5 Questions to Answer Before PWHL Season Two

The leaves are changing, fall is in the air, which means one thing: it's hockey season!

Well, not for the PWHL yet.

As we hopefully get closer to the start of Season Two, there are still a few missing pieces that need to fall into place.

When will Sarah Fillier sign?

The further we get into September, the more confusing it is that we haven't had a signing announcement from the 2024 first-overall pick.

Fillier is the only first-round pick who hasn't signed yet, after Ottawa and Minnesota locked down Serdachny (2nd overall) and Thompson (3rd overall) in August.

As the undisputed first-overall pick, no one was surprised when Fillier was drafted by New York. But, surprisingly, she hasn't signed yet.

Unlike Amanda Kessel or Abigail Boreen, there haven't been any rumours that Fillier doesn't want to play in New York. It's likely that both sides are working on a deal and we'll get an announcement soon enough.

What will the jerseys look like?

Missing from the logo and team name announcement was the jersey announcement, although league representatives assured that this was intentional.

The goal is to have the jerseys ready in late October or early November, and for the players to have the jerseys in hand for the announcement.

For teams like Toronto, who've added another colour to their palette, it will be interesting to see how their jerseys turn out. As much as the goal was to stick to the original colour palettes of Season One, there are some changes, so it will be cool to see how that shows up on the jerseys.

And for teams like Ottawa who have logos that look strange in blank space, the jerseys might be the redeeming factor.

When does the season start (and what does the schedule look like?)

Probably the biggest unanswered questions are around the schedule for the 2024-2025 season. With the NHL, NCAA, and other professional leagues already getting underway in September, it would be great to know when the PWHL season will be getting underway.

Last season started on January 1st, but that was partly due to the league not even existing until August. There hasn't been any confirmation from the league whether the plan is to always play from January to May, or if the league is hoping to follow a similar schedule to other pro leagues.

Season tickets are already on sale, and in some cases, sold out, so there's already a lot of money and time going into purchasing tickets, without a schedule in place.

Announcing the schedule is one of the last major things to fall into place to get Season Two underway.

Where is the gender inclusion policy?

Not to sound like a broken record but...

Can we please have the gender inclusion policy? Pretty please?

We've been asking for this policy since the league started, and consistently receive responses saying that the league is working on it. Now, over a year since the PWHL came into existence, there still haven't been any updates.

With the Minnesota Frost drafting Brita Curl and the issues of gender in sports that we've seen in the Olympics this year, now is the time for the PWHL to get ahead.

If we can't get a policy before the season begins, something more than 'we're working on it' would be nice.

Will the YouTube streams return?

One of the best decisions the PWHL made in Season One was broadcasting every game live on YouTube for free. Making the broadcasts accessible by not making people pay for streaming services or cable channels was a huge hit, reaching thousands of fans all over the world. Removing the payment barrier to access the games brought in a lot of new fans and made it easier for everyone to enjoy the games.

In the press conference for the logo and team name announcement, Amy Sheer, Senior VP of Business Operations, told reporters that the league is "working on our broadcast deals."

With the huge success of Season One, it's possible that the league might turn to traditional broadcasting sources, especially for financial reasons. I hope that they'll continue to stream the games for free on YouTube and keep it accessible for fans who might not be able to make it to games or pay for streaming.