The 2024 PWHL Draft took place on Tuesday, with Princeton and Canadian national team forward Sarah Fillier going first overall to PWHL New York.
New York also added two defenders and a goaltender, as well as three forwards to make seven solid additions to next season's roster.
The first round of the 2024 PWHL Draft is complete!
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) June 10, 2024
The future is now. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/RXFj6pzKZL
But it was first-ever PWHL champions Minnesota that created the most buzz, with the draft happening just three days after they announced the abrupt departure of general manager Natalie Darwitz following a league review.
With the 9th overall pick, PWHL Minnesota took Team USA forward Britta Curl. Fans immediately took to the internet to voice their concerns, citing Curl's social media activity. In the past, Curl had "liked" posts on X that targeted the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly transgender individuals. Her activity also showed support for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old Wisconsin man who shot three unarmed people, two fatally, during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.
When asked about the pick — and whether or not he had consulted with any members of the LGBTQIA+ community prior to making the pick — PWHL Minnesota coach Ken Klee opted to defend Curl.
"Did I speak to anyone from the community? I talk with players, with coaches. That’s tough to answer for me," Klee said. "I spoke with a lot of different people. I mean, at the end of the day, I was told she’s a great teammate, a great person. She’s obviously a great player."
After Minnesota drafted Britta Curl, I asked Ken Klee if he spoke to anyone from the LGBTQ community before selecting her. Here’s his full answer transcribed.
— Karissa Donkin (@kdonk) June 12, 2024
(A few minutes earlier, he told @zoeclaire_ that he spoke to former coaches and USA players, who endorsed her.) pic.twitter.com/x4XfcqaUOD
The team also had PWHL Minnesota assistant coach Mira Jalosuo, who is married to a woman, announce the pick.
"We have people in that community and obviously Mira making that selection for us, I think that speaks volumes for us," Klee added. "We were just trying to pick the best players available. I wouldn’t want anything to take away from any of those players' experience. It’s unfortunate a little bit at the beginning, but again, it’s okay. People are entitled to their opinion."
Women's hockey history was made on Wednesday, with PWHL Minnesota taking home the inaugural league championship Walter Cup.
After Boston forced a Game 5 in double-overtime on Sunday, Minnesota went on to notch a decisive victory with a final score of 3-0. Liz Schepers, Michela Cava, and Kendall Coyne Schofield all found the back of the net for Minnesota, with Schofield’s coming on an empty-netter to end the game.
The win came after a disappointing Game 4 loss at home that saw a game-winning — and possibly championship-winning — Minnesota goal waived off. But back in Boston, Minnesota was determined not to leave without that Cup.
"I just think to have something so good taken away, like last game, I just think we knew we had to have it," Taylor Heise, who was named Playoffs MVP after posting a league-leading eight postseason points, told the Athletic. "Like that feeling [of winning] — you had it and you want it back."
The captain and oldest member of the roster, Coyne Schofield had the honors of taking the first lap on the ice with the Walter Cup in hand.
"It makes me want to tear up thinking about it. She's done so much for this sport," Heise said about the captain. "She's definitely one of the people that's helped this sport grow and one of the reasons why this arena is sold out here tonight."
Minnesota goalie Nicole Hensley relayed that Coyne Schofield, who helped to found the PWHL, was more than worthy of the win.
"There’s so much about this day that she deserves," said goalie Nicole Hensley. “She has obviously done so much for this sport and for this professional league. It’s completely fitting that she’s the first one to touch the Walter Cup.”
Perhaps fittingly, Minnesota began the season with a win over Boston and ended it the same way. And yet as they entered the playoffs, the odds were stacked against them,
Minnesota started postseason play as the lowest seed after ending a regular season that saw record-breaking attendance numbers on a five-game losing streak. Then, on the brink of elimination against top-seeded Toronto — who started the first round on a 2-0 series lead — Minnesota won three straight to advance to the Finals.
"It’s honestly hard to put into words," said Coyne Schofield. "As soon as we got in, we never looked back. There were times we were down, but we weren’t out. Some people may have counted us out, but we believed in us, the entire way."
Toronto’s Professional Women's Hockey League team skated to victory Wednesday night, kicking off the league's first playoff match with a 4-0 win over visiting Minnesota.
