PWHL surpasses the 2 million milestone in another record-setting week for attendance
Boston’s Aerin Frankel named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja
NEW YORK AND TORONTO (March 30, 2026) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has welcomed more than 2 million fans to games since launching on Jan. 1, 2024, with the milestone achieved as part of the largest weekly attendance in league history. A total of 80,703 fans attended last week’s eight games, including a weekend record of 51,080 across four contests. The PWHL schedule has also exceeded 90 regular-season games for the first time in its three-year history, with the Boston Fleet locking up the first of four playoff positions. Only 27 games remain in the race to the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, with this week’s action highlighted by league debuts in Calgary and at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
RECORD-SETTING ATTENDANCE
The PWHL surpassed 2 million fans in the 275th game in league history, including playoffs, with Chicago’s crowd of 10,006 at Allstate Arena tipping the scales on Wednesday. The PWHL reached its first million fans back on Mar. 16, 2025, in game 155, with the second million accelerated across just 120 games. This week’s total attendance of 80,703 in eight games played through Sunday exceeds the previous record of 79,356 in seven games during the week ending Mar. 15. The new largest weekend attendance record of 51,080 across four games on Saturday and Sunday exceeds the previous record of 47,858 in three games Jan. 17-18. The total was highlighted by a Saturday afternoon crowd of 15,939 fans at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena (eighth highest this season) and a Sunday evening crowd of 16,586 at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (fifth highest of the season). Attendance through 93 games of the 2025-26 season is 840,706, an average of 9,040 fans per game.
WINDY CITY AND MOTOWN MOMENTS
The PWHL returned to Chicago and Detroit last week for the 13th and 14th stops of the 16-game PWHL Takeover Tour™, with both markets among the five with multiple games this season. Seattle picked up its first regulation win away from Climate Pledge Arena with a 4-1 victory over New York on Wednesday in Chicago. Torrent rookie and Aurora, IL, native Lyndie Lobdell represented her hometown with a Chicago Blackhawks jersey for walk-ins, while her teammates also tapped into the local sports scene with threads from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, NWSL’s Chicago Stars, and WNBA’s Chicago Sky — and even got a shout out from superstar Angel Reese.
In Detroit, Montréal tied a PWHL record with an 11-game point streak in a 3-1 win over New York on Saturday. Following open practices and autograph sessions on Friday, members of the Sirens participated in an adult community clinic with the Michigan Senior Women’s Hockey League. Prior to the game, players from both teams swapped jerseys with the Detroit Red Wings. The Sirens showcased their creativity for walk-ins with Sarah Fillier and Allyson Simpson sporting custom t-shirts featuring teammate and Detroit native Elle Hartje. Locals Kaley Doyle (Livonia) and Callie Shanahan (Commerce Township) repped the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and USL’s Detroit City FC. The Victoire also got pumped up with a locker room visit by the families of Michigan-born players Shiann Darkangelo (Brighton) and Abby Roque (Sault Ste. Marie).
The league’s first-ever national linear television broadcast in the United States (ION), in collaboration with Ally Financial, the game’s presenting partner, and Scripps Sports, combined with live Canadian coverage (CBC/Radio-Canada), brought an unprecedented level of reach for women’s sports. The four games played at Little Caesars Arena in three seasons are the most among all neutral sites visited by the PWHL and totaled 53,586 fans. Click here to see all PWHL results.
ALBERTA BOUND
The DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour™ heads to Alberta for the final two games, beginning Wednesday in the league’s first-ever visit to Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome. The game features one of three head-to-head matchups remaining between Ottawa and Toronto in their battle for playoff positioning. Charge captain Brianne Jenner and Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull have championship history in the Stampede City, winning Clarkson Cup titles with the Calgary Inferno (CWHL) in 2016 and 2019, while Charge top scorer Rebecca Leslie was part of the 2019 championship team. More local roots across both rosters include Sceptres defender Jessica Kondas (Calgary), Charge rookie Sarah Wozniewicz (Cochrane), defender Stephanie Markowski (Edmonton), and Head Coach Carla MacLeod (Spruce Grove). Both teams take the ice for open practices at WinSport Arena on Tuesday, followed by autograph sessions for the first 50 fans in attendance. See the full Takeover Tour™ schedule and all public events here.
THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS ARENA
The Sirens will take center stage at Madison Square Garden when they host the Torrent on Saturday night, the league’s first appearance at The World’s Most Famous Arena. With an arena capacity of more than 18,000, the sold-out game, presented by e.l.f. Cosmetics, could set a new U.S. attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game. The PWHL has broken this mark seven times since its inception in 2024, most recently in Seattle on Feb. 27, where a sold-out crowd of 17,335 packed Climate Pledge Arena for a contest between the Torrent and the Sceptres.
CHARGE TO RETURN TO CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE
Following Wednesday’s game in Calgary, the Charge will return home to Canada’s capital city for a Friday night matchup at Canadian Tire Centre in a battle with the Victoire. The teams went head-to-head last season inside the home of the NHL’s Senators on Dec. 6, 2024, with Montréal emerging victorious by a 2-1 score. The crowd of 11,065 fans stands as the largest for a Charge home game in Ottawa team history.
FROST AND SIRENS MAKE DEADLINE DEAL
Minnesota acquired veteran defender Jincy Roese from New York in exchange for two-time Walter Cup champion forward Denisa Křížová in a trade between the teams this afternoon. The deadline for PWHL teams to complete trades was 5 p.m. ET, and only trades involving players currently on PWHL rosters or on teams’ protected lists were permissible prior to the deadline. This was the third trade since the commencement of the 2025-26 season. The next game for both teams is against each other on Wednesday. Click here for more.
ROSTER FREEZE TUESDAY
Players not currently on active or reserve rosters may be signed prior to tomorrow’s roster freeze at 5 pm. ET if they have previously been declared eligible for the PWHL. Since last week, six players have been added to PWHL rosters: Italian Olympian Nadia Mattivi joined Montréal by signing a Standard Player Agreement, and reserve contracts were signed by Sam Isbell to Montréal, Sam Cogan to Minnesota, Alexie Guay to Ottawa, Anneke Rankila to Toronto, and Finnish Olympian Sini Karjalainen to Vancouver.
FRANKEL ON FIRE
Boston’s Aerin Frankel continues to re-write the record book, becoming the first goaltender in PWHL history to post three straight shutout victories and has been named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja. Last week, the Olympic gold medalist turned aside all 53 shots faced in a pair of shutout victories, including 35 saves on Tuesday at the Tsongas Center in a 2-0 win over Vancouver, the most saves in any of the league’s 22 shutouts this season. She made history with her 18-save effort on Friday in a 4-0 victory over Toronto to extend her record shutout streak to 191:01. The seven shutouts this season by the 26-year-old from Chappaqua, NY, are more than any other PWHL goaltender has recorded in their career and brings her up to nine all-time. Her 16 wins in 21 games has tied the PWHL single-season record (Kristen Campbell, 2024) and her 1.17 goals-against average and .954 save percentage are both top marks among PWHL netminders. Click here to see all-time PWHL goaltending leaders.
X MARKS THE SPOT
The Fleet became the fastest team to clinch a playoff berth in PWHL history, doing so Sunday with six games remaining in their season. During the 2024-25 season, Montréal secured the first playoff berth with four games remaining, and during the inaugural season, Toronto was the first to clinch with three games remaining. The Victoire can become the second team to clinch a playoff position with a regulation win against Vancouver on Wednesday. They can also clinch with an overtime or shootout win if New York does not beat Minnesota in regulation in their game that night. The Frost could potentially secure a playoff position as early as Saturday, pending results. Click here for the playoff tiebreaker procedure.
