2026 women’s hockey wishes — Team USA Olympic roster reveal

PWHL resolutions

Mike: My New Year’s resolution for women’s hockey in 2026 is (public) salary transparency. Currently, members of the PWHLPA have a degree of internal salary transparency. However, given the PWHL’s single-entity ownership model and the length of the CBA, true salary transparency is paramount. Transparency on salaries will help prospective pro players, and pros outside of the PWHL and PWHLPA. It will also provide empirical data for fans and media who will be empowered to hold the league accountable for those players who make the least. 

Dylan: My New Year’s resolution is for the Montreal Victoire to win a playoff series. They’ve accomplished just about every other accolade through two dominant regular season campaigns, but have gone quiet come spring each time. Ultimately, they should be a legitimate challenger for the Walter Cup this year, but they need to show they can win one round before thinking about two. It’s time for the team’s veteran leadership to step up and get the job done.

Want more women’s hockey content? Subscribe to The Ice Garden!
In case you missed it, The Ice Garden is now part of The IX Sports family!
The staff of The Ice Garden has paved the way for women’s hockey coverage from the college ranks to international competitions. Of course, that includes in-depth coverage of the PWHL too.

Maya: My New Year’s resolution is for the PWHL to increase the supports in place for the reserve players. The PWHL is playing in some of the most expensive cities in North America. According to the current CBA, reserve players receive a minimum of $15,000 (compared to minimum of $55,000 for active roster players), and they do not get a housing stipend or benefits. Yet, they are training with the team and would still need to be accessible to the team at any point. Even just housing support would be a step in the right direction. 

Natalia: My New Year’s resolution is for PWHL teams to play their backup goalies more often! There’s so much goaltending talent across the league and a lot of it isn’t getting into as many games as they should in order to show their skill and build trust with the coaching staff. It’s vital not only for a team’s starter not to be overworked going into the playoffs, but also for them to have an option they’re confident in going to in the event of an injury.

Elisha: My New Year’s resolution is for Halifax to get a PWHL team. Atlantic Canada has consistently shown up for women’s hockey, highlighted by the sellout crowd during the PWHL Takeover Tour and strong grassroots participation across the region. The market is proven, the fan base is passionate and the demand is already there. Adding Halifax would strengthen the league’s national footprint and help make the PWHL truly coast-to-coast.

Melissa: My New Year’s resolution/wish is for there to be transparency & accountability regarding the PWHL’s Central Situation Room and its decisions. I want the league to have a database, either for media or publicly accessible, that breaks down each play that was reviewed — who initiated the review, what it was for and what the outcome was (goal, no goal, penalty, misconduct, etc.) This is important information not only in the present moment, but also historically to be able to look back on and track outcomes, patterns and the like.

Lydia: My New Year’s resolution is for the PWHL to keep better stats publicly or at least accessible to media members. I want to see shift times, shot attempts, scoring chances, possession stats and a whole bunch more fun stuff. They have a ton of stats that they keep internally, and it’s time to start sharing at least some of them with the rest of us. It’d help us bring our game analysis to a new level.

Emma: This year, my New Year’s Resolution is to see a PWHL broadcast on national television in the United States. While I love the YouTube accessibility, and I want to see that continue moving forward, I’d like for just one game to be available on a national broadcaster in 2026. Whether that’s one of the takeover games, or maybe one of the Walter Cup Final games, or even the opener for the 2026-27 season (scary thing to type out), I think getting a game on a major network in the U.S. could be a great way to grow the game even further. We’re seeing it pay off in Canada, and I believe there’s space to grow as well in the United States. 

Silvia: My New Year’s Resolution is to bring more Spanish-speaking and Latino interest to the PWHL. As the league expands, access to one of the highest spending demographic in sports is crucial to ensure that the league is sustained. There is also a huge pool of talent in international teams south of the U.S.-Mexico border and I would love to see the PWHL’s player nationalities be represented from those teams. 

Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast & Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis.
Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you listen to your podcasts and make sure to subscribe!

IIHF/International competition resolutions

Giselle: My New Year’s resolution is for the hype from the Olympics to trickle down to the Paralympics then to further trickle down specifically to women’s para ice hockey. The sport needs the coverage and interest that the men’s national teams get every year and especially during the Paralympics. This year was huge with the debut of the World Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship. There still won’t be a women’s tournament at next year’s Winter Paralympics. Yes, there’s all these logistics of needing more countries to have teams to participate at Worlds and such but the sport has come so far with Worlds alone! The players are putting in so much work themselves too they deserve to see that effort be rewarded with more coverage and more tournaments and more interest. When we say hockey is for everyone, that means para ice hockey too.

Dee: My New Year’s resolution is for the IIHF to give every level of the Women’s World Championships the same resources, attention, and care they give the men’s tournaments. With the shift to a winter schedule this year for the top tier tournament, the IIHF has the chance to benefit from all these extra months of preparation to put together a tournament that gives the incredibly gifted players the best opportunity possible to showcase the game. 

Meredith: My New Year’s resolution is to see another team besides the United States or Canada take either a silver or gold at the Olympics. It’s been 20 years since Sweden won silver in Turin in 2006; since the tournament is back in Italy and teams like Czechia and almost-perpetual bronze winners Finland have made great strides, I’m so ready for it to happen. 

LJ: My New Year’s resolution is for the women’s hockey tournament at the Olympics to get just as much hype, if not attention, as the men’s tournament! From centering the NHL in complaints about the ice to other media outlets not providing full coverage of the tournament, women’s hockey is frequently an afterthought at the Games and I’ve had enough of it. The Olympics are still one of the biggest events for women’s hockey as a sport, and they should be treated as such, especially among the current wave of support and investment in women’s sports!

NCAA resolutions

Eli: My New Year’s resolution is for the NCAA to expand the Division I women’s hockey tournament to an even number of teams. The current 11 team format not only looks and feels wonky, but it is also outdated. In 2021, the format was instituted because 11 was 27% of the then-41 schools with top-tier women’s hockey. 27% was the number of men’s teams (16) who made the tournament out of the total number of programs (60). Now, with there being 45 Division I women’s hockey programs, it is time to move up to at least a 12 team tournament (45 x .27 = 12.15).

Reid: My New Year’s resolution is for someone other than Wisconsin or Ohio State to win an NCAA Division I national championship. Wisconsin and Ohio State have won the last six NCAA titles, and I’d love to see someone knock them off. If I am being really greedy, I’d really love to see a team that hasn’t won an NCAA title yet win one. But if I’m being honest (and realistic), I would take anyone, even just a different WCHA team, if it meant we get a new champion this season. Anybody to break up the Wisconsin and Ohio State dominance!

Links

Team USA Olympic roster announced — The Ice Garden

Designing PWHL “reverse retro” jerseys, Part 2: The Americans — The Ice Garden

My favorite TIG pieces of 2025 — The Ice Garden

Roque’s hot, Power play’s cold: 4 takeaways from the Montréal Victoire’s 2-1 loss to the Sceptres — The Ice Garden

How Seattle Torrent head coach Steve O’Rourke ended up in the PWHL — Seattle Times

Despite small Takeover Tour crowd, PWHL still sees Chicago as attractive market — Chicago Sun Times

Grading 5 women’s hockey teams’ performance in the fall semester — NCAA.com

BU women’s hockey heads to Belfast for inaugural Women’s Friendship Series — BU.edu