Natalie Spooner — the league's leading regular season goalscorer with 20 goals in 24 games — opened things up with the first playoff goal in PWSHL history at 9:47 of the first period, later notching an assist in front of Coca-Cola Coliseum's 8,473 fans. Captain Blayre Turnbull followed up Spooner's efforts with two goals of her own, securing the game's final point with just 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
In the defensive end, goalie Kristen Campbell put a stop to all 26 shots fired her way. With game one behind them, Toronto has pulled ahead of Minnesota 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Good soup. 🍲
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) May 9, 2024
Kristen Campbell locks in the first-ever PWHL Playoff shutout! pic.twitter.com/J0Ve9MjHpw
"It's what I believe I expect and I think what the group expects as well," head coach Troy Ryan said in postgame remarks. "Being everything we thought it would be, I think the atmosphere was incredible. I think our performance was pretty good and I think it's a great stepping-stone for us to continue to build on for this series and hopefully moving forward.
For Turnbull, the win came as a result of weeks of regular season preparation, adding that the team was "proud" of its execution throughout their first playoff game.
"The whole season we’ve been building and building waiting to get into playoffs and trying to find our game every week and get better so that when players arrived, we are ready to go," Turnbull said. "I think there’s still a few areas that we can keep improving on, but overall, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at, so we’re excited to get back on the ice for game two."
The postseason outing continues a record-breaking regular season for the young league. In total, the PWHL set six attendance records for women’s hockey this year, with nearly 400,000 fans showing up to watch the inaugural teams take the ice over the 72-game season.
Toronto will face Minnesota at home once more in Game 2 of the series on Friday, before the teams move to Minnesota for Monday's Game 3.
The PWHL is set to break the women’s hockey attendance record after selling out the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The game has been billed as the Duel at the Top, taking place between Montreal and Toronto.
“Quebecers and Montrealers have shown an outpouring of support for our team this season, regardless of where we have played our games,” said Danièle Sauvageau, GM of the Montreal team, when the game was announced.
“Our fans have been asking us for this and we are happy to be able to give them what they want. It’s exciting to know that we will be playing in the largest hockey venue in North America, and I am certain that our supporters will be louder than ever.”
Tickets sold out in less than 20 minutes for the largest hockey arena in North America at a capacity of 21,105. Re-sale tickets are up to almost $450.
The previous attendance record had been set in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, with 19,285 turning out earlier this season. Earlier this month, Detroit set a new American record for professional women’s hockey, with 13,736 fans in attendance to watch PWHL Boston face PWHL Ottawa.
“To have the opportunity to play at the Bell Centre would be historical, I think, is the best word to say,” Monreal’s Erin Ambrose said last month. “We’ve talked about how great our fans have been, the way they’ve showed up in Laval, the way they’ve showed up at Verdun, the way they showed up on the road, too, in Toronto.
“We would love that opportunity and hopefully it can happen. I know that I’m crossing my fingers that we can be here. I mean, it would be pretty unbelievable to walk out there and kind of hear the crowd erupt. It would be something pretty monumental.”
PWHL Minnesota made history on Saturday, as a record-breaking crowd of 13,361 fans turned out to watch their team beat Montreal 3-0 at Xcel Energy Center. The crowd shattered the attendance record of 8,318 that had previously been set by Ottawa in their debut a mere three days earlier.
Grace Zumwinkle led Minnesota with the league’s first hat trick.
Listen to that crowd!
— Xcel Energy Center (@XcelEnergyCtr) January 6, 2024
Couldn’t ask for a better home opener with @PWHL_Minnesota pic.twitter.com/Uwllir1EzC
“It was obviously super exciting. I think what was more exciting was just the atmosphere at the Xcel,” Zumwinkle told MPR News. “And I think breaking the attendance record of having roughly 14,000 fans was just as special as the hat trick in and of itself. It’s just huge that the league is getting to this point. And obviously super exciting for our team, especially with a lot of players from Minnesota.”
“Living in the State of Hockey, I knew our fans would show up for us, but today they have taken it to a whole new level,” said Natalie Darwitz, PWHL Minnesota General Manager. “I feel tremendously proud and inspired by our fan support.”
The only team in the league to play on NHL ice, they proved that they belonged on Saturday both with fan attendance and performance on the ice.
It helped that Team Minnesota houses a number of hometown players, from Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek, to No. 1 overall pick Taylor Heise. And then there’s Zumwinkle, an Excelsior native who scored the game’s only goals.
Zumwinkle told MPR News that playing at home in front of a Minnesota crowd was “surreal.”
