle and PWHL Vancouver for the first time in their home arenas. New York will take on Seattle on Dec. 3 and then travel up to Vancouver to play them on Dec. 6.
Last season, New York took part in two Takeover Tour games, KeyBank Center in Buffalo and Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit. Climate Pledge Arena and Pacific Coliseum will now be the farthest west New York travels. Of course, that isn’t to say they won’t travel anywhere else on the West Coast this season.
Sirens Will Play Six Neutral Site Games
Looking at the Sirens’ schedule, there are six games listed with a to-be-determined location. The TBD locations for the 2024-25 season ended up being the Takeover Tour games. As the PWHL continues looking to expand, there are a total of 20 TBD dates on the 2025-26 schedule. Of those 20, New York will play in three “home” and three away games.
The list of Takeover Tour locations is still to be determined. The total number also grows from nine last season to 20. The PWHL is trying to expand at an exponential rate, and after the success of last season, they know that many markets are in demand for a professional women’s hockey team.
Sirens Don’t Face Minnesota Until January
The Sirens played their first game of the 2024-25 season against the Minnesota Frost. New York came in last in the 2024 season, while Minnesota was the reigning Walter Cup Champion. New York will have to wait to face the reigning Walter Cup Champions for their first game of the 2025-26 season. The first time the two teams face off against each other is on Jan. 16, almost two full months after the start of the season. They won’t have to wait long for their second matchup, as nine days later, the Frost will host the Sirens on Jan. 25.
The two teams will play against each other for a total of five games this season. The last three are all played within the span of a month, with one home game for New York and technically two for Minnesota. However, one of those will be a neutral-site game.
A big storyline of the 2024-25 season was how Minnesota would face off against New York; the champions vs. the team with the worst record. With two new teams joining the league, this could take some of the pressure off the Minnesota-New York matchups.
Sirens Have Plenty of Exciting Matchups This Season
The 2025-26 season is shaping up to be an exciting one for the Sirens and the PWHL as a whole. With the addition of two more teams, double the neutral site games, and a fresh group of rookies, the third PWHL season will be something special.
