One Year of the PWHL: A Timeline

Aug. 29 marked one year of PWHL hockey, which seems both incredibly short and also extremely long.

I don't think anyone could have ever expected we'd be where we are today when the PWHL was announced one year ago. We've had drafts, sellouts, hat tricks, jailbreak goals, win streaks, shocking losses, and one champion.

With one year under our belts, let's look back on how far we've come.

August 2023

Aug. 29, 2023: The PWHL is announced.

In a press conference, the PWHL becomes a reality. Six teams are announced, three in Canada (Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa) and three in the United States (Boston, Minnesota, New York).

Teams will have the opportunity to each sign three players as free agents before participating in the inaugural draft on Sept. 18. Players must declare for the draft by Sept.3.

General announcements will come in the following days, as will the schedule, which is expected to have each team play 24 games.

September 2023

Sept. 1: General managers are named for each team, free agency opens

Danielle Marmer (Boston), Natalie Darwitz (Minnesota), Daniéle Sauvageau (Montréal), Pascal Daoust (New York), Michael Hirshfeld (Ottawa), and Gina Kingsbury (Toronto) will be tasked with building a coaching staff, support and operations staff, as well as signing three players before the September 10 deadline.

Free agency also begins and will run until the 10th.

Sept. 5: Ottawa signs first three free agents

Brianne Jenner, Emerance Maschemeyer, and Emily Clark are the first free-agent signings, all signing with Ottawa.

Sept. 6: Toronto and Minnesota sign first three free agents

Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull, and Renata Fast sign with Toronto.

Lee Stecklein, Kelly Pannek, and Kendall Coyne Schofield sign with Minnesota.

Sept. 7: Boston and Montréal sign first three free agents

Hilary Knight, Megan Keller, and Aerin Frankel all sign with Boston as their first three players.

Montréal signs Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey and Ann-Renée Desbiens.

Sept. 8: New York signs first three free agents

Abby Roque, Alex Carpenter, and Micah Zandee-Hart sign with New York.

Sept. 13: 268 players declare for the inaugural draft with 90 positions available

Sept. 15: Six head coaches are announced

Courtney Kessel (Boston), Charlie Burggraf (Minnesota), Howie Draper (New York), Kori Cheverie (Montréal), Troy Ryan (Toronto), and Carla MacLeod (Ottawa) are announced as the head coaches.

Sept. 18: Inaugural PWHL draft takes place in Toronto

Taylor Heise is selected first overall by Minnesota. Jocelyne Larocque (Toronto), Alina Müller (Boston), Ella Shelton (New York), Savannah Harmon (Ottawa), and Erin Ambrose (Montréal) fill out the first round.

October 2023

Oct. 16: Training camp rosters are announced

Oct. 24: PWHL Logo is announced

Players throughout the league post sneak peeks leading up to the big reveal.

Oct. 26: Trademarks are filed for potential team names

Clark Rasmussen reports that six potential team name trademarks have been filed. The names are:

Boston Wicked
Minnesota Superior
Montréal Echo
New York Sound
Ottawa Alert
Toronto Torch

November 2023

Nov. 8: PWHL announces $25 ticket deposit

Fans can put down a $25 deposit on tickets in order to get first access to season tickets.

Nov. 13: Practice facilities are announced.

Nov. 14: Evaluation camp and jersey announcements
The PWHL announces an evaluation camp from Dec. 3-7 to help teams make final roster cuts.

After some review, the PWHL announces that teams will not have names for the first season, and instead will have team colours and their cities (or state, in the case of Minnesota) as logos and names.

Nov. 28: PWHL announces home opener schedule and arenas

Game 1 will take place on January 1, 2024 in Toronto. Each team will have a home opener, with the latest one taking place on January 13.

The home arenas are listed as: Mattamy Arena (Toronto), TD Place (Ottawa), Tsongas Center (Boston, in Lowell), Total Mortgage Arena (New York, in Bridgeport), Xcel Energy Center (Minnesota, in St. Paul), and Verdun Auditorium (Montréal, in Verdun).

Nov. 30: Full schedule is announced

The PWHL announces the full season schedule, running from January to early May. A total of 72 games will make up the regular season.

There will be two major breaks, one for a National team break and one for the Women's World Championships.

December 2023

Dec. 12: Teams announce final rosters

After the December evaluation camp, teams announce their final rosters.

Dec. 13: Season tickets go on sale
Teams see almost immediate sell-outs of season tickets.

Dec. 15: PWHL announces merch shop

Dec. 21: PWHL New York announces leadership team

Micah Zandee-Hart (C), Alex Carpenter (A), and Ella Shelton (A) will lead the team in its first season.

Dec. 27: PWHL Minnesota announces Ken Klee as head coach

Just before the season begins, Minnesota announces that Charlie Burggraf will step down from the head coaching position for family reasons and names Ken Klee as a replacement.

Dec. 29: Streaming and broadcast information is released, teams announce leadership groups

Fans anywhere in the world can watch for free on the PWHL YouTube Channel. NESN, Bally Sports, TSN, CBC and Sportsnet own the rights to the TV broadcasts.

Montréal and Ottawa announce captains and assistant captains.
Montréal: Marie-Philip Poulin (C), Laura Stacey (A), Erin Ambrose (A)
Ottawa: Brianne Jenner (C), Emily Clark (A), Jincey Roese (A)

Dec, 30: Toronto announces leadership group
Blayre Turnbull (C), Jocelyne Larocque (A), and Renata Fast (A) will lead the team for its first season.

January 2024

Jan. 1: PWHL New York wins innagural PWHL game over PWHL Toronto

Ella Shelton scores the first goal in PWHL history as New York shuts out Toronto 4-0.

