The IIHF and PWHL have opened conversations on a number of topics as the two entities decide what the future of women's hockey will look like, and how the two groups will cooperate to grow the game.

One major topic that surfaced from the IIHF women's World Championships in Utica, New York, is that the PWHL and IIHF had a lengthy meeting, opening lines of communications for what will be a vital, and perhaps at times contentious relationship.

In Utica, the meeting also involved representatives from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada.

"I think it's a common goal that we work together and cooperate on many levels, that's the way we can develop women's hockey together," Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer, chairperson of the IIHF's women's committee told The Hockey News. 

"Of course there are points we have to discuss in the future and agree on. My general feeling was after the meeting was really everybody would like to develop and help women's hockey. I think we're going to have a good cooperation with them. We're all very excited about this because the players deserve that, to play in a professional league, to be treated in a proper way, it was really time that people come up with that professional league, so we're all cheering for them and try to support them." 

Despite the IIHF's excitement for the professionalization of women's hockey, a process they say has already begun in Sweden's SDHL, and is beginning in Finland and Switzerland as well, the IIHF's main responsibility is to member nations and the governance of hockey as an international sport involving world and regional competitions. This year that of course includes Canada, USA, Czechia, and Finland, nations that will provide the bulk of the PWHL talent next season, but it also involves 43 other nations. 

"We also have our responsibilities to other countries and other nations," said Kolbenheyer. "We have almost 50 countries participating in our World Championships, so we want to make sure everything we're doing, the rules like the body checking in the SDHL, we are responsible for all our countries, not only our top teams. But we are open to discussing anything, and to finding solutions."

Among the first solutions found is synchronizing the IIHF calendar so that the top division World Championship, and Division IA tournament and Division IB tournament all occur during the same international break window. This will ensure all elite players on the world stage will not need to choose between their national program, and professional or club teams. The IIHF couldn't implement this action in 2024 as the calendar was already set months before the PWHL announced their formation.

According to Marta Zawadzka, chairperson of the IIHF's officiating committee, the IIHF and PWHL are also working together to begin bridging gaps with other nations working to professionalize their top leagues, including the SDHL, Naisten Liiga, and SWHL.

"The European leagues as well want to have an impact for those who are still staying on the continent," said Zawadzka. "The PWHL and IIHF are also connecting the bridges toward them. This is the common goal regarding the schedule, the rules, the officiating, the players commitment and the conditions where they are playing, we want to standardize that."

That standardization includes standardizing rules. This year that involved more coordination over how the implementation and interpretation of bodychecking rules would factor into the World Championships with the SDHL and now PWHL using rule interpretations allowing more contact.

"We've got the same wording and you can see it here even. We are working on it," said Zawadzka. "We did our lesson, so basically it's a matter of interpretation and implementation and understanding. That's why before this tournament we established a bridge with teams. Three weeks before we approached the coaches with clips from the PWHL and SDHL and everybody was able to understand what we were aiming for in calling the penalties. That helped standardize everything both game officials, the players and the staff members. We are getting to it, it's just a matter that we are focusing on the puck not the player."

But there are other rules as well. The IIHF doesn't want rules differing from league to league, nation to nation, or competition to competition. They are also willing to look at novel rule variations including the PWHL's "jailbreak" rule.

The conversation in Utica involving the PWHL and IIHF however, will be the first of many, as there remains numerous gaps between what men receive under the IIHF umbrella, and what women receive. There also remains unfinished topics of discussion including how transfer agreements will work between leagues, and the all important discussion of how to handle Olympic centralization. 

In 1998, the NHL first participated in the Olympic Games, with the league taking a 17 day break from February 8 to February 24, a full week shorter in span than the 24 day break the PWHL took this season for the IIHF World Championships. In the past, without a single professional league to compete in, women's Olympic teams often spent the entire year centralized together, pulling players out of NCAA schools and other leagues if applicable. That will not be the case for the 2026 Olympics in Italy.

While the details on all topics remain fluid, the conversation is now open and ongoing between the PWHL and IIHF.