The PWHL: A Promising League Set to Inspire Young, Female Hockey Players

The PWHL, a female hockey league in its inaugural season, is off to a promising start and gives hope for a consistent female hockey league that will inspire young female hockey players in years to come.

With its first season still going on, The PWHL or the Professional Women’s Hockey League states on its website, “we are here to show what is possible. We are here to spark new dreams. We are here for all of us. ICE TIME. EARNED” (The PWHL). 

The PWHL arose out of an unsteady string of professional women’s hockey leagues in North America that all consequently folded due to financial instability. This string of hockey leagues started with the National Women’s Hockey League in 1999, replaced in 2007 with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League for 12 seasons, until a new National Women’s Hockey League was established in 2015, so that players could receive salaries rather than the stipends and bonuses the CWHL offered. After the dissolution of the CWHL, at the same time as the new NWHL, hundreds of prominent female hockey players founded the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association which was founded to create a unified, financially stable professional league. The PWHPA attracted sponsors and the support of NHL teams, and in 2022, the association entered a partnership with Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises with the intent to found a new professional league which became what is now the PWHL.

The league currently consists of 6 teams in each of the following locations: Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. In order to create their rosters, the league first hosted a ten-day free agency period to sign three players, the first three players signed being Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, and Emerance Maschmeyer, who signed with Ottawa. The league then, on September 18, 2023, broadcasted on the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, a 15-round draft that resulted in the construction of six rosters and the signing of 156 players. The players drafted include highly talented former Olympians, NCAA college hockey players, and although the majority of the league consists of players from the United States and Canada, there are also players from Austria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland.

In its inaugural season, the PWHL has attracted considerable support on Instagram with its 186,000 followers. In addition, at the PWHL Minnesota home opener, 13,316 people attended the game, a record-breaking attendance for any professional women’s hockey game. Already, the league is having a positive effect on expanding the reach of women’s sports demonstrated by the increased attendance at games. A large share of the higher attendance at these hockey games is a result of the young girls who attend the games. In the PWHL Instagram’s tagged section, there are a considerable amount of posts with young girls holding signs to cheer on their hockey team. A mother of a youth female Minnesota hockey team also commented that her daughter’s team goes to the games and she believes it is beneficial for her child to have the ability to “be inspired by females” (CBS) playing her sport. 

Although, in the past, female hockey leagues have folded, league organizers think this league will break that trend. The PWHL is trying to learn from other successful women’s sports leagues like the WNBA and NWSL by analyzing what has worked for them and what has not. Additionally, they value not just hockey but also equality and equal opportunity. Unlike the previous leagues, they are in a much more financially stable position and a position that supports their players because they are in a collective bargaining agreement, meaning the athletes have certainty surrounding working conditions, safety, housing, and meals.

The league seems to be having a strong start to a hopefully long-lasting women’s professional hockey league. At the same time, despite its strong start, it is also important to note that it still has to make a lot of progress to match the benefits the men’s equivalent, the NHL, gives its players. While the minimum player salary for an NHL player is $750,000, PWHL players’ salaries are between $35,000 and $80,000. A good amount of this disparity is definitely due to the fact that the NHL has a strong fanbase built over the years, whereas the PWHL’s fanbase is small and growing. Already off to a strong, consistent start, the hope is that the PWHL will continue to grow its league and fanbase and be strong and inspiring for young girls for many years to come.

Ella Coffin