LEAGUE ATTENDANCE UP 17 PERCENT HEADING INTO OLYMPIC BREAK
New York’s Kristýna Kaltounková Named PWHL Player of the Week Presented by SharkNinja
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (January 29, 2026) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season is officially at the midway mark on the heels of record-setting attendance across the first half of the 2025-26 campaign — and a record four-game schedule on Wednesday that saw all eight teams in action on the same night for the first time in league history. The Ultimate Send-Off featured 20 goals, a shutout, a comeback, a shootout, and more milestones as fans celebrated the PWHL’s Olympians before they depart for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
THE ULTIMATE AWAY GAME
The PWHL will pause game action from Jan. 29 through Feb. 26 for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, with 61 players from all eight PWHL teams set to compete, representing 30% of the league across eight different countries. The Winter Olympics women’s ice hockey tournament is set to take place from Feb 5. until Feb. 19. For the latest news throughout the tournament, visit the PWHL's Milano Cortina 2026 Hub here.
PWHL ATTENDANCE UP 17 PERCENT WITH RECORD-SETTING JANUARY, FIRST HALF
Attendance through 61 games of the 2025-26 PWHL season reached 527,663, with a per-game average of 8,650. This represents a more than 17% season-over-season increase, with 450,809 fans attending the first 61 games of the 2024-25 season for a per-game average of 7,390. January’s 28 games had a total attendance of 254,442 for a per-game average of 9,087, setting new benchmarks for PWHL attendance in a single month. It also capped a first half that saw the league set a new weekend attendance record (47,858 from Jan. 17-18), a new single day record (36,868 on Dec. 27), a new U.S. record for an in-arena women’s hockey game (17,228 on Jan. 18 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.) , and a new single game attendance record at a primary venue during Seattle’s inaugural home opener at Climate Pledge Arena (16,014 on Nov. 28).
KALTOUNKOVÁ TAKES OVER PWHL LEAD IN GOALS
New York rookie forward Kristýna Kaltounková leads the league with 11 goals after scoring twice on four shots in the Sirens’ 4-3 shootout loss to Boston on Wednesday, earning PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja honors. She leads the league with three multi-goal games, enters the break on a career-high four-game point streak (4G, 1A), and is first in scoring among rookies with 12 points (11G, 1A) in 16 games. Kaltounková is just the third rookie in PWHL history to reach double digits in goals, following teammate Sarah Fillier (13) in 2024-25, and Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle (11) in 2024. The 23-year-old from Vlasim, Czechia, was selected first overall in the 2025 PWHL Draft and will represent her country in her first Olympic Winter Games next week (read more on Kaltounková here on the PWHL’s Milano Cortina 2026 hub). See this season’s top offensive rookies here.
BOSTON ENTERS BREAK ON TOP
The Fleet (8-2-2-2) stand alone atop the PWHL standings with 30 points in 14 games, riding a five-game point streak and wins in all six of their primary home venue games so far this season. The Frost (7-2-3-3) are in second place with 28 points with a six-game point streak at the midway mark of their season, followed by the Victoire (7-3-0-5) in third with 27 points through 15 games and six straight wins at Place Bell to open their season. Montréal is seven points behind their first-place total at this stage of the 2024-25 season, while Minnesota is three points ahead of where they stood at the end of last season’s first half. The Sirens (7-0-3-6) hold onto fourth place with 24 points in 16 games, salvaging two points in a stretch of three straight losses, followed by the Charge (4-5-0-7) in fifth with 22 points in 16 games following a fourth straight win at TD Place. The Goldeneyes (5-1-2-8) are in sixth place with 19 points in 16 games, the Sceptres (4-1-3-8) hold seventh with 17 points in 16 games and three straight regulation losses, and the Torrent (4-1-2-7) have dropped two straight and remain in eighth place with 16 points through 14 games. See full PWHL standings here.
KNIGHT, JENNER, HEISE JOIN HALF-CENTURY CLUB
A trio of PWHL superstars and Olympians made history on Wednesday, becoming the fifth, sixth, and seventh players to record 50 career points. Torrent captain and soon-to-be five-time U.S. Olympian Hilary Knight was the first of last night’s trio to accomplish the feat, scoring a second period power play goal in Ottawa to bring her point total to 50 (24G, 26A) in 68 games. In the same game, Charge captain and soon-to-be four-time Canadian Olympian Brianne Jenner picked up an assist for point number 50 (24G, 26A) and holds an identical stat line as her U.S. counterpart through equal games. Frost forward and first-time U.S. Olympian Taylor Heise produced two assists on home ice to surpass 50 career points (15G, 36A) in her 63rd career game. Earlier this season, the milestone was first met by Victoire captain and soon-to-be five-time Canadian Olympian Marie-Philip Poulin, Frost captain and soon-to-be four-time U.S. Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield, Sceptres forward and first-time Canadian Olympian Daryl Watts, and Torrent alternate captain and soon-to-be three-time U.S. Olympian Alex Carpenter. See PWHL all-time leaders here.
POULIN REPRESENTS VICTOIRE WEARING THE ‘GREAT CANADIAN JERSEY’
Rogers recently unveiled The Great Canadian Jersey, bringing together pieces of hockey jerseys sourced from every province and territory in Canada to represent all facets of the sport and the country’s deep history with the game. Poulin arrived to Wednesday’s game wearing the handcrafted design, which includes a patch from one of her Victoire jerseys donated for the project. Sarah Nurse’s Ancaster Avalanche jersey is also featured on the piece, designed and stitched together by former OHL player Cameron Lizotte. The jersey includes patches from the seven Canadian NHL teams, various minor league hockey teams, women’s and girl’s hockey teams, and beer league and old timer’s hockey teams. Click here for more.
FOUR FROST FROZEN IN SCORING LEAD
The top of the PWHL scoring race is painted purple with four members of Minnesota all averaging a point-per-game or higher at the break. Captain Coyne Schofield (10G, 6A), Britta Curl-Salemme (7G, 9A), and Heise (3G, 13A) all have 16 points in 15 games, and alternate captain Kelly Pannek is right behind with 15 points (8G, 7A) in 15 games to round out the quartet of U.S. Olympians. Heise has 10 points (2G, 8A) as part of an active six-game point streak that is tied with Poulin (Dec. 20 to Jan. 11) for the longest of the season. Pannek has goals in four straight games after scoring at 19:59 of the first period in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Vancouver, and is tied with Watts (Dec. 23 to Jan. 3) for the longest goal streak of the season. Jenner has 15 points (8G, 7A) in 16 games to stay inside the league’s top five scorers, while Nurse, a fellow Canadian Olympian and Goldeneyes alternate captain, has six points (4G, 2A) in a five-game point streak to lead the league with a 1.20 points-per-game average. Fleet captain and U.S. Olympian Megan Keller leads all defenders with 11 points (5G, 6A) in 14 games. See this season’s PWHL leaders here.
DESBIENS’ THIRD SHUTOUT IS PWHL’S 12TH OF THE SEASON
Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens became the second goaltender to record three shutouts this season with a 22-save performance in a 3-0 victory over Toronto Wednesday. She heads to Italy tied with fellow Canadian Olympian Kayle Osborne and U.S. Olympian Aerin Frankel of Boston for the league lead in shutouts, while sharing the league lead with Frankel for wins with nine. Desbiens and Frankel are also tops in the league with goals-against-averages of 1.15 and 1.35, and save percentages of .954 and .946, respectively. There have been 12 shutouts this season recorded by six different goaltenders, representing shutouts in nearly 20% of all games, and tying the total number of shutouts produced across the 2024-25 season’s 90 games (13%). Seattle’s Corinne Schroeder holds the single season record of four shutouts, achieved last season with New York. See PWHL goaltending leaders here.