PWHL STANDINGS
Boston (13-5-2-4) has won four straight games to bring their point total to 51, becoming just the second team in PWHL history to exceed 50 points and second team to post 13 regulation wins in a season. Montréal (12-4-2-5) is in second place with 46 points while riding their 11-game point streak, followed by Minnesota (11-3-3-6) in third place with 42 points after suffering losses to both the Victoire and Fleet last week. Ottawa (6-7-1-9) picked up their first shutout of the season and first regulation win on the road Sunday to climb into fourth place with 33 points, ahead of fifth-place Toronto (8-1-5-10) following a pair of losses to keep the Sceptres at 31 points. New York (8-0-3-12) has lost four straight games, and their 27 points are tied with Vancouver (7-1-4-11), after the Goldeneyes win on Sunday. Seattle (6-1-2-14) gained three points last week but remain in eighth place with 22 points. Boston and Toronto have six games remaining, while all other teams have seven. Click here to see the full PWHL standings.
COYNE SCHOFIELD AND KNIGHT RETURN TO ACTION
A pair of PWHL captains were activated from long-term injured reserve ahead of Sunday’s games for their first action since winning gold with the U.S. at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Kendall Coyne Schofield, previously sidelined with an upper-body injury, contributed two assists for the Frost, and Hilary Knight returned from her lower-body injury with four shots on goal and 21:40 in time on ice for the Torrent. The pair are two of the league’s top-10 all-time scorers and have a combined nine Olympic medals (four golds).
PANNEK HITS 50-POINT PLATEAU
Frost alternate captain Kelly Pannek became the 11th player in PWHL history to join the league’s half-century club for career points with an assist on Sunday. She’s at exactly 50 points (19G, 31A) in 77 games and is one of seven players who have at least one goal and one assist against seven different teams. Her 23 points (12G, 11A) in 23 games this season is tied for the league lead with teammate Taylor Heise (8G, 15A) and one ahead of teammate Britta Curl-Salemme (9G, 13A) in the scoring race. The dynamic Charge duo of Leslie (12G, 7A) and Jenner (9G, 10A) are tied for fourth. Fleet captain Megan Keller (6G,11A) leads all defenders with 17 points. Click here for PWHL leaders.
WINN BREAKS ROOKIE RECORD
Boston’s Haley Winn has set a new benchmark for points by a rookie defender, now up to 16 (4G, 12A) in 24 games on the heels of a career-high four-game point streak. The second overall pick eclipsed the previous highwater mark of 13 points by Seattle’s Cayla Barnes (2G, 11A) in 30 games last season with Montréal, and matched by Minnesota’s Kendall Cooper (1G, 12A) in 23 games this season. Winn is tied for the overall lead in rookie scoring with Casey O’Brien, New York’s third overall pick, who has 16 points (6G, 10A) in 21 games. Click here for PWHL rookie leaders.
THIELE WINS PWHL DEBUT
Fleet rookie goaltender Amanda Thiele turned aside 21 of 23 shots to stifle the league’s highest scoring offense in a 4-2 victory over the Frost on Sunday. With the win, Boston became the first team this season to earn wins from three different goaltenders, and just the fourth team to do so all-time (also Boston and Toronto in 2024-25, New York in 2024). She became the fifth netminder to make their PWHL debut this season and third rookie in PWHL history to win their first game, following Seattle’s Hannah Murphy on Dec. 3, 2025, and Boston’s Emma Söderberg back on Jan. 17, 2024. The 24-year-old from Milford, MI, was a sixth-round pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft after a standout NCAA career where she captured two National Championships at Ohio State. Click here to see this season’s goaltending leaders.
FIRST CAREER GOALS FOR KLUGE AND HEMP
Boston’s Laura Kluge scored the winning goal on Tuesday in Vancouver, her first career PWHL tally, in her 34th game in two seasons. The German Olympian set a tournament record for her country in Milan with seven points in five games. Peyton Hemp scored her first career PWHL goal on Sunday in Seattle, doing so on her 28th shot in her 23rd game. The Charge fourth-round pick is a University of Minnesota product who is now up to seven points on the season. There have been 122 different goal scorers across the PWHL this season, including 26 rookies.
