The 2023–24 PWHL season was the first season of operation of the Professional Women's Hockey League, and began play on January 1, 2024. Six teams competed during the inaugural season, located in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Boston, Ottawa, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul. The season culminated in a two-round best-of-five playoff including the top four teams to determine the season champion. PWHL Toronto topped the regular season standings with 17 wins and 47 points. In the playoffs, PWHL Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, defeating PWHL Boston in a 5-game series for the title.

League business

• The PWHL was announced in August 2023 after the Mark Walter Group announced the formation of a new league aligned with the players in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, and then subsequently purchased and folded the rival Premier Hockey Federation in June 2023. On August 29, the locations of the six charter franchises were announced.
• On September 1, 2023, a 10-day free agency period began, during which each team was eligible to sign up to three players. On the same day, the league announced the general managers for each team: Danielle Marmer for Boston, Natalie Darwitz for Minnesota, Pascal Daoust for New York, Gina Kingsbury for Toronto, Daniele Sauvageau for Montreal, and Michael Hirshfeld for Ottawa. On September 5, Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, and Emerance Maschmeyer became the first players signed to PWHL contracts when they signed with Ottawa.
• On September 18, 2023, the inaugural PWHL Draft took place. It was a 15-round draft, with the initial order determined by a lottery, and subsequent rounds following a "snake format" in which the team who selected last in the previous round selected first in the next round, and the selection order was reversed. The draft order was announced on September 1, with the lottery won by Minnesota, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa, and Montreal. The league allowed players to apply for "compassionate circumstances" in order to stay in their home markets, with those approved eligible to be drafted only by their home market teams; the list of approved players will not be publicly released. Taylor Heise was picked first overall by Minnesota.
• On October 25, 2023, PWHL Holdings, LLC filed potential names for the six teams with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. According to The Athletic, the potential names were Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, Ottawa Alert, and Toronto Torch. PWHL Holdings had previously filed trademarks for the league name and logos. However, the league ultimately opted against naming the teams ahead of the season; for the 2024 season, the teams will be known by their city names, and each wear jerseys featuring a diagonal wordmark of their home city.
• Training camps opened on November 15, with final rosters confirmed on December 11. Final rosters include 23 roster players and 3 reserve players.
• From December 3 to 7, all six teams congregated for a pre-season evaluation camp in Utica, New York, which included scrimmages at the Utica University Nexus Center. PWHL executive Jayna Hefford stated that the unified camp enabled the league to experiment and provided an opportunity for team and player education around issues like safety and doping.
• On January 15, it was announced that 24 PWHL players would participate in the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto, playing a 3-on-3 showcase game on February 1.
• The PWHL season paused for the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship, which ran from April 3–14, and featured 39 PWHL players.
• On May 22, 2024, the PWHL was announced as the winner of the Sports Business Journal's 2024 Breakthrough of the Year award.
• On May 24, 2024, the league announced that the 2024 PWHL Awards ceremony would be held June 10–11 at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront Hotel in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Coaching changes

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

The regular season schedule was announced on November 30, 2023. The season began on January 1 and ended on May 5, 2024, with each team playing 24 games. The schedule paused in February for an IIHF National Team Break, and in April for the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. The playoffs began the week of May 6.

All times in Eastern Time.

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of the season.

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in regular season goals against average at the conclusion of the season.

Attendance

On February 16, 2024, Toronto hosted its first game at the Scotiabank Arena against Montreal dubbed by the league as "The Battle on Bay Street." The game set a league and women’s hockey attendance record with a sellout crowd of 19,285, beating the previous record of 18,013 at the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship. On April 20, 2024 Montreal hosted Toronto at the Bell Centre dubbed as the "Duel at the Top" breaking the previously set record with an attendance of 21,105.

Supplemental discipline

Suspensions

Fines

PWHL Playoffs

By virtue of finishing first overall, Toronto was able to choose its first-round opponent between fourth-place Minnesota and third-place Boston. On May 6, Toronto announced their choice to play Minnesota, leaving Montreal to play Boston in the other semi-final.

* – Denotes overtime period(s)

Semi-finals

Toronto (1) vs. Minnesota (4)

Toronto finished first overall in the league, earning 47 points. Minnesota finished in 4th place with 35 points. Toronto won three of four regular season meetings against Minnesota, including both meetings in Toronto and with one win coming in overtime.

