With the PWHL stretch rapidly approaching, here are five dates with important games PWHL fans need to circle on their calendar.
With the PWHL stretch rapidly approaching, here are five dates with important games PWHL fans need to circle on their calendar.
The PWHL season is entering the final stretch, and when the league returns from the IIHF World Championships in April, the stretch drive will be on.
For fans, here's five dates with important games to circle on your calendar.
April 18 - Return From The Break - The PWHL will be watching the impact of the IIHF World Championships on their player pool closely, as will fans. Don't expect the PWHL to ever pull out of the World Championships or Olympics as the events provide major marketing opportunities, and also an opportunity for the world to continue the global development of the game. When Toronto and Boston drop the puck on April 18, PWHL fans will be watching. Were their injuries? Did players pass information to European players? Is there added excitement following Worlds? Or did the break hurt viewership and fandom? It will all be important to watch.
April 20 - Bell Centre - Attendance Record - When Montreal hosts Toronto for a 1pm game at the 21,000 seat Bell Centre, it's expected that a new professional women's hockey attendance record will be set, breaking the record set earlier this season of 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The game, dubbed the Duel at the Top will be another monumental moment for the PWHL.
April 24 - Playoffs On The Line - April 24 is the only day in the entire PWHL season where all six teams are in action. With Boston facing Ottawa, Minnesota playing Montreal, and Toronto taking on New York, and 10 days left in the season, this date is one to watch for playoff implications. Following this date, only seven games remaining across the league. If there's a single date where playoff fates will be decided, and where a team could finally be eliminated sending them into the hunt for the first overall pick instead of playoff positioning, this is it. PWHL fans will be circling this date no matter who they cheer for.
April 30 - Gold Plan Game - However you slice it, April 30, when PWHL Ottawa and PWHL New York, this game will have serious implications for one of these two teams. Unless a serious shift happens, two of New York, Ottawa, or Boston will be looking for points for the first overall pick under the Gold Plan, not the playoffs. It's possible both teams could be hunting for those crucial points that will not only give a team the first overall pick, but the first pick in every single round, making the value of that position crucial to the future of whatever team wins the picks. The PWHL's 3-2-1 point system will keep teams in the playoff hunt longer and longer, and in this inaugural PWHL season, the only where a shortened 24 game schedule is planned, the first overall pick may come down to the final weekend and head to head games like this.
PWHL New York's TBDs - New York has three games with a too be determined locations on April 21, April 30, and May 4. It's believed that these games will be played at UBS Arena, but more recently it's been discussed that these games could be used to begin testing new venues for the PWHL New York franchise. One of the proposed locations for one or more of these games will likely be the 16,514 seat Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The rink is currently home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils, who are the lone professional tenant at the facility. It's a popular concert venue, but could become a secondary home alongside UBS Arena instead of Bridgeport's Total Mortgage Arena, which has quickly proven to be a location the league will aim to escape as quickly as possible.