Calgary? Halifax? Looking at eight potential markets for PWHL expansion

PWHL training camps are officially underway this week, with players hitting the ice in preparation for the league’s second season across six markets.

Next year, that number could be eight.

PWHL brass announced last month the league’s intentions to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season, building on the incredible success of Year 1 and banking on even more in Year 2.

We don’t yet know which markets will be the next homes of PWHL franchises, but both PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford and senior VP of business operations Amy Scheer have indicated they’re open to a number of options. 

Hefford told The Associated Press upon the announcement that “everything’s on the table right now” as far as which cities will be considered, while Scheer said the league has approached more than 20 potential markets to submit proposals and isn’t limiting considering to cities that already have an NHL team. 

So, which markets might be best equipped to accommodate a PWHL expansion franchise? We’re making the argument for eight different markets — four in Canada and four south of the border, ranging from one coast to the other — that present great options for growth.

Pittsburgh

The PWHL partnered with the Pittsburgh Penguins last March to host a game at PPG Paints Arena as part of the league’s Takeover Weekend. And while the reception and overall atmosphere showed the appetite for women’s hockey in the Pennsylvania market, the evidence was already well-established. 

As reported in The Athletic back in January, Pittsburgh campaigned to be an Original Six market of the women’s league upon its establishment last year — a bid that was backed by the Penguins. While the PWHL’s centralized ownership model doesn’t rely on outside owners, it’s a huge boost to have the Penguins so publicly supporting a campaign to bring women’s hockey to the area. 

Geographically, Pittsburgh is within the Northeastern region — a big plus as far as travel logistics go for this growing league. And while colour schemes and branding won’t dictate important decisions about the viability of a market, the PWHL logo would look pretty sharp in the signature black and yellow of the Pittsburgh pro sports scene.

Quebec City

This historic hockey town has been without a professional team since the Nordiques were relocated to Colorado in 1995. While the calls for the NHL to return continue to get louder, this feels like a perfect situation for the PWHL to swoop in and embrace this fanbase as its own.

Just think of the rivalry possibilities! Montreal already has no shortage of rivals in the six-team league, with Toronto and Boston rivalries built into the passionate hockey markets. To have an all-Quebec rivalry between Montreal and Quebec City would be electric right from the start. Plus, with such a strong presence of Quebec-born players in the league already — particularly playing in Montreal — it would be great to see more athletes be able to play in from of their home fans. 

And with the Videotron Centre well established, and no shortage of other pro-ready rinks thanks to the AHL and QMJHL’s presence in the area, there would likely be several options to call home. In fact, we’ll soon see what pro women’s hockey looks like at the Videotron Centre, as the Montreal Victoire are set to host the Ottawa Charge in a special game there Jan. 19. 

Detroit

Like Pittsburgh, Detroit also hosted a neutral-site PWHL game as part of last March’s Takeover Weekend, in what felt like a potential trial run of what a women’s hockey team could look like in the Motor City. The result was the establishment of a new attendance record for a pro women’s hockey game in the U.S.

They don’t call it Hockeytown for nothing, after all, and the Red Wings’ rich history as an Original Six franchise sets a long-established foundation for plenty of growth on the women’s side. While the PWHL model isn’t like the WNBA’s — with franchises established in partnership with their NBA counterparts — Detroit, like all six current markets, offers plenty of opportunities for NHL-PWHL collaborations.

Another plus: Like the Red Wings in the NHL, a PWHL club in Detroit would feed fanbases on either side of the Canada-U.S. border from southern Ontario down throughout much of Michigan. 

Hamilton

The support for the Sceptres in Year 1 was overwhelming, with every home game played before a sellout crowd, prompting the league to seek a bigger venue for Year 2 — and sell out all the season’s tickets in that one, too. And it wasn’t just fans living in the city — young families commuted into Toronto from surrounding suburbs to attend games. The enthusiastic demand for professional women’s hockey in and around Toronto suggests this region could support a second squad just an hour’s drive southwest of Ontario's capital. A second southern Ontario PWHL hub would feed surrounding cities like London, Brantford, Guelph, Kitchener, and St. Catharines — one of Canada's most densely populated, and still growing, regions. Hamilton has previously been home to an AHL and OHL club before, and investors are pouring resources into FirstOntario Centre, currently under renovations in likely preparation for new tenants on the ice and plenty of concerts and other events.

Not to mention, a team in Hamilton brings a prime opportunity for a Hamilton-Toronto rivalry — Battle of the 403, anyone? That would be really fun. 

Chicago

Landing in this marquee midwestern city would not only unlock a geographical rivalry with the Minnesota Frost, but also provide a link between the Frost and the rest of the league on the map — as it stands now, Minnesota is the lone squad located outside the Northeastern hub. But while geography offers a solid argument, it’s far from the only thing favouring Chicago as a women’s hockey home.

A world-class sports destination, Chicago has deep roots across the four major professional men’s sports leagues and is seeing tons of growth in the women’s landscape. Home to the NWSL’s Red Stars and WBNA’s Chicago Sky, it feels like a natural fit to add a pro hockey club into the mix. And with the AHL’s Wolves and USHL’s Steel also in town, there are plenty of potential home rinks in this thriving hockey hub.

Calgary

It’s outside the current Northeastern hub the PWHL’s original six clubs call home, but when it comes to the landscape of women’s hockey, Calgary plays a very central role — literally — as the gathering place of the nation’s best female hockey players when they’re centralized for Team Canada training camps. Many Canadian pros, in fact, have called the western city home.

Calgary has a strong track record of success in professional women’s hockey. The Calgary Inferno joined the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2011 and was crowned champion twice — including in the league’s final season before it shuttered in 2019 to make way for the PWHPA and a new path forward for the women’s game.

Scheer said the league isn’t dedicated to remaining solely in the northeastern region of North America, and Calgary feels like a strong option to expand west — and send a message to other thriving hockey markets like Denver, Vancouver, Seattle, and Vegas that more growth could be coming.

Seattle

While we’re dabbling with western expansion in Calgary, why not head all the way west to Seattle? Home to one of the NHL’s newest franchises, the success of the Kraken shows a growing appetite for hockey, and the placement of a franchise here would feed a wide swath of the west, including Vancouver.

The Kraken have so quickly embedded themselves — and their strong branding — into the Pacific Northwest hub, and it would be fun to see a PWHL club do the same. The Kraken may be young in hockey years, but they have already shown the rest of the league how to make really important history with the hiring of Jessica Campbell — the first female assistant coach in a behind-the-bench role with an NHL club. Collaborations between the Kraken and a PWHL franchise would feel extra special.

Any downside to Seattle is limited to logistics — long travel times could make for some scheduling hurdles, and suiting up for a PWHL Seattle squad would likely mean a lot more time in the air than opponents and longer road trips. But the PWHL’s desire to host more neutral-site games could negate some of that.

Halifax

One of just two cities on this list that have never been home to an NHL squad, Halifax and the surrounding area is home to a thriving hockey fanbase with a rich history of producing elite players. 

Like Calgary to the west, a decision to put down some PWHL roots in the Maritimes would symbolize a real emphasis on growth beyond its Northeastern hub and lay a foundation for becoming a true coast-to-coast presence. Perhaps its biggest strength is also the biggest hurdle, however, with Halifax adding some significant travel logistics. The arena logistics, however, could make a lot of sense. The Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL play at Scotiabank Centre — a rink with a 10,500-seat capacity that’s also home to plenty of other big events in the city, and was supposed to host the 2020 women’s world championship before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll see the rink in action in February when Halifax hosts a stop on the Canada-USA Rivalry Series. Perhaps a glimpse of things to come?