On-song-PWHL first expansion team Vancouver

Image: Pacific Coliseum, Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is getting bigger and going West.

‘USA TODAY’ stated that Vancouver (Canada) will be the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s (PWHL’s) first expansion team beginning play next season. The still-to-be-named team will join the PWHL’s original six franchises in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York (US), Ottawa, and Toronto (Canada). It will play at the renovated Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, the original home of the National Hockey League (NHL) team Vancouver Canucks and a venue during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Toronto (Canada)-based the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is a women’s professional ice hockey league in North America. The league comprises six teams, three each from the United States and Canada. The teams play a regular season to earn one of four places in a postseason tournament that determines the winner of the Walter Cup (the championship trophy awarded annually to the Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff champion). The PWHL is wholly-owned and operated by the Mark Walter Group (the ownership entity).

The 17,713-capacity Pacific Coliseum, locally known as The Coliseum or the Rink on Renfrew, is an indoor arena located at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Its main use has been for ice hockey and the arena has been the home for several ice hockey teams.

The Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in the statement announcing the new team, “This is an incredibly exciting moment for Vancouver and for the future of professional women’s sports in our City. The passion for women’s hockey is growing and shows that Vancouver is ready to lead that charge on the West Coast.”

‘USA TODAY’ further stated that the PWHL began play last year and it quickly became obvious there was room for growth. It’s already passed the one million mark in total attendance and has repeatedly set single-game records for women’s hockey in the United States. Its ‘Takeover Tour’ – games played in potential expansion Cities – was wildly successful drawing 123,601 fans to the nine games.

That included a sellout crowd of 19,038 for a January 8^th game at the 19,700-capacity Rogers Arena in Vancouver which was the fourth-largest crowd in the PWHL’s history.

Added Amy Scheer, PWHL Executive Vice-President, Business Operations, “Vancouver is a vibrant City with a deep love for the game – as we saw firsthand during the PWHL Takeover Tour earlier this season. Expanding to Vancouver reflects the growing momentum behind the league and the incredible passion of our fanbase since launching in January 2024.”

Details on an expansion Draft as well as how Vancouver will be included in the league’s June 24^th Draft are still to be announced.

The PWHL Draft is an annual event where every team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) selects rights to eligible players who meet the Draft requirements. It’s a system for the teams to acquire new talent often from the collegiate leagues, or the professional teams in the other leagues.

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