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The Professional Women's Hockey League has created Eastern and Western conferences and will send eight of its 12 teams to the playoffs in a season that opens Dec. 5 and runs through April 18.
The Professional Women's Hockey League has established Eastern and Western conferences for the upcoming season and will expand its playoff field from four teams to eight.
PWHL Schedule and Conferences
The league announced the changes Friday while releasing its 2026-27 schedule. The season begins Dec. 5 and runs through April 18. Four expansion clubs are joining the PWHL this season, bringing the league to 12 teams. The new conferences split those clubs into two groups of six.
The Eastern Conference includes the Boston Fleet, PWHL Hamilton, the Montreal Victoire, the New York Sirens, the Ottawa Charge and the Toronto Sceptres. The Western Conference includes PWHL Detroit, PWHL Las Vegas, the Minnesota Frost, PWHL San Jose, the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Each team will play 30 regular-season games. That slate includes 18 games within a team's own conference and 12 interconference games.
Expanded Playoff Format
Names for the four expansion teams are expected to be announced next month, the league said. The top four teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs. First-round series will be best-of-three, followed by best-of-five conference finals and a best-of-five league final for the Walter Cup. The two first-place teams will get to select their first-round opponents, choosing between the third- and fourth-place teams in their respective conferences.
PWHL executive vice-president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said the new format reflects the league's growth. With 12 teams, new conferences and more games than ever before, this schedule reflects the PWHL's monumental growth as anticipation builds for our fourth season, Hefford said in a statement.
The introduction of conferences and an expanded playoff format will deepen rivalries and fuel the competitiveness that makes PWHL action so exciting from the very first puck drop until the Walter Cup is raised, she said. The PWHL used a four-team, two-round playoff format in each of its first three post-seasons. In the regular season, every team will visit the primary or secondary home venue in all 12 PWHL markets at least once.
Broadcast and Takeover Tour Details
In Canada, TSN, Sportsnet, Prime Video and the CBC are returning as domestic broadcast rights-holders. Montreal Victoire rights-holders include RDS, Radio-Canada on ICI TELE and ICI TOU. TV and Prime Video. All 180 regular-season games will be available to an international audience on the PWHL's YouTube channel and through the league's website.
Canadian viewers can access games on those platforms when they are not being carried domestically. The PWHL's Takeover Tour will expand from 16 games to 24 games this season, the league said. Each team will play in four Takeover Tour games, which are currently marked as TBD on the schedule. All teams will observe a one-week break around the debut of the PWHL All-Star event in Toronto on March 7.
Additional details are expected to be announced over the coming weeks. The league's fourth season follows a campaign in which the Montreal Victoire defeated the Ottawa Charge to win the PWHL Walter Cup final in Ottawa on May 20, 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2026.
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CTVToronto:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
PWHL PWHL Conferences PWHL Playoffs PWHL Expansion Walter Cup Conferences Playoffs Expansion 2026-27 Season
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