PWHL establishes conferences, expands playoffs

An off-season of growth continued for the Professional Women’s Hockey League on Friday as it announced plans for a new conference structure and expanded playoff format for the upcoming season.

With four expansion teams set to hit the ice, the 12-team league released a Dec. 5-April 18 regular-season schedule that includes a three-round post-season.

The developments came after some high-profile announcements in recent days. The PWHL will make its debut on the CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada this fall and will host its inaugural PWHL all-star event in Toronto in March.

“I think it’s just kind of like a perfect storm right now for our league and it’s exciting to take advantage of that,” said New York Sirens forward Sarah Fillier, who won Olympic gold for Canada in 2022.

Eastern Conference teams will include the Boston Fleet, PWHL Hamilton, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres. Western Conference clubs include PWHL Detroit, PWHL Las Vegas, Minnesota Frost, PWHL San Jose, Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, including 18 within its conference and 12 interconference games. Expansion team names are expected to be announced next month.

“It’s exciting to see the growth over the last couple of years,” Goldeneyes defender Caroline (KK) Harvey said at a media day availability. “The support [with] the different fanbases all over the league and how much they love their hockey, it’s so unbelievable to see. I’m hoping to be a part of that continuous growth.

“It just keeps going [up]. It’s so exciting to see with women’s sports in general, but especially hockey.”

The top four teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs. Best-of-three first-round series will be followed by best-of-five conference finals and a best-of-five league final for the Walter Cup.

The two first-place teams will have the opportunity to select their first-round opponents, choosing between the third- or fourth-place teams within their respective conference.

“With 12 teams, new conferences and more games than ever before, this schedule reflects the PWHL’s monumental growth as anticipation builds for our fourth season,” PWHL executive vice-president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said in a statement.

“The introduction of conferences and an expanded playoff format will deepen rivalries and fuel the competitiveness that makes PWHL action so exciting from the very first puck drop until the Walter Cup is raised.”

In the regular season, every team will visit the primary or secondary home venue in all 12 PWHL markets at least once.

The PWHL used a four-team, two-round format in each of its first three post-seasons.

In Canada, TSN, Sportsnet, Prime Video and the CBC are returning as domestic broadcast rights-holders. Montreal Victoire rights-holders include RDS, Radio-Canada on ICI TÉLÉ and ICI TOU.TV and Prime Video.

All 180 regular-season games will be available to an international audience on the PWHL’s YouTube channel and via the league’s website. Canadian viewers can access games on those platforms when they’re not being carried domestically.

The PWHL’s “Takeover Tour” will expand from 16 to 24 games this season, the league said. Additional details were expected to be announced over the coming weeks.

Each team will play in four Takeover Tour games, which are currently marked as TBD on the schedule. All teams will observe a one-week break around the all-star event.