Vancouver announced as newest PWHL franchise for 2025-26 season

The Professional Women's Hockey League volition grow to Vancouver and statesman play adjacent season, the league announced connected Wednesday.

The determination to grow to Vancouver had been rumoured for weeks, and was yet confirmed astatine a downtown edifice connected Wednesday morning. It was chosen arsenic the seventh PWHL franchise aft an eight-month process that saw enlargement bids from groups successful much than 20 cities.

And it whitethorn not beryllium the lone squad joining the league for adjacent season. The PWHL is successful negotiations to perchance adhd a 2nd enlargement team, which would bring the fig of teams to eight.

Amy Scheer, the league's enforcement vice president of concern operations, said Vancouver is measurement 1 successful a multi-year program to proceed to turn the league.

"There are aggregate different cities successful contention that we're inactive moving through, truthful we're hopeful that we volition person an announcement successful the aboriginal astir a 2nd enlargement squad for adjacent year," Scheer told CBC Sports successful an interview.

WATCH | PWHL Players Association caput connected expansion:

The Vancouver squad volition play retired of Pacific Coliseum, an arena connected the tract of the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. It tin spot much than 16,000 fans and the PWHL squad volition beryllium the anchor tenant.

When evaluating the enlargement bids, a radical wrong the league looked astatine respective criteria, ranging from geography and economical accidental to younker hockey and infrastructure.

Vancouver checked disconnected a fig of boxes.

A January PWHL crippled betwixt the Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres drew much than 19,000 fans to a sold-out Rogers Arena, location to the Vancouver Canucks. That made it the champion attended of the 9 games connected the PWHL Takeover Tour, which visited cities crossed North America this season.

But the biggest selling constituent whitethorn person been the accidental to beryllium the sole tenant of an arena. Vancouver volition beryllium the archetypal PWHL squad to person its ain building. Players volition besides person their ain signifier installation with dedicated dressing rooms astatine the Agridome adjacent doorway to Pacific Coliseum.

"We'll beryllium capable to marque and physique a abstraction that's designed truly good for them and for women, which doesn't hap successful each of our markets," Jayna Hefford, the league's enforcement vice president of hockey operations, said.

The PWHL launched successful 2023 with six teams, chiefly successful the east: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, the New York area, Boston and Minnesota. Like the archetypal six teams, the Vancouver franchise volition besides beryllium owned and operated by Mark and Kimbra Walter and the Walter Group.

Staff person already been modelling however to navigate the other travel, particularly erstwhile teams alert commercially. The Takeover Tour volition beryllium backmost adjacent year, and the league whitethorn program different games successful the west.

"I deliberation betwixt the fans telling america it's clip and ownership wanting to put and turn this league, and everything that we've seen, it's clip [for expansion]," Scheer said. "It's clip to get past conscionable being a determination league."

The 2nd enlargement franchise could besides beryllium successful the west, which could let teams from the eastbound to sojourn 2 cities successful 1 roadworthy trip.

Seattle, which drew much than 12,000 fans to a PWHL Takeover Tour crippled this year, would beryllium a earthy neighbour to a Vancouver team, and has palmy teams competing successful the NWSL and WNBA.

A increasing women's hockey scene

The caller squad volition beryllium known temporarily arsenic PWHL Vancouver portion the league develops squad branding, including a logo and name. The team's blue-and-white colours were besides unveiled connected Wednesday.

It marks the instrumentality of elite women's hockey to Vancouver, the metropolis wherever the Canadian women's nationalist team, including Hefford, captured a golden medal astatine the 2010 Olympics.

The past clip the state was location to a nonrecreational women's hockey squad was erstwhile the B.C. Breakers played retired of Langley. That squad played successful the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL), which folded successful 2009.

Before that, stars similar Cammi Granato and Nancy Drolet played connected the Vancouver Griffins, a squad that competed successful the Canadian-based National Women's Hockey League until 2003.

A batch has changed successful the women's hockey country successful British Columbia since those teams near town.

"We spot present a fig of young players, some connected the women's and men's broadside of the crippled that are coming retired of that area," Hefford said.

"It truly speaks to the spot and the extent of the grassroots and the insignificant hockey improvement successful that area, which is truly important to us. We privation to beryllium successful those emerging markets wherever you've got tons of radical playing the game."

Seven players from B.C. competed connected the Canadian women's improvement squad this year, portion 3 made the elder nationalist squad that conscionable earned metallic astatine the satellite title successful the Czech Republic. A 4th subordinate from British Columbia, Hannah Miller, was named to the archetypal roster but ruled ineligible to vie for Canada aft antecedently playing for China.

The biggest sanction mightiness beryllium Chloe Primerano, the defender who captained Canada to golden astatine the under-18 women's satellite title earlier this year, and who has a accidental to marque Canada's Olympic squad adjacent year.

Primerano is Canada's defender of the future, a smooth-skating menace with a beardown hockey IQ. She played against boys astatine the Burnaby Winter Club earlier going connected to play elite girls hockey RINK Hockey Academy successful Kelowna. Primerano graduated precocious schoolhouse a twelvemonth aboriginal and present plays astatine the University of Minnesota.

And now, determination is simply a satellite wherever she could marque her PWHL debut successful beforehand of a hometown assemblage successful Vancouver.

Details connected enlargement draught to come

The adjacent measurement is to commencement hiring staff, including the wide manager who volition beryllium tasked with gathering a roster from scratch.

The league volition clasp an enlargement draught to assistance capable retired PWHL Vancouver's roster, on with a apt 2nd enlargement team. 

"We've been moving for immoderate clip present connected what that could look like, knowing the precedence for america is going to beryllium parity crossed the league and competitiveness," Hefford said. "The anticipation is that immoderate caller teams that participate the league would beryllium competitory successful twelvemonth one. That's the precedence arsenic we look astatine however we would disperse players."

The draught volition beryllium held earlier the league's introduction draft, which is scheduled to beryllium held connected June 24 successful Ottawa, but the day and details connected however an enlargement draught volition enactment are inactive to travel — details players person been eagerly awaiting.

The enlargement announcement could besides entice much players to state for this year's introduction draft, with arsenic galore arsenic 46 further roster spots disposable successful the league. Both teams would besides person a cleanable salary-cap slate.

"There's conscionable truthful overmuch extent astir the world," Hefford said. "To beryllium capable to unfastened much spots to those players I deliberation is thing that's truly large for the game."