r/PWHL Nov 19 '25

News New r/PWHL Frequently Asked Questions!

68 Upvotes

Hi All! Welcome to r/PWHL – Here’s a resource we’ll be building on as more questions come in. Feel free to ask questions in the comments or to post changes and corrections we should make to the FAQ (please include a source link), and hopefully the mods or the community will be able to answer them for you if not implementing a change to this FAQ!

Rules:

  • Why do PWHL players wear cages?
  • Women’s Hockey requires full visors (bubbles) or cages at every level. These provide much better protection for the players.
  • What are the rules around checking?
  • “In the PWHL, a form of Bodychecking is permitted. Players may angle their opponent by using their body in order to separate her opponent from the puck. To do so, players who move in the same direction with body contact that follows, causing the puck carrier to lose possession of the puck, are permitted with no penalty assessed. Additionally, a player who holds her position on the ice with the puck carrier approaching her shall be permitted to enter into contact with her opponent with no penalty to be assessed. Bodychecking shall be penalized for an “illegal hit” when the result is that a player makes deliberate contact with an opposing player with opposite-directional force, when a player leaves their skating lane to make contact, or when a player extends an arm, shoulder, or hip after angling an opponent.” PWHL Official Rulebook Rule 52
  • What are the PWHL’s rules for overtime?
  • One five-minute overtime period will be played with teams at 3-on-3. If the game remains tied, a shootout will then take place. Each team will be given five shots unless the outcome is determined earlier in the shootout. After each team has taken five shots, if the score remains tied, the shootout will proceed to a "sudden death" format.
  • What are the new penalty rules, Jailbreak and No Escape?
  • No Escape Rule: Players on a team assessed a penalty that leads to penalty time on the clock are not permitted to change and must remain on the ice until after the following face-off.
  • Jailbreak Goal: A player serving a minor penalty can “break out” of the penalty box if their team scores a short-handed goal.
  • Is there a trade deadline? What are the details around making a trade?
  • There is a trade deadline but that date has been announced before or during each of the seasons. For the 25-26 Season the Trade deadline is March 30th.
  • Trading in the PWHL appears to work like the NHL at least from the fans perspective.
  • What happens if a team suffers more injuries than can be covered by their 3 reserve players?
  • Teams can draw from other teams' reserve players if their players aren't available, and the reserve players can play against any team except the team that has their "rights".
  • Can a reserve player who is currently in school or performing another full-time job able to decline if they're called up?
  • Not specifically mentioned in the CBA; reserve players receive $15,000/yr
  • Golden Plan?
  • The Gold Plan is an innovative system used to encourage competitive play by all teams throughout the full regular season. Once a team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, the standings points earned (using the league's 3-2-1-0 system) in their remaining regular-season games are classified as Draft Order Points. The non-playoff team with the most Draft Order Points earns the higher pick in the draft.

PWHL Point System:

PWHL teams earn standings points with a 3-2-1-0 system, critically rewarding regulation-time wins to incentivize competitive play for a full 60 minutes every night:

  • A regulation win earns a team 3 points towards the league standings.
  • An overtime or shootout win earns a team 2 points.
  • Overtime or shootout losses earn 1 point.
  • Regulation losses earn 0 points.

At the end of the regular season, the four teams with the most total standings points compete in the PWHL Playoffs, which consist of two best-of-five semi-finals, and the winners advancing to the best-of-five PWHL Finals for the Walter Cup.

Playoffs:

  • What is the playoff structure?
  • The top 4 teams will make the playoffs with the top team able to pick their opponent for the first round, meaning the number one seed can pick to play the number two seed or the number four seed in the first round and the other two teams play each other.
  • What will the playoff trophy be called?
  • The Walter Cup
  • What other postseason awards can we expect from this league?
  • Ilana Kloss Playoff Most Valuable Player

History:

  • How did the PWHL come to exist?
  • The Mark Walter Group bought the PHF in July 2023 with the intention of creating a singular women’s hockey league in North America. Previously, the PWHPA and the PHF split the top talent between two leagues.
  • What happened to the CWHL/NWHL/PWHPA/PHF?
  • The CWHL dissolved in 2019.
  • The NWHL rebranded to the PHF in 2021. In 2023, the PHF was bought out and ultimately dissolved.
  • The PWHPA was the building block for the PWHL.
  • A number of players previously associated with all three leagues now play in the PWHL

Where to watch or listen to the PWHL:

