American PWHL

Badge

Poster
no poster thumb

Established
2024 (2 years old)

First Recorded Event
2024-01-01

Current Season
2025-2026

Current Round
200

Sport
Sport Icon

Ice Hockey

Location
International

Gender
Female

TV Rights

Logo

		Upcoming
		None...

		Results
20 May 26	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge	0 - 4	Montreal Montreal Victoire
18 May 26	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge	2 - 1	Montreal Montreal Victoire
16 May 26	Montreal Montreal Victoire	2 - 1	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge
14 May 26	Montreal Montreal Victoire	3 - 2	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge
12 May 26	Montreal Montreal Victoire	2 - 1	MinnesotaMinnesota Frost
10 May 26	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge	4 - 3	Boston FlBoston Fleet
09 May 26	MinnesotaMinnesota Frost	3 - 1	Montreal Montreal Victoire
08 May 26	Ottawa ChOttawa Charge	2 - 1	Boston FlBoston Fleet
07 May 26	MinnesotaMinnesota Frost	1 - 2	Montreal Montreal Victoire
05 May 26	Montreal Montreal Victoire	1 - 0	MinnesotaMinnesota Frost

Description

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL; French: Ligue professionnelle de hockey féminin, LPHF) is a professional women's ice hockey league in North America composed of twelve teams, seven in the United States and five in Canada. Launched in 2023, the PWHL is the only professional women's hockey league in North America. The teams play a regular season to earn one of four places in the playoffs, and the winner of the playoffs is awarded the Walter Cup.

In 2019, after the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) formed to advocate for the formation of a "single, viable professional women's ice hockey league in North America." PWHPA members boycotted existing leagues, while organizing exhibition games to showcase women’s hockey talent, fundraise for their cause, and bring hockey stakeholders to the table. In 2022, the PWHPA entered into an agreement with the Mark Walter Group and Billie Jean King Enterprises to establish a new professional women’s hockey league. Following the Premier Hockey Federation’s (PHF) 2022–23 season, the Mark Walter Group acquired the assets of the PHF and announced that a new women’s hockey league would be launched in 2024. The PWHL’s first draft took place in September 2023, and its first season began in January 2024. The PWHL continues to be wholly owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group.

PWHL rules are modelled off of National Hockey League rules, with significant innovations. The PWHL uses a 3-2-1-0 points system during the regular season, with three points awarded for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. Once teams are eliminated from playoff contention, their regular season points go towards the "Gold plan" for choosing the top pick in the following entry draft. A short-handed goal leads to a termination of a penalty, or “jailbreak.” Unlike most other women’s hockey leagues and IIHF games, the PWHL allows bodychecking, albeit with more restrictions than the NHL.

The league’s games are streamed on YouTube internationally, excluding Canada. In Canada, they are broadcast by CBC/Radio-Canada, TSN and its French-language affiliate RDS, Amazon Prime Video, and Sportsnet. In the United States, they are broadcast by regional sports networks based in each U.S. city with a team. Nova Sport broadcasts select PWHL games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Seasons