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365 Days: A look back at the PWHL's first year

The PWHL is in season two, but today, January 1, 2025 marks one year of the PWHL. The league officially dropped the puck for the first time ever on January 1, 2024.

365 days later, here's a look a the league.

Back To The Beginning

The PWHL dropped the puck one year ago with Ella Shelton scoring the first goal in PWHL history. Corinne Schroeder also recorded the first shutout in league history closing the door for PWHL New York, who defeated PWHL Toronto 4-0. The game was played at Mattamy Athletic Centre where every game of the season was sold out before the puck hit the ice. To open year two, the Toronto Sceptres fell 2-1 to the Ottawa Charge in a New Year's Eve game at their new home, Coca-Cola Coliseum. The teams played in front of a sold out crowd of 8,278.

Innovation A Key

The PWHL has not shied away from doing things differently. In season one they implemented a 3-2-1 point system, the "Jailbreak" rule freeing penalized players with a shorthanded goal, they brought back body checking to women's hockey, allowed the top ranked team to pick their playoff opponent, and became the first league to use the Gold Plan to see who earns the first overall pick in the draft. In year two, the league brought in the "No Escape Rule." What will be next? The interesting part is, the league managed to innovate rules without upsetting hockey's fragile traditionalists.

First Ever PWHL Trade, To The Last Of 2024

On February 11, 2024, the PWHL announced what fans thought was a monumental trade. It was a big trade for certain sending Sophie Jaques to PWHL Minnesota with Susanna Tapani and Abby Cook heading back to PWHL Boston. Other trades would take place following the first, including the biggest trade in PWHL history that took place on December 30, only hours before the final game of the year, which just so happened to involve the two teams who swapped players. The deal sent Jocelyne Larocque and Victoria Bach from the Toronto Sceptres to the Ottawa Charge in exchange fro Savannah Harmon and Hayley Scamurra.

Minnesota Wins Walter Cup

PWHL Minnesota won the first ever Walter Cup. Facing PWHL Boston in the championship series after Toronto and Montreal were eliminated in the opening round of playoffs, Minnesota and Boston played to a dramatic fifth and deciding game. In the final, Minnesota shutout Boston 3-0 to capture the Walter Cup, with Taylor Heise being named the inaugural Playoff MVP on May 29, 2024.

Fillier Picked First Overall

It was the first entry draft featuring predominantly college players. The league's first draft involved roster building for all spots. The second draft was more of a traditional selection process with Team Canada and Princeton standout Sarah Fillier going first overall to the New York Sirens. The Sirens won the first pick through the Gold Plan, one of many innovative rules the league implemented in year one. Fillier was followed by Danielle Serdachny (Ottawa), Claire Thompson (Minnesota), Hannah Bilka (Boston), Cayla Barnes (Montreal), and Julia Gosling (Toronto) in the first round of the 2024 PWHL Draft on June 10, 2024.

Award Season Comes

The PWHL named and created new annual awards with Toronto forward Natalie Spooner earning top honors. Spooner led the PWHL in goals and points, was named the league's Best Forward, and also named league MVP. Erin Ambrose was named the inaugural Defender of the Year at the league's award banquet, held June 11, 2024, while Kristen Campbell was Goalie of the Year, Troy Ryan Coach of the Year, Grace Zumwinkle Rookie of the Year, and Maureen Murphy won the league's Hockey For All award.

New Identities For Six Inaugural Teams

The PWHL played their first season with generic names with each market name preceded by "PWHL." In the league's first offseason on September 9, 2024, the PWHL unveiled six new identities for each franchise - Boston Fleet, Ottawa Charge, New York Sirens, Montreal Victoire, Minnesota Frost, Toronto Sceptres. It was a major milestone for the league and a moment for each fan base to grow their identity.

Attendance Numbers Growing

In year one, the PWHL averaged 5,448 fans. It included record setting attendance numbers in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota, and Detroit. Montreal exited 2024 with the all-time pro women's hockey attendance record and Canadian record at 21,105 set April 20, 2024 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Detroit, hosting only a single PWHL game set the all-time American pro women's hockey attendance record drawing 13,736 for their Takeover Weekend game on March 16, 2024. As the PWHL exited 2024, league attendance was climbing with the overall league average up by more than 1,000 fans per game from the inaugural season to 6,538. Those increases were in large part due to bigger venues in Montreal and Toronto pushing the numbers up.