So You Want to Follow the PWHL

Welcome!

So... you want to start watching the PWHL but you've got questions.

Firstly,

Whether you've been watching other hockey for years, or you're starting with the women's game, we're happy to have you here!

There's a lot of (though, ultimately, not enough) information out there about women's hockey, but we wanted to give you a good place to start so that you can begin watching and figure the rest out as you go!

Let's start with the teams.

Teams

The PWHL is comprised of six teams (oh yeah, and the PWHL? It stands for Professional Women's Hockey League): The Minnesota Frost, the Boston Fleet, the Toronto Sceptres, the Montréal Victoire, the Ottawa Charge, and the New York Sirens.

There are lots of reasons to pick what team you're going to cheer for! It might be that they are the closest to you, or they have the best jerseys, or you like a certain player. However you choose, here's some information that might help you figure out who you want to root for.

The Minnesota Frost

Big Three: Taylor Heise (F 🇺🇸), Grace Zumwinkle (F 🇺🇸), Kendall Coyne Schofield (F 🇺🇸)
Last season: Won the Walter Cup Championship 🏆
What to know: This team is your team if you are from Minnesota or went to school in Minnesota. Last year, there were 12 players from Minnesota on the team. They are also the only team with purple jerseys, and there is a real lack of purple jerseys in the world.
Fun fact: Grace Zumwinkle won Rookie of the Year last year and scored the first-ever PWHL hat trick (three goals in one game!).
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

The Boston Fleet

Big Three: Hilary Knight (F 🇺🇸), Alina Müller (F 🇨🇭), Aerin Frankel (G 🇺🇸)
Last Season: Lost in the Walter Cup Championship Final 🥈
What to know: The Boston Fleet play like the other Boston teams out there. They are aggressive and they are willing to get dirty to win. If you like exciting, on-the-edge hockey, this might be the team for you. They also have a really cool logo!
Fun fact: Boston Fleet players Lexie Adzija and Taylor Girard have a podcast together!
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

The Toronto Sceptres

Big Three: Natalie Spooner (F 🇨🇦), Sarah Nurse (F 🇨🇦), Carly Jackson (G 🇨🇦)
Last Season: Finished 1st place in the league in the regular season.
What to know: Toronto is a super fast team, with lots of young, talented players. Last season, they won 13 straight games, which is wild, since there were only 24 games played by each team!
Fun fact: Emma Maltais (F) has a really great TikTok account. She definitely deserves a follow.
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

The Montréal Victoire

Big Three: Marie-Philip Poulin (F 🇨🇦), Erin Ambrose (D 🇨🇦), Ann-Renée Desbiens (G 🇨🇦)
Last season: Montréal finished 2nd in the league in the regular season last year.
What to know: Montréal was a very strong team this past year, and they haven't changed much of their lineup. They should be an exciting team to watch this year!
Fun Fact: Montréal Captain Marie-Philip Poulin (F) and linemate Laura Stacey (F) got married this summer.
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

The Ottawa Charge

Big Three: Brianne Jenner (F 🇨🇦), Emily Clark (F 🇨🇦), Emerance Maschmeyer (G 🇨🇦)
Last season: Ottawa narrowly missed making the playoffs last year and finished 5th.
What to know: Ottawa was on the struggle bus last season. They played pretty well, but just couldn't hold the lead or score the one goal they needed to win. Will they be able to finish a good game this season? They have a very dedicated fan base, so you'll be in good company!
Fun Fact: Emerance Maschmeyer was the only goaltender to play 23 games last season. There was only one game where she didn't play! That's 1332 minutes of hockey in one season.
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

The New York Sirens

Big Three: Sarah Fillier (F 🇨🇦), Alex Carpenter (F), Ella Shelton (D 🇨🇦)
Last season: New York finished last in the league last year and was awarded the first overall pick in this season's draft, where they picked Sarah Fillier.
What to know: New York was a bad team last year, but they have a new coach and many strong new players coming in this year. We expect them to be an exciting team to watch! Even though they are playing in New Jersey, they fit in pretty well with the other New York teams like the Liberty (WNBA).
Fun Fact: Ella Shelton scored the first PWHL goal ever! Her stick is now in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Socials: Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok

How it works

Schedule

Every team plays 30 games in the regular season. Every time a team wins, they get 3 points. If they win in overtime (which happens when the game is tied after 3 periods of hockey), they get 2 points. If they lose in overtime, they get 1 point. If they lose in regular time, they get zero points.

These points are tallied throughout the season, and the teams with the 4 highest points total get into the playoffs.

The bottom two teams have a chance to get the first overall pick for the next season's draft. This means they will be able to sign the best player coming into the draft.

Each team will play 15 games at home (at their regular arena) and 15 games on the road (at the other team's arenas).

You can find the schedule here.

Rules

The PWHL follows almost all of the same rules as the NHL. If you want to read up on all of the rules, you can find them here.

There are a couple of rules unique to the PWHL.

Jail-break: If a team scores while they are short-handed (meaning they have a player serving a penalty in the penalty box), they release their player from the penalty box. For example, if Ella Shelton is in the penalty box and her teammate Alex Carpenter scores, Ella Shelton can come back onto the ice, rather than serving the rest of her penalty.

No Escape: When a player gets a penalty, everyone who is on the ice for her team MUST stay on the ice for the next faceoff. For example, if Ella Shelton is on the ice with Alex Carpenter, Abbey Roque, Sarah Fillier and Micah Zandee-Hart when she takes a penalty, those four remaining players have to stay on the ice for the next faceoff and can't switch lines to get a rest.

Where to watch

Canada: Prime Video, CBC/CBC Gem, TSN/RDS
USA: YouTube, Local broadcasters (NESN, MSG)
International: YouTube

Follow Along

Listen: Every week, Maya Smith and Alyssa Turner release a podcast episode about everything that happened in the PWHL the past week!

Follow: On Twitter (X), Instagram, Facebook, and Blue Sky, The Ice Garden team shares news and live action from PWHL games!

Happy watching!