BRYNÄS WINS SDHL TITLE
Brynäs IF are the 2025-26 SDHL champions, capturing their first league title on Friday with a 6-2 victory to sweep the best-of-five series over Frölunda HC. Former New York forward Noora Tulus tied for the playoff lead with 13 points and former Boston goaltender Klára Peslarová won all nine of her playoff starts. Five current PWHL players have won a combined 16 SDHL championships, led by Ottawa’s Ronja Savolainen, who captured six titles with Luleå HF, followed by Vancouver’s Michelle Karvinen (three with Luleå HF, one with Frölunda HC), Toronto’s Anna Kjellbin (three with Luleå HF), Boston’s Daniela Pejšová (two with Luleå HF), and Ottawa’s Michela Cava (one with Luleå HF).
FAST AND NURSE APPEAR AT JUNO AWARDS
Sceptres alternate captain Renata Fast and Goldeneyes alternate captain Sarah Nurse went from the ice to the stage on Sunday as special guests at the 55th Annual JUNO Awards at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum, celebrating Canada’s top musical talent. The hometown Olympians thanked the country for cheering them on in Milan before presenting an award. Click here for more.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
PWHL action resumes Wednesday with three of the six games on this week’s schedule. At 7 p.m. ET, Montréal welcomes Vancouver to Place Bell for the first time where the first 6,000 fans will receive a Barbie™ x Victoire Belt Bag, while quantities last, and New York hosts Minnesota at Prudential Center where the first 2,000 fans will receive a Barbie™ x Sirens Belt Bag, while quantities last. Then, at 9:30 p.m. ET, it’s the DoorDash PWHL Takeover Tour™ between Toronto and Ottawa at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome. The Charge return home on Friday when they take on the Victoire at Canadian Tire Centre at 7 p.m. ET and where the first 6,000 fans through the doors will receive an Emily Clark Bobblehead, while quantities last. The week wraps up with a pair of Saturday games, beginning with the Frost and Goldeneyes at 2 p.m. ET at Grand Casino Arena. In the final game of the week, all eyes will be on Madison Square Garden where New York will host Seattle at 8 p.m. ET. Full broadcast details are below and available online here.
Wednesday, April 1 – 7 PM ET
Vancouver Goldeneyes at Montréal Victoire (Place Bell)
- Canada: TSN and RDS
- U.S. (Out of Market): Arizona's Family Sports, Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network, KCRG-TV 9/Ottumwa–Kirksville CW (Iowa), Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, Peachtree Sports Network, Rock Entertainment Sports Network, Scripps Sports, Tennessee Valley Sports Network
Wednesday, April 1 – 7 PM ET
Minnesota Frost at New York Sirens (Prudential Center)
- Canada: TSN+
- U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North, FOX 9+, MSG
- U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports
Wednesday, April 1 – 9:30 PM ET – PWHL Takeover Tour
Toronto Sceptres vs. Ottawa Charge (Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB)
- Canada: TSN
- U.S. (Out of Market): Scripps Sports
Friday, April 3 – 7 PM ET
Montréal Victoire at Ottawa Charge (Canadian Tire Centre)
- Canada: TSN and RDS
- U.S. (Out of Market): SNP+ (Pittsburgh)
Saturday, April 4 – 2 PM ET
Vancouver Goldeneyes at Minnesota Frost (Grand Casino Arena)
- Canada: CBC and CBC Gem
- U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North, FOX 9+
- U.S. (Out of Market): FOX 10 Xtra Phoenix, FOX 11+ Los Angeles
Saturday, April 4 – 8 PM ET
Seattle Torrent at New York Sirens (Madison Square Garden)
- Canada: TSN
- U.S. (In-Market): MSG2, My9, FOX 13+
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.