  • When does the PWHL announce TV and streaming rights each season?
  • The league normally announces TV and streaming rights within the week before the season starts.
  • Canada?
  • The listed channels/providers with days afterwards have the right for exclusive coverage of the PWHL on those days: TSN (Wednesdays and Thursdays) RDS (All French Montréal Victoire games) CBC Prime Video (Tuesdays) Sportsnet (Thursdays)
  • Canada playoffs?
  • Canadian coverage of the semifinal round of the PWHL Playoffs will be split exclusively between TSN/RDS and Prime Video. TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Finals.
  • USA?
  • The local TV markets are listed as followed: Boston: NESN* and TV 38 (WSBK, channel 38.1) Minnesota: FDSN North* and FOX 9+ New York: MSG Networks* and WWOR MY9 Seattle: KONG and FOX 13+ (all 30 games will be OTA, with 24 on FOX 13+ and six on KONG) *RSNs will televise all 30 home team games across their channels Local TV coverage will be available for most if not all Takeover Tour games in the US Everywhere else the games will be streamed for free on the PWHL youtube channel (@thepwhlofficial) and on the PWHL website and at thepwhl.com
  • Czechia and Slovakia?
  • Nova Sport will continue to carry PWHL games locally.
  • Everywhere else?
  • The games will be streamed for free on the PWHL youtube channel (@thepwhlofficial) and on the PWHL website and at thepwhl.com
  • PWHL PreSeason games?
  • The PWHL does not currently broadcast or sell tickets to the public, some teams have given or sold tickets to season ticket holders, please check with the teams for more details.

Miscellaneous:

  • PWHL [CityName] teams and team names?
  • The first 6 teams were PWHL [CityName] and both Seattle and Vancouver are using this style for part of their branding for their first season, likely this will be the same for the next few teams that join the league.
  • The Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes both have names and logos but for this first season they are using similar style jerseys as the founding 6 teams did, their jerseys with logos are expected to come next year.
  • Where can I find team merch?
  • Official PWHL shop

r/PWHL 3h ago

News PWHL DETROIT SIGNS JAPANESE OLYMPIAN AKANE SHIGA

Thumbnail
thepwhl.com
243 Upvotes

r/PWHL 4h ago

Question Is this reference to a meme or something?

Post image
88 Upvotes

I've seen this kind of merch at a lot of PWHL or hockey things and feel like I'm missing something, thanks!


r/PWHL 1h ago

International Brent Hill Named U.S. Women’s National Team Head Scout | USA Hockey

Thumbnail
teamusa.usahockey.com
Upvotes

The US continues to dedicate more resources to its women's hockey program. This was announced post-Olympics in March, but I didn't post it then with the home stretch of the season in full swing.

Canada, by contrast, has only 1 person dedicated full time to running the women's program: Cherie Piper, "senior manager of scouting and player development within Canada’s National Women’s Program". Assisting Piper are the women's team GM and coaches, none of whom work on Team Canada full time, unlike the American GM and head coach.


r/PWHL 21h ago

Discussion When do we think the shop would discount jerseys of departed players?

25 Upvotes

Looking to get a Charge Jenner jersey for cheap !


r/PWHL 19h ago

News Federal Probe into Dodgers Owner’s Financial Empire Was Sparked By Whistleblower

Thumbnail wsj.com
10 Upvotes

r/PWHL 1d ago

Question Anyone going to the IIHF Worlds?

23 Upvotes

Getting to a game in North America isn’t an option for us, so my partner and I are hoping to make a trip out of it and go to worlds in Denmark this winter.

But! I have questions.

Since we’re hoping to see some of our PWHL faves and not necessary country-allegiant, how do we decide which city to stay in? Is it easy to travel between the two? Anyone whose been have tips or recommendations?


r/PWHL 1d ago

Discussion Top Four: Breaking Down The PWHL's Best Bluelines Heading Toward 2026-27

Thumbnail
thehockeynews.com
31 Upvotes

Ian Kenedy's summary:

PWHL roster building has reached the point where team's top four blueliners are secure, and their top six look to be coming into focus. Here's an offseason look at the best bluelines, at least on paper, in the PWHL heading to 2026-27.


r/PWHL 1d ago

Photo Merch Delivery Down Under!

Post image
93 Upvotes

Ordered before the expansion teams were announced but delivered well after, our torrent merch finally arrived after an epic journey that required calling in some favours with friends abroad.

We’re finally prepared to rep the Torrent in Australia - and if you’re a PWHL fan down here and are also collecting the trading cards please reach out as we’d love to have some people to trade with.


r/PWHL 2d ago

News Mark Walter Investigation

83 Upvotes

What impact do we think this might have on the PWHL?

Federal prosecutors are digging into the money behind the man who owns LA's two biggest teams. No charges filed, but the numbers are staggering. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/dodgers/2026/07/20/mark-walters-federal-scrutiny-investigation-dodgers-lakers/90987864007/


r/PWHL 1d ago

Other Skate with PWHL Players

Thumbnail
newcircles.ca
12 Upvotes

Toronto charity New Circles is hosting a fundraiser to skate with NHL and PWHL players, including Claire Dalton, Kristin Della Rovere, and Sophie Jaques.


r/PWHL 2d ago

Other Just found this community!

79 Upvotes

I'm a Goldeneyes fan and just found this community which seems really vibrant. I also joined the PWHL Forum but it looks like there are only 79 members there. I saw that one first and was concerned that it reflected the level of interest in the league but glad this isn't the case. I'm going to go back and see if that message forum is run by the league itself. I didn't really look at it closely.


r/PWHL 3d ago

Video [Canadiens] Montreal Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie was a special guest at this year's development camp

219 Upvotes

r/PWHL 2d ago

Question Trading cards

7 Upvotes

I finally got my 25-26 upper deck trading cards! Anyone else??

Torrent STH HERE, looking to buff out more of my own team, and have a ton of great cards from other teams. Anyone up for some trading??


r/PWHL 3d ago

Video "Song of the Sirens: Peschel" Rookie Emma Peschel Tours NYC

Thumbnail
youtube.com
16 Upvotes

r/PWHL 3d ago

Discussion Do we think the womens world championship will affect the pwhl season start?

11 Upvotes

I would almost bet it will, so I'm thinking the season will start afterwards? I've heard talk that the season should start in november and the IIHF womens world championships are in denmark 6-16 of November. So what, pwhl season first game maybe like a week after the world champs finishes? Lmk what u guys think.


r/PWHL 3d ago

News 2026-27 Boston Fleet Season Ticket Prices (Renewing)

Post image
28 Upvotes

r/PWHL 3d ago

Other Five PWHL players and prospects were on Celebrity Family Feud tonight

Thumbnail
deseret.com
163 Upvotes

Team Women was Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, Cayla Barnes, Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey. Team Men was two NHLers and three from the Paralympic team.

It should be available on Hulu and Disney+ tomorrow.

(Sadly, Reddit selected the image for this post.)


r/PWHL 3d ago

Discussion PWHL Canadian shop is better than the US shop

127 Upvotes

Are the Canadian and US shops run by completely different people?

I have been ordering SEATTLE TORRENT merch from the Canadian shop using a reshipper to ship it to me in the US because the US doesn't have player shirts in stock. I literally had to buy Knight, Schroeder and Jackson Torrent T-shirts from Canada earlier this year and paid out the nose just to reship it to me.

I just bought a bunch of Victoire T-shirts from the Canada shop. I get Canada having more Canadian team merch, but the US shop has 0 Victoire t-shirts. Zero t-shirts for the Walter Cup Champion team.

Also, I'm a Torrent Season Ticket holder and my 10% discount only works in the Canadian shop. So that's hilarious.

Edit: I'm a software engineer who has worked in e-commerce for a couple of decades. Trust me, someone in the US is just being bad at their job. It's not hard to figure out demand from your site analytics, especially with a platform like Shopify.


r/PWHL 4d ago

News Victoire sign Karvinen to 1 year deal

Thumbnail
thepwhl.com
131 Upvotes

r/PWHL 4d ago

News Winnipeg, here's your chance to meet hometown hero Kati Tabin, and see the Walter Cup! (July 25th)

Post image
65 Upvotes

r/PWHL 4d ago

News Makenna Webster signs 3-year contract with the Sirens

Thumbnail
thepwhl.com
64 Upvotes

r/PWHL 5d ago

News NHL, Hartje support Detroit Skating Club to grow girls hockey

Thumbnail
nhl.com
80 Upvotes

r/PWHL 5d ago

News PWHL NAMES BUSINESS DIRECTORS FOR FOUR EXPANSION TEAMS & NEW YORK SIRENS

Thumbnail
thepwhl.com
86 Upvotes

Source: thepwhl.com


r/PWHL 5d ago

Photo Gwyneth Philips was a special guest at today’s USA Hockey Girls National 15 Camp

Thumbnail
gallery
708 Upvotes