Report: PWHL to announce Vancouver expansion team
The Professional Women's Hockey League is expanding to Vancouver, The Athletic's Hailey Salvian reports.
The new Vancouver franchise will be the first expansion team in the PWHL's brief two-year history. The team is expected to commence play next season for the 2025-26 campaign, Salvian reports.
The team is expected to be announced April 23 at a press conference including representatives from British Columbia, the city of Vancouver, and "key stakeholders."
Vancouver's Rogers Arena hosted a PWHL Takeover Tour game Jan. 8 between the Toronto Sceptres and Montreal Victoire. In attendance were 19,038 fans, making it the largest crowd for a neutral-site game and the fourth-highest attendance in league history.
The team could play at Pacific Coliseum, the former home of the Vancouver Canucks from 1970-1995 and most recently the WHL's Vancouver Giants, from 2001-2016. It has a capacity of over 15,000.
The PWHL launched January 2024 with six teams in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. The league and its current six franchises, which received team names and logos before the 2024-25 season, are owned by billionaire Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra. Walter also owns MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.
The league announced its 2025 draft will be held in Ottawa on Tuesday but didn't detail the draft format.