New women’s pro hockey league coming to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa

By The Canadian Press on August 29, 2023.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will open its inaugural season in January with teams in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York City area.

The league’s name, team locations and player intake process were announced Tuesday by the PWHL.

Free agency starts Friday with the majority of the league’s founding players to be selected in a 15-round draft Sept. 18.

Los Angeles Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter is the league’s financial backer.

Walter buying out the seven-team rival Premier Hockey Federation and his group negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA) this summer cleared the deck for a new women’s pro league.

The PWHL’s board of directors includes tennis icon Billie Jean King, sports executive Ilana Kloss, Dodgers president Stan Kasten and Dodgers senior vice-president of business strategy Royce Cohen. Hockey Hall of Famer Jayna Hefford is the league’s senior vice-president of hockey operations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2023.

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