PWHL Sets Single Month Attendance Record
Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin Named PWHL Player of the Week Presented by SharkNinja
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (January 5, 2026) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) wrapped up 2025 with a record setting month for attendance and burst into 2026 with the third highest single day attendance in league history as part of a seven-game week. The PWHL Takeover Tour™ has completed six games, with two more on Sunday as part of this week’s six-game schedule.
DECEMBER SETS PWHL MONTHLY ATTENDANCE RECORD
The PWHL welcomed 194,881 fans to 24 games in December, representing the highest single month attendance in league history and the largest per-game average (8,120) of any month to date. Saturday’s three games in Ottawa, Hamilton and Detroit combined for an attendance of 33,871 which is the third highest single day total in league history. The crowd of 8,235 in Ottawa was a second straight sell-out for the Charge, and the 16,012 at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum ranks tenth all-time in single game attendance. The week closed with Montréal’s first sell-out of the season with 10,172 fans at Place Bell on Sunday. Through 38 games of the 2025-26 PWHL season, total attendance is 320,777 for a per game average of 8,442.
PWHL TAKEOVER TOUR TO RETURN TO HALIFAX AND QUÉBEC CITY
For the second straight week, two Takeover Tour games will be played on the same day as the PWHL returns to Halifax for the second of two games this season and to Québec City for the second year in a row. The DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax features the Ottawa Charge and Boston Fleet at 12 p.m. ET, while the Montréal Victoire host the Vancouver Goldeneyes at Québec City’s Videotron Centre at 2 p.m. ET. The season’s first game in Halifax between Montréal and the Toronto Sceptres was played before a sold-out crowd of 10,438 on Dec. 17. The league’s first visit to Québec City during the 2024-25 Takeover Tour between Montréal and the Ottawa Charge on Jan. 19, 2025, was also played before a sold-out crowd of 18,259, which ranks fifth in all-time single game attendance. Sunday will be a Halifax homecoming for Fleet forward Jill Saulnier, and the Victoire’s Ann-Renée Desbiens, Catherine Dubois and Marie-Philip Poulin will also play in or near their hometowns. See the full Takeover Tour schedule and all public events here.
SEATTLE AND VANCOUVER WIN FIRST ROAD GAMES ON TAKEOVER TOUR
Fans in Hamilton and Detroit were treated to a pair of exciting games with historic results on Saturday. The Seattle Torrent defeated Toronto, 3-2, representing the team’s first-ever road and shootout victory in the DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum. The game featured the Takeover Tour logo at center ice, a first for the PWHL, while Sceptres players embraced their first Steeltown experience sporting Hamilton Tiger Cats jerseys for walk-ins. In Detroit, the PWHL Takeover Tour presented by Ally Financial also featured Vancouver’s first-ever road win, beating Boston 4-3 in the league’s third game in three seasons at Little Caesars Arena. Several players represented the Motor City with Detroit Red Wings jerseys for walk-ins and all five players from Michigan were in the lineup for both teams. Among them was Goldeneyes rookie Anna Segedi from Commerce Township whose family read the team’s starting lineup. All six games of this season’s Takeover Tour have been decided by one goal, including two overtime and two shootout results. Follow all PWHL results here.
POULIN SCORES FIRST OVERTIME WINNER, 60TH CAREER POINT
Poulin has been named the PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja after extending her career-high point streak to five games with back-to-back multi-point performances. The Victoire captain scored twice, including the first overtime winner of her career, and added an assist in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota on Sunday, after recording a goal and an assist in Friday’s 4-3 loss to New York. The 34-year-old from Beauceville, QC, is the league’s all-time leader in game-winning goals with nine and has become the first player in PWHL history to reach 60 career points (34G, 26A), accomplishing the feat in her 60th career game.