“I think, especially playing for the Gophers, I got a taste of it, but nothing quite like having maybe 10,000 more fans than I was used to,” she said. “But I think it’s just the first word that comes to my mind is ‘pride.’ And I think that was evident in the fans that showed up.”
New York won the first-ever PWHL game on Monday, dominating Toronto in a 4-0 win.
It was a historic moment for women’s hockey, with Ella Shelton getting the first goal in PWHL history.
The celly ➡️ the shot pic.twitter.com/0FGtYyzVDJ
— PWHL New York (@PWHL_NewYork) January 1, 2024
It was a monumental day for the new women’s hockey league, with lines for the sellout crowd out the doors and wrapped around the block to get in to watch New York win the first game in PWHL history.
New York followed up with three third-period goals from Alex Carpenter, Jill Saulnier and Kayla Vespa. New York goaltender Corinne Schroeder made 29 saves to get the league’s first shutout.
Billie Jean King, who helped to found the league, was present to witness history and give Toronto their starting lineup.
“Today was one for the history books, as the Professional Women’s Hockey League (@thepwhlofficial) played their 1st game in Toronto,” she wrote on social media. “@PWHL_Toronto took on @PWHL_NewYork, the game was action-packed, & the arena was full of terrific fans.”
Today was one for the history books, as the Professional Women's Hockey League (@thepwhlofficial) played their 1st game in Toronto. @PWHL_Toronto took on @PWHL_NewYork, the game was action-packed, & the arena was full of terrific fans.
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) January 2, 2024
Join me in supporting these athletes! https://t.co/QxCeQlPgNf
Minnesota’s PWHL team will enter the inaugural season with a new head coach after Charlie Burggraf stepped down from the post. With less than a week before the puck drops on the new professional league, former NHL defensemen and U.S. women’s national team coach Ken Klee has taken over the role.
General manager Natalie Darwitz said that Burggraf told her on Tuesday that he would be stepping away from the job. He cited the decision as the right move for himself and his family.
“We thank Charlie Burggraf for all he did for our franchise, and we wish him only the best in the future,” Darwitz said. “Ken Klee brings a proven record of success to our coaching staff, and we are extremely pleased — for our players, our fans and our organization — that he has joined us.”
Klee was hired “within hours,” according to the Star Tribune. He previously coached PWHL Minnesota players Kendall Coyne, Lee Stecklein, Nicole Hensley and Kelly Pannek with the USWNT.
The former NHLer had been a finalist for the job in the initial search, but at the time Darwitz opted to hire her former Gophers assistant coach. But the familiarity with Klee helped to make the decision easy on Tuesday to offer him the job.
“I went through the interview process, but at the time it wasn’t meant to be,” Klee said. “Now it’s a little later and the time is right. I’m excited. I think super highly of these players.”
The PWHL begins its first season next week with six inaugural franchises. Minnesota will open its season on Jan. 3 in Boston.
The first puck drop for the PWHL is set for Jan. 1 — just five months after the league was announced. But a lot of moving parts need to be secured before play can begin.
On June 29, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chelsea FC owner Mark Walters bought out the previous pro women’s league, the Premier Hockey Federation. And since then, Walters, tennis legend Billie Jean King and multi-sport executive Stan Kasten — investors in the rival Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association — have transformed the previous leagues into a single six-team entity.
And just last week, the league hosted nine preseason contests so coaches could finalize their rosters and get a last look at the competition heading into the inaugural season.
To add to the whirlwind, the league also plans to make rule changes that differ from rules in the NHL. For example, the PWHL is debating allowing two-minute penalties to continue after the opposing team scores on the power play. Many of the rule changes seem to be targeted at increasing scoring opportunities and action.
“We’re going to have to look at the data and see if it actually created more scoring chances or more goals, which of course I think is the goal,” Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s senior vice president of hockey operations, told CBC and Radio-Canada.
“We’ll debrief the event and really understand the pros and cons, and see if it makes sense to implement any of them.”
The PWHL is also still assembling its player discipline committee and its collection of referees, both of which must be finalized before the first puck drop. The league plans to use a pool of officials from other organizations, which include the American Hockey League, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey.
As is typical in women’s hockey, body checking isn’t allowed in the PWHL, but the players still want to play a physical game. So expect no shortage of action along the boards or penalties called.
