On Oct. 29, it was announced that the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is expanding for the 2025-26 season. Adding two more teams following the completion of the upcoming campaign (which begins on Nov. 30), the league will be up to eight clubs when this change is made. The current teams are the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charges, and Toronto Sceptres.
Breaking: The PWHL has announced its plans to add two more expansion teams for the 2025-26 season, PWHL Senior VP of Business Operations Amy Scheer announced. pic.twitter.com/LawCWuMXHz
— espnW (@espnW) October 29, 2024
The PWHL completed its first season in 2023-24, with the Frost coming out on top as Walter Cup champions in a do-or-die Game 5 of the Final. The current format has four of the six clubs make the postseason, which may or may not be tweaked with the addition of two teams. Only the Sirens and Charges missed out on the playoffs in the PWHL’s debut campaign.
Suitors for the new expansion teams are largely up to speculation at this point, but it’s worth noting that there are three American-based teams (Boston, Minnesota, New York) as well as three in Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto). The league broke the women’s hockey single-game attendance record with 21,105 fans when the Victoire visited the Sceptres at the Bell Centre in Montreal, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see both the United States and Canada get one franchise apiece.
Related: PWHL Schedule Highlights for 2024-25 Season
It’s exciting to see the PWHL be successful in its first season, leading to an announcement of expansion less than a calendar year after its first game was played (Jan. 1, 2024). Regardless of which cities will be represented, it’s a big step for women’s hockey.
