The PWHL has finally released its full schedule for the 2026-27 season, which kicks off December 5. The league announced the opening weekend and home openers earlier this week before unveiling the full schedule Friday morning. Additionally, the league announced new details regarding conference alignments and a new playoff format.
Preseason begins November 22, with each team playing two games. All teams are in action on opening weekend, December 5-6. The league also hosts its first All-Star event on March 7, 2027 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
The full schedule can be found here.
Conference alignments
With 12 teams in the fold, the PWHL is now utilizing Eastern Conference and western Conference alignments. Each conference will have six teams; each team will play 30 regular-season games, including 18 within its conference.
The Eastern Conference will consist of the Boston Fleet, PWHL Hamilton, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres. The Western Conference will feature PWHL Detroit, PWHL Las Vegas, Minnesota Frost, PWHL San Jose, Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
The new alignment makes a lot of sense. To have one big conference with all 12 teams would feel like a lot. Breaking them up will help foster rivalries, especially with teams playing their conference opponents more often, and make competing for a playoff spot simpler. I feel like Detroit is a tough one in that they could’ve gone into the Eastern Conference, but at the same time, the league had to keep the conferences balanced.
Further down the road, it’ll be interesting to see if the league sticks with the Gold Plan and how the conference alignments foster a different environment for that.
Logistically, if/when the league expands further, they’d likely be adding two teams at a time, one in each conference, to keep things balanced. It’s not pertinent right now, but something to keep in mind for the future.
Expanded playoff format
As I wrote earlier this offseason, it was due time for the PWHL to revisit its playoff format. Indeed, the league has announced a new format that will see the top four teams in each conference reach the postseason, for a total of eight teams.
The playoffs will feature three rounds. The first round will be a best-of-three, with the other two rounds as best-of-five series. The first place team in each conference will get to select its opponent, choosing between the third- and fourth-place team in their conference.
With the new conference alignments, the expanded playoff format is fair & logical, while maximizing economic return for the league.
Takeover Tour returns & expands
The Takeover Tour will also return, expanding to 24 games. Each team will play in four Takeover Tour games, with two of their home games slotted as Takeover Tour games. Venues are still to be announced. A few additional games will also be played at non-primary venues, also to be announced.
The Takeover Tour game dates are:
- January 2 – Ottawa at Boston
- January 9 – Detroit at Minnesota
- January 16 – Seattle at Las Vegas
- January 23 – Boston at Montreal
- January 23 – Minnesota at Vancouver
- January 24 – Seattle at San Jose
- January 30 – Toronto at Hamilton
- January 31 – Montreal at New York
- February 2 – Boston at Toronto
- February 3 – Hamilton at Ottawa
- February 6 – San Jose at Minnesota
- February 7 – Las Vegas at Vancouver
- February 13 – Vancouver at San Jose
- February 15 – Ottawa at Hamilton
- February 20 – Montreal at Boston
- February 28 – San Jose at Detroit
- March 10 – Las Vegas at Detroit
- March 12 – New York at Ottawa
- March 13 – Detroit at Seattle
- March 14 – Hamilton at New York
- March 21 – Vancouver at Las Vegas
- March 27 – Toronto at Montreal
- April 9 – Minnesota at Seattle
- April 10 – New York at Toronto
Looking at it all written out like that, that seems like A LOT of Takeover Tour games. But take it with a grain of salt; of course there are more games, because there are more teams. It wouldn’t be fair to have some teams play all the Takeover Tour games, and have other teams play fewer or none. Each team ends up losing two home games, which probably isn’t great for home fans in an already short season.
That said, it’s a tough balance to strike. Fans will understandably want to see their teams more often, and not give up home games. But it is all part of growing the game and growing the league, exposing fans in other markets to the sport. I don’t think the Takeover Tour is a ‘forever’ deal, but it is a manageable marketing strategy in the PWHL’s infancy.
Games that will be held at non-primary venues include:
- January 17 – Detroit at Toronto
- January 23 – Detroit at New York
- February 7 – Seattle at New York
- February 27 – Vancouver at Boston
- April 3 – Detroit at Montreal
- April 3 – Boston at New York
What’s next?
With the full schedule released, we can now count down the days until PWHL hockey returns – just over two months away. The regular season begins on December 5 and ends on April 18, inclusive of a one-week All Star break.
Though two months may still seem quite far away for the PWHL, the time will go by fast. The Women’s Euro Hockey Tour is currently underway. World championships are a month away, from November 6-16. Training camps follow soon after, then preseason and the regular season. Two months seems like a long time, but it’ll be here before you know it.