The first regular PWHL season will consist of 24 games, with international breaks included in the schedule so that players can maintain their national team commitments. The four best teams will make the playoffs and will play best-of-five series through the end of the tournament to determine a champion.
Regular-season tickets went on sale this week and, according to Hefford, sales are already out-performing projections. Toronto already has sold out all 12 home games at 2,600-seat Mattamy Athletic Centre.
“We go into this understanding that we’re building a league, we’re launching a league,” Hefford said. “We’re not going to fill every building every night, so we have pretty conservative projections, I would say. But in initial days into ticket sales we’ve exceeded our projections, which is really great news for us.”
The PWHL plans to launch merchandise soon, including replica jerseys, that should be available in arenas and in online stores.
Even before it hosts its first game, Kasten is shocked at how well the league has come together in such a short time.
“To see it really coming together, I can’t describe it,” Kasten said. “This will be the league with the highest level of skill for women hockey players ever in the history of the world.”
📢ALL HOME GAMES ARE SOLD OUT.
— PWHL_Toronto (@PWHL_Toronto) December 14, 2023
Toronto... you ARE the centre of the hockey world.⭐️
Additional seats may be released closer to individual game days.
Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know once more tickets go on sale: https://t.co/ltzC8xzWYw pic.twitter.com/98w4UY2gAl
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will open its inaugural season on New Year’s Day.
Toronto will host New York at Mattamy Athletic Centre at 12:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, as the first game of the new league. The other five teams in the league will host their own home openers over the next 12 days, the PWHL announced Tuesday.
- Montreal @ Ottawa
- When: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Jan. 2
- Where: TD Place Arena, Ottawa
- Minnesota @ Boston
- When: 7 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Jan. 3
- Where: Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass.
- Toronto @ New York
- When: 7 p.m. ET, Friday, Jan. 5
- Where: Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, Conn.
- Montreal @ Minnesota
- When: 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, Jan. 6
- Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.
- Boston @ Montreal
- When: 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, Jan. 13
- Where: Verdun Auditorium, Montreal
The announcement of the home openers doubled as the announcement of the home arenas, which range from 2,600-seat Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto to 18,000-seat Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
“Giving our athletes the opportunity to step onto the ice to compete in front of our passionate fans has been the driving force of our efforts, and it’s going to be an exciting reality on New Year’s Day,” PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten said in a news release. “It’s time for the best women’s hockey players in the world to lift our game to greater heights.”
Day one. Game one. Season one.
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) November 28, 2023
Ring in the New Year with us as we drop the puck on our inaugural season!
📆 January 1
⏰️ 12:30pm ET
📍Mattamy Athletic Centre pic.twitter.com/4XBeyORvKI
January can’t come soon enough. 🤩
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) November 28, 2023
We are proud to announce our six home openers for our inaugural season.
📰 https://t.co/Sz5ykBHwaG pic.twitter.com/Umm7HhD5gk
From start to finish, the Professional Women’s Hockey League is aiming for a six-month launch, which is quick. And the expected January 2024 start date is quickly approaching.
“Doing this in six months is nuts,” PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten told The Athletic. “The NHL told me I was going to need more time and they were completely correct.”
That means that some things will have to fall by the wayside in the first year in favor of getting the players on the ice – including team names and logos. Jerseys for this year only have the team colors and city names diagonally across the chest. It’s been a point of contention for many fans on social media.
But to the league, team names weren’t worth slowing the process down.
“There are decisions you can make that are fast and if you make an error in your judgment on that decision, it’s easy to walk back, or you can learn from it and move on,” Amy Scheer, the senior vice president of business operations for the PWHL, told The Athletic. “From the team name perspective, it was just better off slowing the process down.
“When you come out with a team name, you want to have a full brand story, why the imagery and the logo, why the colors, why the name. And I just didn’t feel that we should rush it because you can’t walk back from it.”
In MLB, Kasten says, jerseys take about two years to produce. In the NHL, teams are sent a “uniform change form” every year in April asking for any changes in uniforms. From start to finish, that is an 18-month process.
So naturally, there wasn’t enough time to come up with an entire branding strategy, avoid name trademarks, and have jerseys to match in the time that the PWHL wanted to launch.
“In a normal team or league, this is a two-year process,” Scheer said. “Just getting the design is six to eight months. The actual manufacturing takes over a year.”
“Things would be prettier, more perfect if we had waited a year,” Kasten said. “But what was most important was getting a league up and running for all these women who had been waiting for this day for so long.”