OTTAWA AND NEW YORK TIE LONGEST WIN STREAKS, SEVEN POINT SPREAD IN STANDINGS
The top and bottom of the PWHL standings are separated by just seven points as the league approaches one third of the schedule’s completion. Ottawa (2-3-0-5) has matched a team record with four straight wins and are in a three-way tie for sixth place with Seattle (3-1-1-3) and Vancouver (3-1-1-5) with 12 points each. New York (5-0-0-5) has put together three straight wins, all in regulation, to tie a team record and climb into a third-place lock with 15 points alongside Toronto (4-0-3-3). Boston (6-0-1-2) remains in first place with 19 points and Minnesota (4-1-2-3) holds onto second place with 16 points, despite both teams losing two straight games for the first time this season. Montréal (3-2-0-4) spent one day in last place for the first time in PWHL history but climbed into fifth place with 13 points following Sunday’s win. See full PWHL standings here.
COOPER RIDES RECORD ASSIST STREAK
Frost first-round pick Kendall Cooper is the first player in PWHL history to record an assist in six consecutive games. The 23-year-old from Oakville, ON, has picked up at least one helper in every game since Dec. 19 and currently leads all defenders with seven assists in 10 games. Her six-game active point streak is tied with teammate Mae Batherson for the longest of the PWHL season. Batherson is one of six players in PWHL history to have an assist streak capped at five games, following Emily Clark, Claire Thompson and Daryl Watts in 2024-25, and Kendall Coyne Schofield and Emma Maltais during the inaugural season.
WATTS, CARPENTER, COYNE SCHOFIELD REACH 50 POINT MILESTONE
Three PWHL players reached the 50-career point milestone last week, a bar set earlier this season by Poulin. Watts met the mark with Toronto’s lone goal last Tuesday against Minnesota and has now reached 52 career points (27G, 25A) following a two-point effort on Saturday against Seattle. She has tied her career-high with points in five straight games and set a new team record with goals in four consecutive games, the longest goal scoring streak of the season and one shy of tying Sarah Fillier’s 2024-25 record of five. Seattle alternate captain Alex Carpenter became the first American player to reach 50 career points (24G, 26A) with a goal against Toronto on Saturday, her 58th career game. One day, later Coyne Schofield hit the milestone with a primary assist, then followed it up with her league-leading eighth goal of the season to bring the Frost captain’s career point total to 51 (26G, 25A) in 64 career games. Montréal’s Laura Stacey (47) and Seattle’s Hilary Knight (47) are the next closest players to the half century mark. See career PWHL leaders here.
SIX PLAYERS REACH DOUBLE DIGIT POINT TOTALS
Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme became the first PWHL player to reach 10 points this season with a goal last Tuesday against Toronto and is now in a three-way tie for first in league scoring with 11 points (4G, 7A) in 10 games. Coyne Schofield (8G, 3A) and Poulin (5G, 6A) both have 11 points in 10 and nine games, respectively. Three more players have reached 10 points this season, including Charge captain Brianne Jenner (5G, 5A) in 10 games, Victoire forward Abby Roque (4G, 6A) in nine games, and Frost alternate captain Kelly Pannek (4G, 6A) in 10 games. Boston captain Megan Keller (3G, 5A) leads all defenders with eight points in nine games, with Cooper (7A) and Ottawa’s Rory Guilday (1G, 6A) tied for the lead in scoring among rookies. See this season’s PWHL leaders here.
OSBORNE RECORDS SECOND SHUTOUT, PHILIPS GETS FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN
New York and Ottawa have committed to their starting goaltenders so far this season and both have largely contributed to the team’s recent success. Kayle Osborne has started all 10 games for the Sirens and became the second netminder this season to record multiple shutouts with a 2-0 victory over Vancouver on New Year’s Eve. Then, on Jan. 2, she stopped a league-high 42 Montréal shots for a third straight win. The Charge’s Gwyneth Philips is second in the league with nine starts and has won a career-high four straight games, including three with 34 or more saves, to bring her league leading save total to 299. Both goaltenders are tied with Boston’s Aerin Frankel with five wins. Among goaltenders with multiple starts, Frankel’s 1.36 goals-against-average is the top mark and Minnesota’s Nicole Hensley leads the league with a .954 save percentage. See this season’s PWHL goaltending leaders here.
FIRST CAREER GOALS FOR BARGMAN AND NORCROSS
A pair of Sirens forwards scored their first career goals last week, including fifth-round rookie Anna Bargman and veteran Savannah Norcross. Bargman’s goal came in her tenth career PWHL game following a four-year collegiate career at Yale University. Norcross scored in her 29th career game, having played for New York in the inaugural season before competing in the SDHL in 2024-25. There have been 88 different goal scorers this PWHL season including 18 rookies, with Sirens first overall pick Kristýna Kaltounková leading all first-year players with five goals. See this season’s PWHL rookie leaders here.
