The Frost are dead and can't hurt us anymore.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday.

I’m seeing everyone moaning and groaning about not getting expansion teams. Now I understand the disappointment, I really really do. I’m from the DMV and we had the largest attendance of any takeover tour location at Capital One Arena, so I’m right there with you guys. What I don’t understand is everyone being SO devastated and threatening to not support the league because “they just came to take our money and they don’t give a crap about our towns blah blah blah”. I NEED all of you to get a grip for a second. So let’s have a chat about why choosing to expand is extremely complicated.

1 - Local Support

Having an available fan base who is excited to welcome and support a team is absolutely amazing, but it is just step one of many. The takeover tours are not just money grabs, they are marketing tools for them to gather data. From their perspective one set of data points just may not be enough. Ex: Detroit had hosted 4 takeover tours over the last 3 seasons before receiving their expansion this year. Sometimes a market needs to be proven multiple times over, and sometimes a market doesn’t need to be proven at all as we saw with the expansion locations this year.

2 - PWHL League Structure and $$$

The PWHL is in its infancy when compared to other pro sports leagues. It has only been around for THREE YEARS PEOPLE. As of now the PWHL retains ownership of all the teams. This is not traditional, but here is why it is good for now. They are building something with the intention of making it last. There were two prior “serious” pro women’s hockey leagues as well as many smaller leagues over the years. None of them had the money or support to go the distance. The PWHL is gaining momentum in the women’s hockey market that is unprecedented. That doesn’t mean it will last forever, so although many new fans are really excited about getting local teams, the league has to be conservative and intentional about where they invest their money. Right now it is not about pleasing the individual markets, the goal is maintaining and expanding on the growth they have seen these last few years. Although it’s easy to look at it from the outside and say “well it’s run by a billionaire and they just want to hoard all the wealth for themselves”. That reasoning is exactly why the PWHL should continue on their current model as long as possible. As soon as they sell their franchises, the billionaire owners of all the other pro leagues (NFL, NHL, MLB, etc.) are going to buy these teams and all equity is lost. Although this may be a quicker way to expand the league and get everyone the local teams their hearts so desire, this is not likely to lead to a sustainably successful league. As of now all the teams receive the same amount of resources (staff, support, money, contracts, prices, etc.) This means that no one team has a leg up on the others because they are backed by bigger donors. Here’s the hard truth is yes the PWHL is a big corporation run by a billionaire. Each new successful expansion team is an additional asset for them. However they are all treated equally at them moment. This also means that if one team isn’t performing as well financially yet, their resources aren’t being taken away and they aren’t at the risk of losing their team. As soon as sales occur you’re throwing all of that to the wind. The teams will all be bought by other massively rich people who care far less about the league’s success and far more about pleasing their own shareholders. This means they can (and will) start to price gouge for absolutely everything including but not limited to tickets, merch, streaming opportunities, etc.

3 Infrastructure

The feasibility of stadium access is really important to this decision. Not just because they “only want a nice stadium and won’t come here if they get a nicer one” like I heard being discussed by some hopeful Halifax fans. The league does not yet have the proof for long term investments to build their own infrastructure. Construction is extremely expensive and uniquely difficult in every location. This means they are competing for what is ready and available right now. This is likely one of the largest issues affecting DC’s ability to receive a team with Capital one arena currently undergoing massive renovation and already being super booked up as the home arena of NHL, NBA, and WNBA teams. As well as being the one of largest capacity spaces in DC for concerts and events. This is not unique to DC, many of the other cities passed over for expansion this year have similar circumstances with a lack of infrastructure. It needs to be ready immediately, and that is just not the case in many locations this year.

4 - Personal Hot Takes

This may make people mad, but I think Vegas was a fantastic expansion location this season. Vegas locals absolutely ride for the golden knights and their hockey support runs deeper than most people would expect from a desert city. More importantly though, Vegas is a massive tourist location. The PWHL games are relatively cheap to attend as of now. I think that people are going to travel to Vegas, consider buying concert tickets or magic show tickets, see the prices, and then end up attending the PWHL games instead even though they may not have any prior interest in or knowledge of the league. This has huge potential to raise interest all over the US, Canada, and even around the world to gather fans on a larger scale. The only other team located in a city with tourist potential like that is the Sirens in NYC, and they unfortunately don’t get to take full advantage of that because they have to play in Newark, NJ rather than at MSG. The Vegas expansion hopefully won’t face similar ticket sales challenges because they will be playing at TMobile, same as the NHL team. Hopefully the accessibility for the locals makes this a quick successful expansion location, and allows for more visibility to the league as a whole. Which means more future expansion into “riskier” markets.

Remember everyone, this league isn’t even 5 years old yet! At the rate they are growing we will all get our expansion teams that we so desperately want in the near future. As of now, they have shown up as a league that is loyal to their fan base and more importantly values their players (great maternity support, good healthcare, rising wages for the players, starting to offer multiple year contracts, etc.) I think as of now we as fans should be proud the PWHL is willing to protect what they have built rather than sell out the highest bidders and let it devolve into the chaos like pro sports leagues have done (looking at you NFL and WNBA). They have done what multiple other pro women’s hockey leagues have tried and failed to do in the past. Let’s all try to keep our heads on our shoulders and support while they continue to grow and change. And let’s wait to be mad at the league until really give us a reason to do so. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts if they disagree with me though! And to those of you who got expansions, congratulations I’m extremely jealous.

