Special Edition: Let’s do that hockey

From the ashes of a long and complicated pro women’s hockey history, the PWHL officially launched last season with the world’s best talent, a stacked investor group, and a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement (CBA) — the first-ever CBA to be ratified before the launch of a women’s sports league.

• So it was no surprise that the league’s inaugural season was a rousing success, smashing viewership and attendance records for pro women’s hockey games (multiple times), among many other historic firsts. If you build it.

And all that momentum translated into a transformative offseason, where the league released long-awaited team names for each squad along with new jerseys in partnership with Bauer, further cementing the identity of the Original Six.

• Other off-ice wins include a multi-year partnership with EA Sports, under which PWHL players will be featured in EA Sports NHL 25, venue upgrades in Toronto, Montréal, and New York to meet demand, and news of expansion for the 2025–26 season.

The regular season runs from today through May, with the six teams — Toronto Sceptres, Ottawa Charge, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Boston Fleet, and Minnesota Frost — each playing 30 games (up from 24 last season).

• International breaks are built into the schedule for December, February, and April, allowing players to compete in the Women’s Euro Hockey Tour, the ongoing Canada vs. U.S. Rivalry Series, and the Women’s World Hockey Championship.

• As part of the exciting PWHL Takeover Tour, nine games will be played at neutral-site venues, primarily hosted at NHL rinks. HYFR.

Then comes the reason for the season: the playoffs, which begin on May 6th and will feature the top four regular-season teams. The postseason will again consist of two best-of-five series, with the No. 1 seed choosing whether to face the No. 3 seed or No. 4 seed in the first round. Can’t wait to see how the drama pans out this year.

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💜 Minnesota Frost: The inaugural Walter Cup champs descended into turmoil just days after lifting the trophy, releasing their general manager amid reports of tension between her and the head coach, and veteran players. Minnesota also came under fire for using their No. 9 draft pick to select Britta Curl, despite her controversial social media activity.

• But this squad is as stable as ever on the ice, bringing back playoff MVP (and friend of The GIST) Taylor Heise (pronounced HIGH-see), their dynamic goalie tandem of Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney, and captain, speed-demon, and movie star Kendall Coyne Schofield.

💚 Boston Fleet: Last year’s runners-up also return most of their original core, including brickwall goalie Aerin Frankel and Second All-Star team defender Megan Keller. That said, Boston’s biggest problem last year was their offense — watch for veteran and hockey legend Hilary Knight to increase her production alongside fellow forward Alina Müller. Pucks on net, baby.

💙 Toronto Sceptres: Toronto finished first in last year’s regular season, steamrolling the competition with their juggernaut offense. The trouble is, reigning MVP Natalie Spooner — who led the league in scoring in 2023 — will miss the start of the season while recovering from knee surgery.

• But have no fear, Toronto faithful — the Sceptres still have plenty of firepower, including Sarah Nurse and offseason free agent acquisition Daryl Watts, a college superstar and the highest-paid player in the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation.

❤️ Montréal Victoire: Montréal contended with Toronto down the stretch to finish second in the regular season last year, but was shockingly bounced by Boston come playoff time. Expect the aforementioned Captain Canada and hometown hero Marie-Philip Poulin, 2023 Defender of the Year Erin Ambrose, and Quebec native, netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens, to dominate once again.

💛 Ottawa Charge: After narrowly missing the playoffs last season, Ottawa loaded up in the draft, selecting forward Danielle Serdachny with the No. 2 overall pick and defender Ronja Savolainen with the eighth selection. The young talent will be complemented by veteran captain Brianne Jenner, Ottawa’s top scorer last season.

🧜 NY Sirens: Following last year’s last-place showing, NY’s turnaround relies heavily on 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Sarah Fillier, a generational talent whose goal-scoring abilities are expected to make an immediate impact in the Big Apple.

• And while wins were hard to come by last season, points were not: Forward Alex Carpenter and defender Ella Shelton ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in scoring last season. Perhaps the concrete jungle will be where playoff dreams are made this time around.

Clear your cal because it all begins today at 2 p.m. ET when Boston travels to face Toronto at the Sceptres’ new digs before Ottawa and Montréal meet in an all-Canada tilt at 5 p.m. ET. Then come reigning champs Minnesota, who host NY tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET to round out the opening weekend.

• TSN, RDS, CBC, and Prime Video have Canadian viewers covered throughout the regular season, while those stateside can once again tune in on the league’s YouTube channel. Drop — and we cannot stress this enough — that puck.