The PWHL looks to be settling into a playing calendar beginning in November, and ending in May. It's a six month on and six month off schedule that leaves many women's hockey fans missing the sport for much of the year. The BHAs the league continues to grow, the schedule will inevitably grow as well extending the calendar for the league. The NHL, which has an 82 game schedule has a significantly shorter offseason ending in June, with the draft and development camps to follow, and then rookie tournaments opening in September. With the growth and evolution of professional women’s sport, alongside the expansion of men’s leagues, more teams are now competing for same availability at venues.
The first popular North American professional women's sports league, the WNBA, found their way around initial scheduling issues by running their schedule opposite to their men's counterparts in the WNBA. For the PWHL, flipping their schedule opposite North America's men's hockey schedule would solve many issues the league has run into to date, but it could also cause others.
Opening The Door For International Play
The 2025-26 PWHL season has an unprecedented number of scheduling challenges. Not only did the league expand west to Seattle and Vancouver, but it's also an Olympic year that will force the league to shut down for a month in February, and there's still a chance the IIHF will be unable to shift the World Championship schedule away from April causing a second month-long shutdown of the league midseason. Add in the Rivalry Series and the gaps in the 2025-26 schedule are enough to make your head spin. If the PWHL flipped their schedule beginning in May and ending in early Fall, there'd no longer be a conflict between the league and international play as it would occur in the offseason and add another platform for the PWHL and international women's hockey to grow in parallel. It could also allow for increased professionalization opening doors for overseas leagues to attract more talent.
Overseas Play Could Become The Norm
The topic of overseas play has become a point of debate in the WNBA. Traditionally, many of the league's players would complete their season in the WNBA and then head overseas to top leagues across Europe, Asia, and Australia. This system allowed players to earn a second salary through basketball playing in other professional leagues. In the PWHL, it could allow bubble players who are among the lowest paid, as well as reserves, to gain ice time playing in Europe before attempting to make a bigger impact in the PWHL. It would, however, challenge traditional offseason training routines. Another benefit is that European free agents and college free agents could take a legitimate crack at making a PWHL team without jeopardizing their roster spots in Europe. Right now European leagues begin months ahead of the PWHL forcing players to make difficult, and potentially career altering decisions to roll the dice on a PWHL roster spot. A flipped schedule could allow the PWHL to attract more talent and continue the evolution into what the league has always intended to be: a true worldwide best-on-best loop.
The WNBA however, decades into operation is now at a crossroads with this system as "prioritization" has become a topic of debate among owners during collective bargaining. WNBA brass want players focusing on the WNBA exclusively. This avoids risk of injury and allows players to train exclusively in the offseason to get stronger, rather than risking burnout on the court. This discussion however, has only evolved as WNBA contracts continue to climb. For the players, it's about making a living, whether that's in the WNBA alone, or two leagues each season. Ultimately, it's a bargaining chip that players can hold until salaries reach a point where they can live comfortably from prioritized WNBA participation alone.
Better Scheduling And Venue Availability
Forget the never ending procession of weeknight games, last minute reschedulings, and month long gaps between home games. Flipping the PWHL's schedule would free primary venues, allow for on-ice branding, and better scheduling. Of course ice quality, summer vacations drawing families away, and other items would be something to consider, but hockey arenas that hold 10,000 fans are not easy to find during the winter months when NHL, AHL, OHL, WHL, QMJHL, NBA, G-League, NLL, and CBEL games, not to mention concerts and conventions, steal venues. Shifting the schedule would open a wealth of availability.
What Are The Cons To This System
There are negatives to this system. Overseas roster spots, which are becoming more limited as leagues like the SDHL reduce the number of international players that are permitted per team, would disappear and likely only go to PWHL affiliated players. The risk of injury would be more significant as there would be less time for recovery, more games where injuries are a risk, and less time to strength train. The player pool eligible to go overseas would not be the entire PWHL however, as players on multi-year contracts would be ineligible for overseas play. It would make this option a point of consideration primarily for the most at-risk players contractually who could benefit from additional opportunities, and more income. The other challenge could be the fan base shifting to a new season for hockey. There were however, clear signs during the PWHL playoffs that avoiding men's hockey schedules at all costs could help the league flourish at the box office. Games during the PWHL playoffs that coincided with games by in-market NHL teams saw lower attendance than regular season averages. With attendance falling from the regular season to post season in two consecutive years, it’s a trend that’s unlikely to disappear unless the league can find a new way to schedule their playoffs.
With three seasons of winter hockey already set for the PWHL, it’s hard to see the league making the major shift of flipping their schedule. Still, the league has shown a willingness to make bold decisions, and should they see trends move in the wrong direction, or the need for additional games outgrow availability, the option will always remain.