CHARGE CUE ANOTHER COMEBACK
Ottawa became just the second team this season to score four goals in a third period on Wednesday, and the first to do so in a comeback victory, surging past Seattle, 4-2. Rebecca Leslie led the Charge with two goals, including the game-tying tally and the winner to climb into a tie for sixth in league scoring with 14 points (8G, 6A). The winning goal at 19:30 was followed 13 seconds later with an insurance marker by Canadian Olympian Emily Clark at 19:43. The sequence comes just days after Vancouver set a league record with two goals in 11 seconds on Jan. 22 and Minnesota followed with two goals in 12 seconds on Jan. 25. There have been 27 goals scored in the final minute of a regulation period this season, including 15 in the final frame, with nine of them empty netters. The Charge have won four games this season when trailing after two periods, with the rest of the league combining for five such wins. Follow all PWHL results here.
FLEET WIN RECORD-TYING SHOOTOUT
Boston has shootout wins in back-to-back decisions, with Wednesday’s tying a league record by going eight rounds. Fleet alternate captain and Swiss Olympian Alina Müller was the difference maker, scoring twice in the seventh and eighth rounds. The Fleet were previously on the losing side of an eight-round shootout on Dec. 27 in Ottawa and have been involved in four of the league’s six shootouts this season. Frankel has already faced 25 shootout attempts this season, stopping 17, and shattering the previous single season record of 15 shootout attempts faced by Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney in 2024-25, and her own record of 12 shootout saves on 13 attempts last season. Boston’s Hannah Brandt leads the league with eight shootout attempts, and her three shootout goals are tied with Jenner for the PWHL lead. Poulin holds single season records with five goals and 10 attempts in 2024-25.
COOPER SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL
Minnesota’s Kendall Cooper opened the scoring in the Frost’s 4-1 win over the Goldeneyes with her first career PWHL goal in her 15th game. The milestone adds to a decorated rookie season for the 23-year-old from Oakville, ON, who was a first-round pick from Quinnipiac University. She previously set a PWHL record with a six-game assist streak from Dec. 19 to Jan. 4 and currently leads all rookie defenders with nine points. There have been 99 different goal scorers this PWHL season, including six rookie defenders.
WILL ANYBODY SCORE A PENALTY SHOT GOAL?
One of the few still outstanding PWHL firsts is a penalty shot goal, with Boston’s Ella Huber the latest victim of the perfect run by goaltenders since the league’s launch. There have been three penalty shots so far this season with Osborne getting the best of Huber last night, Toronto’s Elaine Chuli stopping Kaltounková on Jan. 6, and fellow Sceptre Raygan Kirk denying Pannek on Nov. 21. There were four unsuccessful shootout attempts across the first two seasons. Of the league’s original six teams, Ottawa and Toronto have never taken a penalty shot, and neither Boston nor Minnesota have faced a penalty shot.
TAKEOVER TOUR DRIVES GRASSROOTS GROWTH
The PWHL Takeover Tour™ was introduced to spark new fan engagement and expand the PWHL’s reach beyond its home markets, and youth hockey development is one of the primary opportunities to deliver this goal. Through the first 10 of 16 stops on the 2025-26 Tour, the league has hosted 14 grassroots clinics in Takeover Tour markets attended by over 560 participants, in addition to a youth hockey jamboree in Dallas and a coaches panel in Halifax. Teams have also held 12 open practices and 30 autograph sessions to further connect with new fans. During the league’s second half, the Takeover Tour returns to Chicago, Denver, Detroit, and Edmonton, and makes first-time visits to Calgary and Winnipeg to continue the momentum. Click here for more about the PWHL Takeover Tour™ including local event schedules.
TRADE FREEZE
The PWHL has implemented a trade freeze in recognition of the Olympic period. Effective Jan. 29 through Feb. 23, inclusive, all player trades are prohibited in order to provide stability for players, teams, and national programs during the Olympic window. All other roster-related rules and operational requirements remain in effect. Players not competing at the Olympic Winter Games will return to team training by Feb. 8.
PWHL AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS
While PWHL games are on pause, the news will keep coming. Stay tuned for Milano Cortina 2026 highlights from the PWHL in new, Olympic-themed daily notebook content, with the first edition coming out before the first game.