Jan. 2: Boston announces leadership group, Ottawa loses record-breaking home opener

Hilary Knight (C), Jamie-Lee Rattray (A), and Megan Keller (A) form the leadership team for the first season.

8,318 fans watch Montréal wins their first game of the season in Ottawa in overtime. Claire Dalton (MTL) and Hayley Scamurra (OTT) score their team's first ever goals. This is the largest crowed ever gathered to watch a professional women's hockey game.

Jan. 3: Minnesota announces leadership group, wins first game

Kendall Coyne Schofield (C), Lee Stecklein (A), and Kelly Pannek (A) will lead the team in its first season.

Minnesota also wins their first game of the season, beating Boston at home. Taylor Heise (MIN) and Tereza Schafzahl (BOS) score their team's first goals.

Jan. 5: Natalie Spooner scores Toronto's first goal

Toronto beats New York 3-2.

Jan. 6: Minnesota sets attendance record and first hat trick recorded

Just four days after Ottawa sets the record, Minnesota breaks the record with 13, 316 fans. They beat Montréal 3-0 on three goals from Grace Zumwinkle, who scores the first ever PWHL hat trick.

Jan. 27: Montréal breaks Canadian attendance record

8,646 fans watch Montréal beat Ottawa in overtime at Place Bell.

February 2024

Feb. 1: PWHL players play 3-0n-3 showcase at NHL All-Star Game

Team King, captained by Kendall Coyne Schofield, beats Team Kloss 5-3.

Feb. 6: PWHL announces 'takeover' games

Teams will head to Pittsburgh and Detroit in March to play in NHL-sized arenas.

Feb. 11: PWHL Boston and PWHL Minnesota complete first PWHL trade

Boston trades Sophie Jaques to Minnesota for Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook.

Feb. 16: PWHL Toronto and PWHL Montréal face off at Scotiabank arena, break record

PWHL Toronto blanks PWHL Montréal 3-0 in front of 19,285 fans. This breaks the record for most fans in attendance at a women's hockey game (pro or international).

Feb. 28: PWHL announces playoff format and draft order regulations

The top four teams will qualify for playoffs, with the top team choosing their opponent.

The bottom two teams will form the draft order based on points gained after elimination, with the highest point-earning team getting the first overall pick.

March 2024

March 16: PWHL Boston defeats PWHL Ottawa at Little Caesars Arena, breaks attendance record

13,736 fans in Detroit watch Boston beat Ottawa in a shootout. This breaks the all-time US attendance record for a professional women's game.

March 17: PWHL Toronto wins 10-straight games

March 18: Teams make last minute trades at the trade deadline

Montréal receives Amanda Boulier, sends Tereza Vanišovâ to Ottawa.

Ottawa trades Lexie Adzija and the rights to Caitrin Lonergan to Boston for Shiann Darkangelo.

April 2024

April 4: PWHL announces Walter Cup championship trophy

April 20: PWHL Toronto defeats PWHL Montréal at the Bell Centre, sets world attendance record

21,105 fans attend the game with Sarah Nurse scoring the game winner. PWHL Toronto clinches a spot in the playoffs.

April 24: PWHL Montréal clinches playoff spot with win over PWHL New York

April 27: 2024 Draft and season awards to take place in Minnesota

May 2024

May 1: PWHL Toronto clinches 1st overall playoff spot

May 4: PWHL Boston clinches playoff spot, leaves PWHL Minnesota and PWHL Ottawa for the last spot

May 5: PWHL Minnesota clinches final playoff spot, Natalie Spooner wins award for top goal scorer and top points scorer

PWHL Toronto chooses PWHL Minnesota as their 1st round opponent, setting up PWHL Montréal and PWHL Boston for the other semi-final.

May 8: Semi-final series between PWHL Toronto and PWHL Minnesota starts with PWHL Toronto win

Natalie Spooner scores the inaugural playoff goal and Kristen Campbell records the inaugural playoff shutout.

May 9: PWHL Boston wins first playoff game in PWHL Montréal

May 15: PWHL Boston sweeps playoff series against PWHL Montréal and will play for the championship

May 17: PWHL Minnesota defeats PWHL Toronto in five games to head to the final

May 19: PWHL Boston beats PWHL Minnesota in game one of the final

May 21: PWHL Minnesota wins, series tied 1-1

May 24: PWHL Minnesota wins at home, leads series 2-1

May 25: Draft eligibility list released

The list includes 93 forwards, 48 defenders, and 26 goaltenders who will hope to hear their name called at the draft in Minnesota.

May 26: PWHL Boston wins in double overtime to force game 5

PWHL Minnesota's goal in overtime is waved off after review, setting up a sudden death final

May 29: PWHL Minnesota defeats PWHL Boston, wins inaugural Walter Cup

Taylor Heise takes home the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP trophy.

June 2024

June 8: PWHL Minnesota parts ways with championship-winning GM, Natalie Darwitz

June 10: 2024 Draft occurs, Sarah Fillier selected first overall by PWHL New York

Danielle Serdachny (OTT), Claire Thompson (MIN), Hannah Bilka (BOS), Cayla Barnes (MTL), and Julia Gosling (TOR) round out the first six picks.

June 11: Natalie Spooner wins MVP at innagural PWHL Awards

Spooner also wins Forward of the Year. Erin Ambrose (MTL) wins Defender of the Year, while Kristen Campbell (TOR) wins Goaltender of the Year.

Grace Zumwinkle (MIN) takes home Rookie of the Year.

June 21: Free agency opens, PWHL Toronto signs top free agent Daryl Watts

August 2024

August 29: One year anniversary of the PWHL