Ahead of Friday’s season opener, the PWHL hosted a preseason media availability with Jayna Hefford, Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, and Amy Scheer, Executive Vice President of Business Operations. The roughly 45-minute press conference spanned a wide range of topics, from housekeeping items like this season’s playoff format to hot-button issues such as the Ottawa Charge’s arena, and various team-level things in between. Here are three big things we learned.
PWHL Feels “Left Behind” in Ottawa
One of the biggest topics of the day was the Ottawa Charge and the Lansdowne 2.0 project. A fiery Scheer did not hold back her disappointment with the city’s decision.
“Every option is on the table at this point,” Scheer said. “We’ve certainly been clear with OSEG and the city that we will not go backwards. We will not play in a 5,500 seat building. These women have worked too hard to get to the point today where a 5,500 seat building is well below what we average in Ottawa. We will not play at Lansdowne 2.0. That’s the one option that’s not on the table…We’ve been very clear with the city, but the job now is to find out what the best alternative for the Ottawa Charge is and we are working through those options right now. We certainly don’t want to leave Ottawa. We chose Ottawa for a reason and the fans have been wonderfully supportive of us there, and we’d like to find a solution that works for us to stay in Ottawa. But the city hasn’t made it easy for us, and it’s disappointing.”
Scheer continued that they feel misled by the city, which had been saying that the PWHL would have a seat at the table.
“We’ve been very clear to try to get the proper information out through the misinformation and deception that has been put forth by the city. We met with the mayor about 17, 16 months ago and were very clear that we wanted to be part of the process, very clear that the arena was too small for us, very clear that we would also keep conversations private. But we were also very clear that we wanted a seat at the table, and we kept being promised that the conversation around capacity would be discussed…And ultimately, they reneged on that promise…We found out that the plans were final the same time you [did], when the city and the mayor released them, and at that point,…we felt we were forced to go public because we were really just left behind, and the city was very clear on where we fit in the ecosystem of their sports, which is nowhere.”
Playoff Format, Trade Deadline Set
In her opening statement, Hefford made two housekeeping announcements. The first was that the 2026 trade deadline is set for March 30, while the roster freeze will follow on March 31. Secondly, the playoff format will be the same this season, despite the two new teams, with the top four teams making the playoffs and the other four fighting for the first overall pick via the Gold Plan.
Last Season’s Rule Innovations Yielded Results, This Season’s Aim for Consistency
Hefford took a few moments at the beginning of the press conference to discuss last season’s rule innovations, namely the “No Escape” rule, which prevents players from changing right after their team takes a penalty. The league implemented it in an effort to increase power play scoring, and Hefford says the data showed the power play percentages increased by almost 3%, which they were very pleased about.
Hefford later fielded a question about what went into this season’s rule changes, namely the removal of the coach’s challenge. She said it is all about getting the call right first.
“For us, I think it came back to really wanting to ensure that we get the calls right,” Hefford said. “I think, depending on the venue we’re in and because we play in multiple venues, especially when you add in the Takeover Tour, the technology can, at times, be a challenge for our coaches and the people that are watching on a team level. And so just through discussions and how we can make the game better, we all agreed that we should get the call right first. We have the capabilities through the Central Situation Room, which is here in Toronto. So we thought it was a great way to ensure that the calls are right, and so we’re going to test it out and see how it works. The folks that are in the Central Situation Room, our officiating team, all believe this is something that could positively impact the league, and so that’s why we made the decision.”
The third PWHL season officially gets underway on Friday, Nov. 21, when the back-to-back Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost host the Toronto Sceptres at 7 p.m. ET at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, MN.