PWHL News Updates (January 8th – 14th 2024)

1. Highlights from the league’s opening week

TORONTO, ON (January 8, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) officially dropped the puck on its inaugural season and enjoyed an exciting week of highlights, including record attendance, historic broadcast and streaming numbers, substantial digital engagement, and a multitude of on-ice achievements.

ATTENDANCE

• The PWHL made history with a crowd of 13,316 on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center for PWHL Minnesota’s home opener against Montréal, representing the most ever to attend a professional women’s hockey game worldwide.
• Saturday’s attendance made it two records in five days for the PWHL, surpassing the sold-out crowd of 8,318 on Tuesday night at The Arena at TD Place for PWHL Ottawa’s home opener against Montréal that initially set a new professional mark.
• The PWHL’s attendance total through five games is 30,335.

BROADCAST AND STREAMING

• The first game in PWHL history reached 2.9 million Canadian viewers on New Year’s Day, with live coverage delivered by the league’s three Canadian national broadcast partners CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN.
• The debut game generated a combined average audience of 879K (2+) and was the number one sports or entertainment program of the day across all networks.
• Streaming of the first five games on the league’s YouTube channel has generated over 634.6K views and over 5.3 million impressions.

DIGITAL PLATFORMS

• Owned content posted on PWHL social media platforms including Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube between December 31 and January 6 generated over 36.7 million impressions. 
• There were over 141K social media posts about the PWHL made by users outside of league accounts on X, Facebook, and YouTube that generated over 259.3 million impressions, 6.7 million engagements, and 15.4 million video views.
• During opening week, PWHL and team social media accounts gained a significant following, with a 117% increase in followers across Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube.
• The league’s website thepwhl.com received visits from 912K new users and generated over 3 million page views.

ON THE ICE

• Minnesota leads the PWHL with two wins and six points and remains the league’s only unbeaten team – and the only team to win a game on home ice.
• 22 goals were scored by 18 different PWHL skaters, led by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle with four goals in two games, including the league’s first hat trick on Saturday.
• Historic first team goals were scored by Ella Shelton (New York), Hayley Scamurra (Ottawa), Claire Dalton (Montréal), Taylor Heise (Minnesota), Theresa Schafzahl (Boston), and Natalie Spooner (Toronto). All first goal pucks will be donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• First team shutouts recorded by Corinne Schroeder (New York) and Maddie Rooney (Minnesota).
• First overtime goal in PWHL history scored by Ann-Sophie Bettez (Montréal).
• First shorthanded goal in PWHL history scored by Emma Maltais (Toronto) was also the first instance of the league’s innovative penalty kill rule where a shorthanded goal ends the penalized team’s minor penalty.

2. Grace Zumwinkle, Alex Carpenter, Corinne Schroeder receive 3 Stars of the Week Honors

Full Release HERE

3. Woody Creek to become Premier Partner and Official Spirits of the PWHL

Full Release HERE

4. The PWHL announces UPS as the Official Logistics and Shipping Partner

“We are proud to announce UPS as the Official Logistics and Shipping Partner of the PWHL!

As part of the partnership, UPS will help build a community program focused on youth as a part of their journey to support women and girls in sport.”

5. Marie-Philip Poulin, Ella Shelton, Taylor Heise receive 3 Stars of the Week honors for the week of January 8-14

Full Release HERE

6. PWHL & NHL ANNOUNCE ROSTERS FOR THE CANADIAN TIRE PWHL 3-ON-3 SHOWCASE™

Full Release HERE

7. Ten takeaways from the league’s first 10 games

Full Release HERE