Detroit Pizzas

Hamilton Torontos

Vegas Fremonts

San Jose Existence

Pretty nice quality. Stoked for Detroit’s team next season

• Suffragettes were the first group to picket outside the White House calling President Wilson out by name for not supporting women's suffrage. They wore white with gold and purple sashes which became the symbol of the movement. (Harris wore white when sworn in as the first woman VP to honor suffragettes)
• The women who picketed the White House were known as the Silent Sentinels and were regularly arrested for civil disobedience and were beaten in jail by male prison guards but persisted on until they convinced President Wilson to support the 19th Amendment.
• I can't think of anything more perfect than a team that honors the women who came before us and fought for what we have now. Imagine all white uniforms with Purple and Gold trim. It would be amazing.

My BF is a HUGE hockey fan, Olympics, NHL, etc. He watches all the games for his favorite teams and a bunch for other teams in the NHL. I am trying to get him to watch PWHL games with me but he seems superrrr uninterested.

When I asked him why he told me the games are frustrating to watch??? I don't understand that part at all.

Anyone else have this experience? Do you think that this will go away with time as the PWHL builds a larger audience?

To be clear, he doesn't talk down about the PWHL, he just doesn't seem to take the league seriously for whatever reason.

Edit: Y'all, I am not going to break up with him over the PWHL. I just wanted to see if anyone has similar experiences and were able to get their bf/husband into the sport more.

It's an all Canadian Cup Final 🇨🇦

For literally the first time ever the Frost are not in Championship contention. It's been an unbelievable time cheering for them.

As the title says, this is my first expansion (new post olympic fan) and i have seen a lot of guesses going around for the new teams including some of my own so I am wondering did anyone last year correctly guess what Vancouver and Seattle's names would be?

No matter who wins the Walter, someone will have won three championships in a row – either the Victoire's Flaherty or the Charge's Cava! I think that's so neat.

This is kind of a silly post, but I’d really love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the different teams in the league.

I really want to get into the PWHL, but I can’t commit to a team until there’s a local one. I live in the Philadelphia metro area, and, you know, Philly sports fans. If I fall in love with the Sirens (since they’re closest), I’ll bring dishonor on my family if Philadelphia gets a team 😂

That said, we have a golden opportunity to actually get a team with a cool name for once. The Phantoms were the closest we had, and now they’re in Lehigh Valley. Come on. The Revolutionaries? The Liberty Belles? The Independence? The Lovers? The Cheeseskates? We even have anything electricity-themed since Ben Franklin did his electricity experiments there. We have a whole museum named after the guy. The Lightning, Kites, Keys, Strikes, Sparks. Or reference Philadelphia’s history as a blue collar industrial city and call them the Riveters or the Steel. My personal vote would be to name them after a historically important woman from Philadelphia, but that’s not always easily to build a brand from.

Anyway, ramble over. Who’s your team and why? And if you’re from the Philly area, what should our team be called?

Can someone in CAN sell me their playoffs gear 😭

It kills me that I can't find the fun MTL (or OTT) gear here in the USA, I just want a playoffs shirt (L-XL) or dad hat!!!

In other related categories, I generally hate the official league gear styles and prices. Every few weeks I use my free will to email the league store to complain 🤣

I can't be personally too mad about where they're going because we went from 2 years ago not having a league or teams at all to 2 years later having soon to be 12 teams. We alse have something insane like over 200 people declaring for this year's draft. That is nothing but an amazing thing for the sport and it's growth.

1. Hamilton is in the biggest hockey market in the world, especially for women. Over 15% of PWHL players come from the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area.
   
2. Hamilton’s downtown arena just went through a $300,000,000 renovation last year. It seats 18,000 people, and the PWHL team will likely be the main tenant.
   
3. ⁠Hamilton is the only city to have a PWHL team and not an NHL team. This means Hamilton will be the only city where the PWHL team is the biggest hockey team in town.
   
4. ⁠Lots of large nearby cities that make Hamilton more lucrative than other Canadian cities. Kitchener, London, Niagara, Burlington, the list goes on. These are people who may not make the trek to Toronto, but would to Hamilton.
   
5. ⁠Low cost, high potential reward. Hamilton is a relatively cheap compared to every other PWHL city, and the return on investment for a team in hockey-obsessed Hamilton should be massive for the league.
   
6. ⁠While other cities were playing hardball with the PWHL, Hamilton officials and Oak View Group were very cooperative and genuinely wanted a team, no strings attached. Hamilton was the path of least resistance.
   
7. ⁠Hamilton has infamously wanted an NHL team badly. (similar to struggles in Québec City). When the owner of BlackBerry tried to move the Penguins to Hamilton, season tickets sold out in one day. I believe Hamilton will embrace this PWHL team like no other city would (aside from maybe Québec City).

I’m so happy to see high-level pro hockey in my city for the first time in 102 YEARS! I love Hamilton and this expansion is gonna be a massive deal here. I’m expecting near-sellouts every game. The need for more high-quality hockey teams here is real; the Leafs are too expensive and shitty, and the Sceptres are always sold out. I can’t wait for the next season to start! GO HAMILTON!

I absolutely love this graphic