Minnesota defeated Toronto in five games, winning three straight after losing the first two. In game one, Blayre Turnbull scored twice, Natalie Spooner recorded a goal and an assist, and Kristen Campbell made 26 saves to earn her first career playoff shutout—the first playoff shutout in league history—as Toronto defeated Minnesota 4–0. Game two remained scoreless until Jesse Compher scored with 1:25 left in regulation to give Toronto 1–0 lead; Hannah Miller added an empty-net goal with 10 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach, with Campbell turning aside 21 Minnesota shots to give Toronto a 2–0 victory. In game three, with Minnesota facing elimination, Maddie Rooney made 18 saves for Minnesota in a 2–0 victory, with Maggie Flaherty scoring Minnesota's first goal of the series at 2:12 of the second period. Toronto also lost league leading-scorer Spooner to an injury, and she would not return for the rest of the series. In game four, neither team scored in regulation; Claire Butorac scored 4:27 into the second overtime period for Minnesota as Rooney made 19 saves in the win, sending the series to a fifth and deciding game. In game five, Taylor Heise scored twice, including the game winner in the third period, while Rooney stopped 27 shots to secure a 4–1 victory and a spot in the Walter Cup Finals.

Montreal (2) vs. Boston (3)

Boston finished 3rd place in the league earning 35 points. Montreal finished in 2nd place earning 41 points. Montreal and Boston split their regular season series with two wins each, including one regulation and one overtime win each.

Boston defeated Montreal in a three-game sweep, with all three games decided in overtime. In game one, Aerin Frankel made 53 saves, and Susanna Tapani scored the game-winning goal in overtime—the first overtime goal in PWHL playoff history—and Boston won the game 2–1. Game two was decided at 8:16 of the third overtime period, with Taylor Wenczkowski netting her first career PWHL goal, securing a 2–1 victory for Boston; Frankel made 56 saves in the contest, breaking her previous save record from Game 1. In game three, with Montreal leading 2–0 lead after two periods, Boston scored twice in the third to send the game into overtime for the third consecutive time. Boston won the game 3–2, with Tapani scoring the game-winning goal, her second of the series, 1:02 into overtime, clinching the series for Boston.

PWHL Finals

Boston (3) vs. Minnesota (4)

Boston won three out of five meetings against Minnesota during the regular season, including one overtime win and two wins on the road at Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota defeated Boston in five games to capture the inaugural Walter Cup championship. Although Michela Cava opened the scoring for Minnesota in game one, Aerin Frankel stopped 30 out of 33 shots as Boston secured a 4–3 victory. Minnesota responded in game two with a 3–0 victory that saw Nicole Hensley post a shutout and Sophie Jaques score two goals. Minnesota secured another 3-goal win in game three, with Taylor Heise scoring her league-leading fifth playoff goal to open the scoring en route to a 4–1 win. Game four was scoreless into a second overtime period. Minnesota appeared to capture the victory and the series when Jaques shot the puck past Frankel with 2:34 remaining; however, the goal was reviewed and disallowed due to goaltender interference, and 70 seconds after play resumed, Alina Müller scored for Boston to send the series to a fifth and deciding game. In game five, Hensley secured her second shutout of the series and Liz Schepers' second period goal stood as the winner as Minnesota secured a 3–0 victory and the Walter Cup title. Heise, who led the playoffs in scoring, was voted the most valuable player of the playoffs.

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in playoff points at the conclusion of the Walter Cup.

Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders led the league in playoffs goals against average at the conclusion of the Walter Cup.

Attendance

All-Star Showcase

On January 15, 2024, the PWHL along with the National Hockey League (NHL) announced the Canadian Tire PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase, which was hosted by the NHL on February 1, 2024 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as part of the NHL's All-Star Game.

24 players from all six PWHL teams competed in one 20-minute game. PWHL Special Advisor Cassie Campbell-Pascall and New Jersey Devils Director of Player Development, Meghan Duggan served as coaches. The two teams were named in honor of former tennis players and current PWHL advisory board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss. Each team was also accompanied by celebrity coaches with former figure skater Tessa Virtue joining Team King and basketball player Jonquel Jones joining Team Kloss.

New York’s Micah Zandee-Hart was also selected to play but was unable to participate due to injury.

Game summary

Awards and honors

Three Stars of the Week

Additional to each weekly award, points for each star earned were awarded and tallied throughout the regular season and postseason to create a cumulative score.

SupraStars of the Month

On March 8, 2024, the PWHL announced the introduction of the SupraStars of the Month award to recognize three forwards, two defenders, and one goaltender at the conclusion of each month, determined as the players who most excelled on ice throughout the PWHL, and sponsored by AIRSUPRA.

2023–24 PWHL Awards

On April 4, 2024, the PWHL announced that the league's championship trophy would be named the Walter Cup. Further, on April 25, 2024, the league announced the remainder of the awards that would be handed out this year, including the Billie Jean King MVP Award and the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award.

All-Star teams

Transactions

Draft

The 2023 PWHL Draft was held on September 18, 2023. Draft picks are not allowed to be traded until the conclusion of the 2024 season. Players not drafted became free agents able to sign with any team. Players were drafted from a pool of 268 players who declared their eligibility. Overall, 90 players were selected over 15 rounds. Minnesota made Taylor Heise the first player ever drafted into the PWHL.

Free agency

Trades

Contract Terminations

Retirement

References

Recaps

External links

• Official website