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The Professional Women’s Hockey League announced Wednesday morning that it will add its second expansion team for the 2025-26 season in Seattle.
The team joins Vancouver as the seventh and eighth organizations, respectively, to become members of the PWHL.
PWHL Seattle will play its games at Climate Pledge Arena and train at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Its primary color will be emerald green, while its secondary is cream.
The PWHL will announce in the next few weeks how Seattle and Vancouver will be integrated into the 2025 PWHL Draft on June 24 and details about an expansion draft.
Per the league, the move to create a team in Seattle came from a bid led by the Oak View Group, the operators of Climate Pledge Arena, and the Seattle Kraken.
“On behalf of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, I am proud to welcome the Professional Women’s Hockey League to Seattle,” Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said in a statement. “Seattle is an incredible sports city, and we’ve seen firsthand the passion for the women’s game — at both the US v Canada Rivalry game and the PWHL Takeover Tour. We’re also proud to grow the game of hockey at Kraken Community Iceplex, and together we’ll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.”
The success of the PWHL Takeover Tour in Seattle partially encouraged the expansion to the city.
“We are looking forward to returning the love, energy and excitement the Seattle sports community shared with us during the PWHL Takeover Tour,” said Amy Scheer, PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations, in a statement. “The opportunity to start a new chapter of women’s hockey in the Pacific Northwest, combined with calling the world-class Climate Pledge Arena home, has so much meaning for our league. The Kraken already have been unbelievably supportive, and it’s a joy to have PWHL Seattle join the WNBA’s Storm and the NWSL’s Reign, who are skyscrapers in the city’s towering sports landscape.”
The PWHL plans to grow to 10 teams for its 2026-27 season, a person with knowledge of discussions told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The person said the league is accelerating its plans based on the strength of responses and feedback received during its eight-month expansion search in which the PWHL considered more than 20 markets.
Scheer didn’t entirely dispute the plan to the AP, but she also did not provide an exact timetable.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multi-year process,” Scheer said as the PWHL closes the final week of the regular season. “It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.”
Neutral site stops this past season in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City and Edmonton each topped 14,000 fans.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Continue reading...
The team joins Vancouver as the seventh and eighth organizations, respectively, to become members of the PWHL.
PWHL Seattle will play its games at Climate Pledge Arena and train at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Its primary color will be emerald green, while its secondary is cream.
The PWHL will announce in the next few weeks how Seattle and Vancouver will be integrated into the 2025 PWHL Draft on June 24 and details about an expansion draft.
Per the league, the move to create a team in Seattle came from a bid led by the Oak View Group, the operators of Climate Pledge Arena, and the Seattle Kraken.
“On behalf of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, I am proud to welcome the Professional Women’s Hockey League to Seattle,” Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said in a statement. “Seattle is an incredible sports city, and we’ve seen firsthand the passion for the women’s game — at both the US v Canada Rivalry game and the PWHL Takeover Tour. We’re also proud to grow the game of hockey at Kraken Community Iceplex, and together we’ll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.”
The success of the PWHL Takeover Tour in Seattle partially encouraged the expansion to the city.
“We are looking forward to returning the love, energy and excitement the Seattle sports community shared with us during the PWHL Takeover Tour,” said Amy Scheer, PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations, in a statement. “The opportunity to start a new chapter of women’s hockey in the Pacific Northwest, combined with calling the world-class Climate Pledge Arena home, has so much meaning for our league. The Kraken already have been unbelievably supportive, and it’s a joy to have PWHL Seattle join the WNBA’s Storm and the NWSL’s Reign, who are skyscrapers in the city’s towering sports landscape.”
The PWHL plans to grow to 10 teams for its 2026-27 season, a person with knowledge of discussions told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The person said the league is accelerating its plans based on the strength of responses and feedback received during its eight-month expansion search in which the PWHL considered more than 20 markets.
Scheer didn’t entirely dispute the plan to the AP, but she also did not provide an exact timetable.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multi-year process,” Scheer said as the PWHL closes the final week of the regular season. “It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.”
Neutral site stops this past season in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City and Edmonton each topped 14,000 fans.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Continue reading...
