It’s another week with lots of fresh news in the Professional Women’s Hockey League! Host Maya Smith is joined by Ice Garden writer Melissa Burgess to discuss the newly-announced expansion teams in Las Vegas, Nev. and Hamilton, Ontario as well as the Walter Cup Playoffs.
Two new expansion teams
Smith and Burgess jumped right in to discuss the new expansion teams in Las Vegas and Hamilton, which will be the tenth and eleventh expansion teams, respectively. One more team is expected to be announced in this round of expansion.
In a recent piece, Burgess described the Las Vegas team as “a gamble” for the PWHL — pun intended.
“But I think that it’s a smart one, because we have Seattle out West. We don’t really have anything else out West,” Burgess said, later acknowledging the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
“The one thing that I’m thinking about with expansion, because I see so many people talking about it and saying, ‘Well, what the heck? [….] Why aren’t they going to XYZ city?’” Burgess said. “Right now, it’s an either or situation, but that doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be, right? It doesn’t mean that next year they can’t expand again and your your city won’t [ever] get a team.”
Exactly. There’s so much growth to come from this league. Like hopefully we can be saying in 10 years that so many cities have teams,” Smith said.
The two also discussed the upcoming PWHL Draft. With 235 declarations, it is set to be the second-largest draft in league history.
Walter Cup Finals
For the first time in PWHL history, the Minnesota Frost will not be making an appearance in the Walter Cup Finals. This year, the league will crown its inaugural Canadian champion — Montréal Victoire or the Ottawa Charge.
“Ottawa is the dark horse, the fourth seed,” Burgess said. “But they can do it. I mean, Gwyneth Philips has been lights out, and Montréal has kind of not been superb.”
Smith agreed, saying she does not have a front runner for the cup either.
“I think on the polished precision level of things, if Montréal does all of the things right, then they definitely have a chance,” Smith said. “But as you said, I don’t think Ottawa can be counted out in any shape or form.”
Tune in to today’s episode to hear all the freshest analysis on the Walter Cup Finals — including predictions about how Burgess and Smith expect the series to play out.
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What you missed on today’s episode of Women’s Sports Daily: Checking in with the Portland Fire after their first-ever win.