POULIN AND ROQUE FIND EARLY SEASON CHEMISTRY
Through the Victoire’s first nine games, it’s hard to deny the chemistry that has quickly formed between Poulin and new linemate Roque, who joined the team from the Sirens in a draft day trade. The duo leads the PWHL with seven goals this season where one player has scored and the other has assisted, two more than any other connection leaguewide. Both players are riding five game point streaks, and in that stretch have connected on six of the team’s 12 goals, with each player scoring three and assisting on three. Last season, Poulin and Stacey tied for the league lead with 10 assist-to-goal combinations.
PWHL LAUNCHES BLACK HISTORY CELEBRATIONS
Sunday’s game in Montréal was the first Black History Celebration of the PWHL’s Unity Game series, honoring the legacy, achievements, and ongoing contributions of Black athletes, leaders, and communities who shape the game on and off the ice. This year’s Black History Celebration logo was created in collaboration with Sophia Yeshi, a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY, whose work explores storytelling, identity, and cultural pride. Her design reflects the strength, creativity, and interconnectedness of Black communities, paying tribute to the past while looking toward the future of the game. Click here for more.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
PWHL action resumes on Tuesday night when the Sceptres welcome the Sirens to Toronto for the first time this season at 7 p.m. ET at Coca-Cola Coliseum. On Wednesday, Boston hosts their Black History Celebration when Seattle makes their first trip to town, facing off at Agganis Arena at 7 p.m. ET. Vancouver will make their second trip to Ottawa on Friday to take on the Charge at 7 p.m. ET at TD Place. The week wraps up with a trio of games on Sunday, including Minnesota’s Indigenous Peoples Celebration when Seattle makes their first trip to Grand Casino Arena at 2 p.m. ET, plus two Takeover Tour games between Ottawa and Boston in Halifax at 12 p.m. ET and Vancouver and Montréal in Québec City at 2 p.m. ET. Full broadcast details are below and available online here.
Tuesday, January 6 – 7 PM ET
New York Sirens at Toronto Sceptres (Coca-Cola Coliseum)
- Canada: Prime Video
- U.S. (In-Market): MSG
- U.S. (Out of Market): NESN+ (Boston), SNP (Pittsburgh)
Wednesday, January 7 – 7 PM ET
Seattle Torrent at Boston Fleet (Agganis Arena)
- Canada: TSN
- U.S. (In-Market): NESN, TV 38, FOX 13+
- U.S. (Out of Market): Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network, Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), North Star Sports & Entertainment Network, Peachtree Sports Network, Rock Entertainment Sports Network, Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, South Texas Sports, SNP+ (Pittsburgh), Tennessee Valley Sports Network (Huntsville only)
Friday, January 9 – 7 PM ET
Vancouver Goldeneyes at Ottawa Charge (TD Place)
- Canada: TSN
- U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports
Sunday, January 11 – 12 PM ET – PWHL Takeover Tour
Ottawa Charge vs. Boston Fleet (Scotiabank Centre – Halifax)
- Canada: TSN
- U.S. (In-Market): NESN
- U.S. (Out of Market): SNP+ (Pittsburgh)
Sunday, January 11 – 2 PM ET
Seattle Torrent at Minnesota Frost (Grand Casino Arena)
- Canada: Sportsnet ONE
- U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North, FOX 9+, FOX 13+
- U.S. (Out of Market): FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, FOX 10 Xtra Phoenix, FOX 11+ Los Angeles, Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), Matrix Midwest (St. Louis), NESN (Boston), SNP+ (Pittsburgh)
Sunday, January 11 – 2 PM ET – PWHL Takeover Tour
Vancouver Goldeneyes vs. Montréal Victoire (Videotron Centre – Québec City)
- Canada: CBC and CBC Gem, Radio-Canada
Fans around the world can continue to follow every game live via the PWHL YouTube channel and thepwhl.com, with the exception of Canada, and in Czechia and Slovakia — where Nova Sport will continue to carry games locally.