PWHL establishes Eastern and Western conferences, expands to eight-team playoffs
The Professional Women’s Hockey League is establishing Eastern and Western conferences this season and increasing the number of playoff teams from four to eight. The 12-team league – which will have four expansion clubs on the ice this season – will begin play Dec. 5 when Seattle faces Vancouver, while expansion teams Hamilton and San […]
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is introducing Eastern and Western conferences for the upcoming season, along with expanding the playoff field from four to eight teams. The 12-team league, set to kick off on December 5, features four new expansion clubs: Hamilton, San Jose, Detroit, and Las Vegas. Teams from Boston, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, Toronto, Seattle, and Vancouver have already been announced.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, with 18 matches against their own conference and 12 against opponents from the opposing conference. The league has scheduled a one-week break around the March 7, 2027 debut of the PWHL All-Star Game at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. The top four teams in each conference will advance to the playoffs, which will follow a best-of-three format in the first round, followed by best-of-five conference finals and a best-of-five league final for the prestigious Walter Cup.
PWHL continues its tradition of awarding the first-place team in each conference the right to select its first-round opponent, choosing between the third or fourth-place team within their respective conference.
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- PWHL establishes Eastern and Western conferences, expands to eight-team playoffs winnipegfreepress.com
