The Professional Women’s Hockey League unveiled its 2025-26 regular-season schedule on Wednesday morning with more games, new franchises and a lengthy break for the 2026 Milan Olympics.

The league’s third season will feature 120 games — up from 90 last year — and the PWHL’s arrival on the West Coast with the debuts of expansion teams in Vancouver and Seattle. Each of the league’s eight teams will play 30 regular-season games from Nov. 21 to April 25.

The first day of the season features two games, starting with the Toronto Sceptres visiting the back-to-back reigning champion Minnesota Frost (7 p.m. ET), followed by the first-ever game between Vancouver and Seattle at the Pacific Coliseum (10 p.m. ET). New York vs. Ottawa and Montreal vs. Boston will round out the league’s opening weekend.

“Season 3 will be truly special with the highly anticipated debut of our first expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver and the growth of the PWHL community to the West Coast,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations. “We can’t wait for puck drop to see the impact our new and returning players will make, and to deliver a competitive season with even more games for fans to enjoy.”

PWHL HOCKEY IS BACK ON NOVEMBER 21! 🤩

The countdown to Season 3 has begun. Don’t miss a moment. Grab your season tickets!
➡️ https://t.co/dNmD63yItJ pic.twitter.com/Xyc7juhcfl

— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) October 1, 2025

The season will pause from January 29 to February 25 for the Milan Olympics, and will also go on a short hiatus in December (8-15) for the Canada-USA Rivalry Series and Women’s Euro Hockey Tour. As of Wednesday morning, there are no confirmed dates for the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championships — which is typically held in April — and no international break earmarked in the league’s calendar for the event.

Once again, the schedule has several games without an announced venue. That could mean more neutral-site games after the success of last season’s “PWHL Takeover Tour” with pop-ups in NHL markets like Detroit, Denver and Edmonton. According to the league’s news release, neutral-site venues, along with broadcast and streaming information, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Until then, here’s a look at some dates that should hold extra interest for fans when the PWHL returns.

Nov. 22: New York meets Kaltounková

The first pick in the 2025 draft, Kristýna Kaltounková, will debut on the second day of the PWHL season against the Ottawa Charge and her Czech national team coach Carla MacLeod.

Sirens fans will get their first look at their second straight No. 1 pick, as well as New York’s re-tooled roster, after general manager Pascal Daoust shook things up at the draft in June.

Nov. 26: A Charged-up goalie battle?

It was a no-brainer to protect rookie goalie Gwyneth Philips in expansion after her Playoff MVP performance in the postseason. But it was still bittersweet to move on from goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who was a Day 1 member of the Ottawa Charge and only lost her No. 1 role due to a season-ending injury. Maschmeyer, now a member of PWHL Vancouver, is almost guaranteed to get a warm welcome back at TD Place Arena.

Maybe she’ll even go head-to-head with Philips.

Nov. 28: Seattle’s home opener

One week after debuting in Vancouver, PWHL Seattle will play its first game at Climate Pledge Arena on Thanksgiving weekend against the Minnesota Frost. The last PWHL game held at Climate Pledge had just over 12,000 fans to watch Boston and Montreal. Now that Seattle has secured a team, the opener could draw a huge crowd.

Dec 2: Walter Cup rematch

Ottawa won’t need to wait long to face off against Minnesota for the first time since losing Game 4 of the Walter Cup Finals back in May. Both teams look different after the expansion draft process, but if the goalies remain as sharp as they were in the postseason, we should all settle in for an overtime (or two).

Dec. 8-15: Time for a break

The PWHL’s schedule will be cleared for this stretch, but hockey will still be played for national team members. Most notably, Canada and the U.S. will play in their final two Rivalry Series games on Dec. 10 and 13 in Edmonton before meeting again in Milan. With roster cuts typically coming around the Holidays, these games should have major Olympic implications.

Dec. 17: First potential Takeover Tour date?

Toronto and Montreal have the first “TBA” venue on the schedule, with the Sceptres listed as the home team. There’s a concert at Scotiabank Arena that day, so this is very likely the first neutral-site game of the year.

Jan. 7: Knight returns to Boston

Seattle’s Hilary Knight will return to Boston for the first time since being left unprotected in the expansion draft. This is a big year for Knight — she was one of the best players in the PWHL last season and is working towards playing in her fifth and final Olympics in Milan, which makes this an easy game to circle. Not to mention it’s being played at the more centrally located Agganis Arena at Boston University.

For Fleet fans closer to Lowell, Mass., Knight will return to the Tsongas Center on March 21.

Jan. 28: Olympic farewells

All eight PWHL teams will play on the final day of the season before the Olympic break. It’s a fun gimmick, except every game starts at 7 p.m. ET, so prepare to do a lot of channel flipping to get all the action. (I personally would prefer putting in a long couch shift throughout the day).

It will also be the first game that the former Frost contingent who signed in Vancouver — such as Claire Thompson, Sophie Jaques and Michela Cava — will return to Minnesota.

Feb. 26: A golden return?

It’s somewhat fitting that the first game back from the Olympics will feature Team Canada captain — and frequent gold medal game hero — Marie-Philip Poulin. Will she hit the ice at the Prudential Center with her Montreal Victoire and a third gold medal in tow? If yes, it’s likely because she scored another game-winner.

March 29: Nurse returns to Toronto

Sarah Nurse, one of the faces of the league who grew up outside of Toronto in Hamilton, Ont., was also among the surprising stars on the move during expansion. She’ll play her former Sceptres team on Jan. 22 and March 1 in Vancouver — and again on Jan. 17 at a location TBA — but won’t return to Coca-Cola Coliseum until near the end of the season.

April 25: The race to the playoffs

The PWHL playoff race has gone down to the wire in each of the league’s first two seasons. All eight teams are playing on the final day of the regular season — with times TBD, but hopefully staggered — which could make this the most chaotic finale yet.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)