PWHL becomes latest women's league expansion with Vancouver team

In yet another sign of the continued growth of women's sports, the Professional Women's Hockey League introduced their newest franchise Wednesday, which will play in Vancouver, British Columbia

And today, we are so excited because right here in Vancouver, we got a team

That's nine-year-old hockey player Sydney Milden getting the announcement started in style with her youth team

The PWHL, which is wrapping up its second season, has teams in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Minnesota, and Boston

The league's seventh team doesn't have a name yet, but VP of Hockey Operations, Jaina Hefford

who won a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, says it's about growing the game

With this team comes more opportunity for the best women's hockey players in the world to continue competing in one league

The talent pool has never been deeper. And with a strong 2025 draft class ahead

we're pleased that even more women are going to be able to play at the professional level

Reports have expansion candidate Seattle joining Vancouver starting this fall, the league's third season

Both cities were attendance leaders during the PWHL's takeover tour of venues across the country

proof that fans have an appetite for more women events This is an exciting moment It marks the start of something bigger than just hockey It about creating a new chapter in professional women sports not just hockey specific

It's inspiring the next generation to continue playing, to drive for something

The PWHL is following a growing trend. The WNBA's Golden State Valkyries will begin their first season in May

and the league will expand with two more teams, Toronto and Portland, in 2026

Why? The numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, the WNBA delivered its most watched regular season in 24 years with more than 54 million unique viewers and had its highest total attendance in 22 years, over 2.3 million fans, up 48% from 2023

The NWSL also has very ambitious plans for expansion, according to Commissioner Jessica Berman

There are currently 16 teams with Boston and Denver starting play in 2026, and the plan is to become a 30-team league in the future

Credit stars like Megan Rapinoe, Caitlin Clark, and those Olympic hockey gold medalists for raising the bar to a level that attracts more television money and exposure to the sports they play

That is attractive to investors, which in turn provides more opportunities to the next generation of young girls who want to be professional athletes

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis