Women's hockey has boomed across North America. Not only is there growing excitement around the PWHL, but with the 2026 Olympics forthcoming, the sport has never had a bigger stage. In Canada, one of the biggest backers for the game is coming from the nation's smallest geographic provinces in Atlantic Canada. Specifically, in the last three months, the region has hosted some of the biggest professional, amateur, and international events in the game. In November, Newfoundland & Labrador for the first time hosted Canada's U-18 national championships. Not only did they host, but Team Atlantic played to their best finish ever earning silver after falling to Quebec [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/quebec-wins-u-18-national-title-with-rosalie-tremblay-earning-mvp] in the gold medal game. From that team [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/other-news/atlantic-canada-s-best-enter-the-national-spotlight], Nova Scotia's Kendall Doiron was named the tournament's Top Forward, while Prince Edward Island's Megan Mossey was named the tournament's Top Defender. This week, Doiron and Mossey, along with Jaylee MacKinnon, who also played for Team Atlantic, opened the IIHF women's U-18 World Championships in Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia. The event is another significant moment for Atlantic Canada, and opened with a sold out crowd of 1,162 to see Canada play Switzerland. Professionally, Halifax also hosted a pair of PWHL Takeover Tour [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/halifax-showcases-passionate-fanbase-kicks-off-2025-26-takeover-tour]games this season at Scotiabank Centre. Both were sold out drawing more than 10,000 fans per game to see the PWHL in action. The success of the league's ticket sales has Halifax in the mix for PWHL expansion, something Halifax's mayor, Andy Fillmore, has openly discussed [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/halifax-mayor-andy-fillmore-strongly-believes-in-city-s-pwhl-potential] as something the market would and could support. The PWHL itself has a number of Atlantic Canada connections both on and off the bench including head coaches Troy Ryan (Toronto Sceptres) and Kori Cheverie (Montreal Victoire), and players including Abby Newhook, Maggie Connors, Blayre Turnbull, Jill Saulnier, Allie Munroe, and Abby Hustler. Jill Saulnier discusses bringing the PWHL to Halifax
