We made it, PWHL fans! The season officially starts tonight! With the final rosters being due on Wednesday this week, there were a lot of final cuts and signings this week as each team solidified their rosters. Here are the news and notes from the week.
Ottawa Arena Update
The PWHL made it clear that the Ottawa Charge will not play in the new Lansdowne 2.0 arena; they said that while all other options (including, unfortunately, relocation) are on the table, but that the league would not allow the Charge to take a step back and play in an arena that is too small for their fan base. No other decisions have been made at this time, so there will obviously be much more to come in the next year or so. Charge fans, I feel for you and am pulling for you and your team to find an acceptable resolution to this arena ridiculousness in or near Ottawa. The league made it clear that relocation is not their preference, but seeing as how it hasn’t been taken off the table, I can imagine Charge fans are worried, and I don’t blame them. I just hope this can all be resolved in a way that finds the right arena for the Charge and keeps them near their incredible fanbase.
Playoff Format
The league confirmed that there will be no change to the playoff format this season, even with 2 additional teams being added. That means the top 4 teams will make the playoffs, with the other 4 teams vying for the 1st overall draft pick via the Gold plan. Things will definitely be a lot more interesting with a smaller percentage of the league making the playoffs, which should be a lot of fun to watch as everything unfolds!
Broadcast info
The PWHL announced the broadcast details for the upcoming season, with a few small changes from how fans were able to watch the games last season. Here are the highlights, but please check the PWHL website for full details:
- Fans in Canada will continue to enjoy full national coverage through the league’s returning partners TSN and RDS, CBC/Radio-Canada, and Prime Video, with Sportsnet making its return as a broadcast partner this season.
- In the United States, the PWHL will return with regional sports networks NESN, MSG Networks, and FanDuel Sports Network (FDSN). The league is also expanding its national broadcast footprint through partnerships with major over-the-air (OTA) broadcast groups, including FOX Television Stations, Paramount, Scripps Sports, Gray Media, and TEGNA, reaching approximately 56 million homes nationwide throughout the season.
- All games will also continue to be available on the PWHL’s YouTube channel and their website for all fans in the U.S.
Players Signing Extensions
- The New York Sirens extended Jamie Bourbonnais through the 2026-2027 season, and extended Kayle Osborne through the 2027-2028 season.
- The Toronto Sceptres extended Ella Shelton through the 2026-227 season.
Notable Signings, Cuts, & Trades
Wednesday was a busy day, with official rosters due in by that evening. The below isn’t a comprehensive list of every signing or cut, but just the ones that I thought were more notable. Even with expansion, we are still seeing some really good hockey players without a roster spot in the PWHL, and teams being forced to make some tough roster decisions. I feel for all of the players who were cut and didn’t find a new team to play with. It sounds like some players may be signing with European leagues, but there likely aren’t roster places overseas for all of the players either.
- Vancouver cut 2 of their draft picks: Brianna Brooks and Chanreet Bassi; if they don’t sign with another team, their rights will be retained by Vancouver.
- The New York Sirens signed first round draft pick Casey O’Brien to a 1-year contract, with 3 other draft picks (Anna Bargman, Maddi Wheeler, and Kaley Doyle) also signing contracts.
- The Ottawa Charge released Elizabeth Giguére, who was then signed as a reserve player for the Minnesota Frost.
- Loren Gabel for the Boston Fleet will start the season as a reserve after signing a standard contract with them this summer.
- The Minnesota Frost and Vancouver Goldeneyes already have made a trade, with former Frost forward Denisa Křížová (who was taken by the Goldeneyes in the expansion draft this summer) being traded back to Minnesota, and Frost draft pick Anna Segedi going to Vancouver.
Misc. News & Notes
- The “Duel at the Top” game is back for another season. This is the faceoff between the Montréal Victoire and the Toronto Sceptres at the Bell Centre, and this year’s game will happen on December 27th.
Those are the biggest news and notes from the past week! Now, all that’s left is to drop the puck on the new season! I can’t wait to see all of the new teams and see how everything unfolds in this first season of expansion hockey.
What are you most looking forward to for this season? Let me know in the comments.
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