Expansion, growing U.S. attendance top list of challenges for PWHL in year 2

As the calendar turned to 2024, all eyes were on how the Professional Women's Hockey League would establish itself in the sports marketplace.

In the league's first week, the conversation centred around firsts and milestones, as attendance smashed expectations.

But this New Year's Eve, most of the conversation was about a blockbuster trade between two Ontario rivals. Fans debated who won the trade, why both teams moved on from veteran defenders, and how it could change the look of their teams.

It was a reminder that any player can be traded at any time, something that's still a new concept in professional women's hockey. But it was also a sign of how far professional women's hockey has come in just 12 months.

"This probably showcases that this league is a professional league, and that every GM and organization will be always looking at trying to upgrade their performance in whatever way they think they can," Toronto Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury said the day after the trade.

"It kind of solidifies the professionalism of our league."

Ottawa Charge defender Jocelyne Larocque, left, played against her old team just one day after being traded in a four-player deal. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

Twelve months into the PWHL, there's no denying the league has been a success, particularly in Canada. The biggest illustration of that came on April 20, 2024, when a crowd of 21,105 showed up to watch Montreal take on Toronto at the Bell Centre, setting a new world record for the most-attended women's hockey game. The tickets sold out online within minutes.

When Jayna Hefford worked on behalf of the players to make the argument for creating and funding this league, the Hockey Hall of Famer did a ton of research on the appetite for women's professional hockey. She never doubted the demand.

The Minnesota Frost will host the New York Sirens on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. You can watch the game live on CBC TV, CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca.

But the speed of the PWHL's success surprised Hefford, who is the league's senior vice president of hockey operations.

"It just all happened way faster than we could have even hoped," she said.

'There's a lot more work to do'

While the first year went well, Hefford knows the work to grow the league's fan base has just begun.

"We aren't where we want to be and there's a lot more work to do," Hefford said. "But to see how quickly people responded and have built this community around the league and the players has been pretty awesome."

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That there's more room for growth has been most apparent in Boston and the New York area, where the league has struggled to fill seats this season, compared to the other markets.

Since moving to the Prudential Center in New Jersey full time this season, the New York Sirens drew an average of just over 2,800 fans through three home games. Prudential Center, which is also home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils, can seat more than 16,700.

Compare that to the Montreal Victoire, which drew more than 8,500 fans on average through the same amount of home dates. The Minnesota Frost, which also plays inside an NHL building, saw an average of 6,600 fans attend its first four home games.

Boston, meanwhile, has struggled to get fans to its rink in Lowell, which can be a long trek on weeknights when traffic is heavy. The Fleet averaged around 3,500 fans through the first three home games.

Boston did sell out a game in Lowell last season on a Saturday afternoon when the Bruins were hosting a playoff game seven in downtown Boston a couple hours later. It could be an issue solved by moving to a rink in the city, if the league can find the right fit.

"Our expectations and what we've been able to accomplish so quickly I think sometimes hurt us because if we had known we were going to have what we have in New York and Boston right now [for attendance], I think before the league started, we'd be quite happy," Hefford said.

"But we've obviously set these expectations where we see sold-out NHL venues across North America."

The New York Sirens' three home games at Prudential Center in New Jersey have attracted an average of just over 2,800 fans so far this season. (Nala Burton/PWHL)

Hefford said the league knew it wouldn't be easy to break into the New York-area sports market, given all the other leagues and teams the PWHL has to compete with.

Despite that challenge, advisory board member Stan Kasten has been adamant that a professional sports league needs to be in New York.

"There's always going to be markets that are your lower end of attendance," Hefford said.

"It doesn't matter where we're located, there are going to be those. And I'll say that coming into this, we knew some markets were going to be more challenging than others, so it's not a surprise to us that it was going to take us some time to figure out what the right place in New York is."

Expansion on the horizon

As the league navigates growing attendance, it's also examining expansion.

There's no question expansion will happen, but when and where remain undecided.

"We may do up to two teams as early as next season, but we certainly aren't committed to doing that, either," Hefford said.

"We need a bit more time, I think, to evaluate where we're at and what any potential proposals look like, and is it possible to do that for season three."

The league has been gathering proposals from interested parties and markets. The goal was to gather all of those by the end of 2024.

"We're still in really great conversations with a number of people to figure out if there's a right move for us," Hefford said.

The league will begin its Takeover Tour this week, hosting neutral-site games in nine locations across North America throughout the season. The tour includes Canadian stops in Vancouver (Wednesday), Quebec City (Jan. 19) and Edmonton (Feb. 16).

A crowd of 21,105 at Montreal's Bell Centre in April 2024 was the largest ever for a women's hockey game worldwide. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The games will be a key test for cities that hope to someday be home to PWHL teams. But Hefford said the questions around expansion are about more than how many people show up to a one-off game.

The league's list of criteria also includes geography, youth hockey infrastructure, economic opportunity and demographics, among others.

Finding the line

On the ice, more than half (55) of the games that took place in 2024 were decided by only one goal. Twenty games were won in overtime, and nine were decided by shootouts.

It backs up what you feel when you're watching the PWHL, that just about any team can win on any night, and games are extremely close. The most common score throughout 2024 was 2-1.

This season, the league has brought in a new rule to try to increase scoring by preventing a team from changing lines before the first faceoff while on the penalty kill. That, and an infusion of more skill through the draft, appears to have helped the cause.

More than half of the PWHL's games in 2024 were decided by just one goal. (Laurent Corbeil/PWHL)

As a result, the product on the ice this season is faster. But it's also more physical, Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast said in December.

"[Sceptres forward] Emma Maltais and I were in the locker room the other day just looking at each other, being like, 'We're getting smoked out there everywhere.'"

Players and officials alike still seem to be sorting out what should and shouldn't be a penalty, all as the game gets faster. Before the season started, players were shown videos to illustrate which hits are OK and which are illegal, as well as a video around boarding, which players and coaches felt wasn't called consistently last season.

The league also came into this season aiming to crack down on dangerous hits to the head.

"That was just something that we felt like it was important that we took a strong stance on, that we don't want those hits in our game," Hefford said.

"The way we've changed the rule now allows us to make sure that any true head contact gets penalized in the biggest way in terms of a major penalty and additionally an automatic disciplinary review."

The league has been busy with those reviews. Three players have been suspended so far, and a number of game misconducts have been handed out. But Hefford doesn't see reason for concern yet.

She has seen signs that players are learning to adapt to the more physical style of play, including more frequent shoulder checks or reverse hits, where players being chased into a corner initiate contact back to avoid taking the brunt of it into the boards.

"As we see the players doing that sort of stuff more, I think we know that they're thinking about their own safety and the safety of other players," Hefford said.