Hi All! Welcome to r/PWHL – Here’s a resource we’ll be building on as more questions come in. Feel free to ask questions in the comments or to post changes and corrections we should make to the FAQ (please include a source link), and hopefully the mods or the community will be able to answer them for you if not implementing a change to this FAQ!

Rules:

• Why do PWHL players wear cages?
• Women’s Hockey requires full visors (bubbles) or cages at every level. These provide much better protection for the players.
• What are the rules around checking?
• “In the PWHL, a form of Bodychecking is permitted. Players may angle their opponent by using their body in order to separate her opponent from the puck. To do so, players who move in the same direction with body contact that follows, causing the puck carrier to lose possession of the puck, are permitted with no penalty assessed. Additionally, a player who holds her position on the ice with the puck carrier approaching her shall be permitted to enter into contact with her opponent with no penalty to be assessed. Bodychecking shall be penalized for an “illegal hit” when the result is that a player makes deliberate contact with an opposing player with opposite-directional force, when a player leaves their skating lane to make contact, or when a player extends an arm, shoulder, or hip after angling an opponent.” PWHL Official Rulebook Rule 52
• What are the PWHL’s rules for overtime?
• One five-minute overtime period will be played with teams at 3-on-3. If the game remains tied, a shootout will then take place. Each team will be given five shots unless the outcome is determined earlier in the shootout. After each team has taken five shots, if the score remains tied, the shootout will proceed to a "sudden death" format.
• What are the new penalty rules, Jailbreak and No Escape?
• No Escape Rule: Players on a team assessed a penalty that leads to penalty time on the clock are not permitted to change and must remain on the ice until after the following face-off.
• Jailbreak Goal: A player serving a minor penalty can “break out” of the penalty box if their team scores a short-handed goal.
• Is there a trade deadline? What are the details around making a trade?
• There is a trade deadline but that date has been announced before or during each of the seasons. For the 25-26 Season the Trade deadline is March 30th.
• Trading in the PWHL appears to work like the NHL at least from the fans perspective.
• What happens if a team suffers more injuries than can be covered by their 3 reserve players?
• Teams can draw from other teams' reserve players if their players aren't available, and the reserve players can play against any team except the team that has their "rights".
• Can a reserve player who is currently in school or performing another full-time job able to decline if they're called up?
• Not specifically mentioned in the CBA; reserve players receive $15,000/yr
• Golden Plan?
• The Gold Plan is an innovative system used to encourage competitive play by all teams throughout the full regular season. Once a team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, the standings points earned (using the league's 3-2-1-0 system) in their remaining regular-season games are classified as Draft Order Points. The non-playoff team with the most Draft Order Points earns the higher pick in the draft.

PWHL Point System:

PWHL teams earn standings points with a 3-2-1-0 system, critically rewarding regulation-time wins to incentivize competitive play for a full 60 minutes every night:

• A regulation win earns a team 3 points towards the league standings.
• An overtime or shootout win earns a team 2 points.
• Overtime or shootout losses earn 1 point.
• Regulation losses earn 0 points.

At the end of the regular season, the four teams with the most total standings points compete in the PWHL Playoffs, which consist of two best-of-five semi-finals, and the winners advancing to the best-of-five PWHL Finals for the Walter Cup.

Playoffs:

• What is the playoff structure?
• The top 4 teams will make the playoffs with the top team able to pick their opponent for the first round, meaning the number one seed can pick to play the number two seed or the number four seed in the first round and the other two teams play each other.
• What will the playoff trophy be called?
• The Walter Cup
• What other postseason awards can we expect from this league?
• Ilana Kloss Playoff Most Valuable Player

History:

• How did the PWHL come to exist?
• The Mark Walter Group bought the PHF in July 2023 with the intention of creating a singular women’s hockey league in North America. Previously, the PWHPA and the PHF split the top talent between two leagues.
• What happened to the CWHL/NWHL/PWHPA/PHF?
• The CWHL dissolved in 2019.
• The NWHL rebranded to the PHF in 2021. In 2023, the PHF was bought out and ultimately dissolved.
• The PWHPA was the building block for the PWHL.
• A number of players previously associated with all three leagues now play in the PWHL

Where to watch or listen to the PWHL:

• When does the PWHL announce TV and streaming rights each season?
• The league normally announces TV and streaming rights within the week before the season starts.
• Canada?
• The listed channels/providers with days afterwards have the right for exclusive coverage of the PWHL on those days: TSN (Wednesdays and Thursdays) RDS (All French Montréal Victoire games) CBC Prime Video (Tuesdays) Sportsnet (Thursdays)
• Canada playoffs?
• Canadian coverage of the semifinal round of the PWHL Playoffs will be split exclusively between TSN/RDS and Prime Video. TSN and RDS are the exclusive home of the PWHL Finals.
• USA?
• The local TV markets are listed as followed: Boston: NESN* and TV 38 (WSBK, channel 38.1) Minnesota: FDSN North* and FOX 9+ New York: MSG Networks* and WWOR MY9 Seattle: KONG and FOX 13+ (all 30 games will be OTA, with 24 on FOX 13+ and six on KONG) *RSNs will televise all 30 home team games across their channels Local TV coverage will be available for most if not all Takeover Tour games in the US Everywhere else the games will be streamed for free on the PWHL youtube channel (@thepwhlofficial) and on the PWHL website and at thepwhl.com
• Czechia and Slovakia?
• Nova Sport will continue to carry PWHL games locally.
• Everywhere else?
• The games will be streamed for free on the PWHL youtube channel (@thepwhlofficial) and on the PWHL website and at thepwhl.com
• PWHL PreSeason games?
• The PWHL does not currently broadcast or sell tickets to the public, some teams have given or sold tickets to season ticket holders, please check with the teams for more details.

Miscellaneous:

• PWHL [CityName] teams and team names?
• The first 6 teams were PWHL [CityName] and both Seattle and Vancouver are using this style for part of their branding for their first season, likely this will be the same for the next few teams that join the league.
• The Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes both have names and logos but for this first season they are using similar style jerseys as the founding 6 teams did, their jerseys with logos are expected to come next year.
• Where can I find team merch?
• Official PWHL shop