The players of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) have formed a union and begun collectively bargaining with their investor groups, Billie Jean King Enterprises and The Mark Walter Group, for the creation of a new league, per Hailey Salvian of The Athletic and confirmed by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek.
Salvian called the move to unionize a “significant step toward starting a new league next season.”
When the PWHPA and its two investors engaged in a formal relationship last May, they signed a letter of intent to work together exclusively.
During Saturday night’s 32 Thought segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Marek said: “This is what I believe. They’re eyeing an announcement of this new league right around the time of the PWHPA championship weekend that is in California between March 10-12.”
Marek added that there is a chance they don’t make the announcement until the world championships but that it sounds like March 11 is an “all hands on deck day” with the entity of the PWHPA expected to be in Los Angeles.
He also reported that believes it would be a six-team league, featuring two Canadian squads and four American-based teams.
In the segment, he also said that the league would begin sometime in the fall, potentially around late October, and would be named the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
As for the PWHPA brand, Marek said it will remain as the players union for the PWHL.