The 2024 PWHL season was the first season of operation of the Professional Women's Hockey League, and began play on January 1, 2024. It started off with six teams that competed without any unique names or branding: PWHL Boston, PWHL Minnesota, PWHL Montreal, PWHL New York, PWHL Ottawa, and PWHL Toronto. The regular season began on January 1, 2024. PWHL Toronto topped the regular season standings with 17 wins and 47 points. A two-round, best-of-five playoff including the top four teams was then held from May 8 to May 29. PWHL Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup, defeating PWHL Boston in a 5-game series for the title.
League business
The PWHL was announced in August 2023 after the Mark Walter Group announced the formation of a new league aligned with the players in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, and subsequently purchased and folded the rival Premier Hockey Federation in June 2023. On August 29, the locations of the six charter franchises were announced.
On September 1, 2023, a 10-day free agency period began, during which each team was eligible to sign up to three players. On the same day, the league announced the general managers for each team: Danielle Marmer for Boston, Natalie Darwitz for Minnesota, Pascal Daoust for New York, Gina Kingsbury for Toronto, Daniele Sauvageau for Montreal, and Michael Hirshfeld for Ottawa. On September 5, Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, and Emerance Maschmeyer became the first players signed to PWHL contracts when they signed with Ottawa.
On September 18, 2023, the inaugural PWHL Draft took place. It was a 15-round draft, with the initial order determined by a lottery, and subsequent rounds following a "snake format" in which the team who selected last in the previous round selected first in the next round, and the selection order was reversed. The draft order was announced on September 1, with the lottery won by Minnesota, followed by Toronto, Boston, New York, Ottawa, and Montreal. The league allowed players to apply for "compassionate circumstances" in order to stay in their home markets, with those approved eligible to be drafted only by their home market teams; the list of approved players will not be publicly released. Taylor Heise was picked first overall by Minnesota.
On October 25, 2023, PWHL Holdings, LLC filed potential names for the six teams with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. According to The Athletic, the potential names were Boston Wicked, Minnesota Superior, Montreal Echo, New York Sound, Ottawa Alert, and Toronto Torch. PWHL Holdings had previously filed trademarks for the league name and logos. However, the league eventually opted against naming the teams ahead of the season due to time constraints; for the 2024 season only, the teams were known by their city names, and team jerseys featured a diagonal wordmark of their home city.
Training camps opened on November 15, with final rosters confirmed on December 11. Final rosters include 23 roster players and 3 reserve players.
From December 3 to 7, all six teams congregated for a pre-season evaluation camp in Utica, New York, which included scrimmages at the Utica University Nexus Center. PWHL executive Jayna Hefford stated that the unified camp enabled the league to experiment and provided an opportunity for team and player education around issues like safety and doping.
On January 15, it was announced that 24 PWHL players would participate in the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto, playing a 3-on-3 showcase game on February 1.
The PWHL season paused for the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship, which ran from April 3–14, and featured 39 PWHL players.
On May 22, 2024, the PWHL was announced as the winner of the Sports Business Journal's 2024 Breakthrough of the Year award.
On May 24, 2024, the league announced that the 2024 PWHL Awards ceremony would be held June 10–11 at the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront Hotel in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Coaching changes
On December 27, 2023, one week before PWHL Minnesota's inaugural game, the team announced that head coach Charlie Burggraf had decided to step away from the team, citing family reasons. Burggraf had been named the team's first coach on September 15, 2023, and coached the team to a perfect 3–0 record in the preseason. Ken Klee was then named Burggraf's replacement.
Regular season
Standings
Schedule The regular season schedule was announced on November 30, 2023. The season began on January 1 and ended on May 5, 2024, with each team playing 24 games. The schedule paused in February for an IIHF National Team Break, and in April for the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. The playoffs began the week of May 6.
All times in Eastern Time.
| December 4 || 1:00 || Toronto || 5–2 || Boston || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 4 || 4:15 || Ottawa || 4–8 || Minnesota || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 4 || 7:30 || Montreal || 0–4 || New York || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 5 || 12:00 || Minnesota || 5–4 || Toronto || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 5 || 3:15 || Boston || 1–3 || Montreal || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 5 || 7:30 || Ottawa || 1–2 || New York || SO || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 7 || 9:00 am || Montreal || 3–4 || Minnesota || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 7 || 12:15 || New York || 6–4 || Toronto || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| December 7 || 3:30 || Ottawa || 1–3 || Boston || || @ Utica University Nexus Center
| January 1 || 12:30 || New York || 4–0 || Toronto || || align=left| Corinne Schroeder recorded shutout (1)
| January 2 || 7:00 || Montreal || 3–2 || Ottawa || OT || align=left| New attendance record: 8,318
| January 3 || 7:00 || Minnesota || 3–2 || Boston || || align=left|
| January 5 || 7:00 || Toronto || 3–2 || New York || || align=left|
| January 6 || 3:30 || Montreal || 0–3 || Minnesota || || align=left| Maddie Rooney recorded shutout (1)Grace Zumwinkle recorded hat-trick (1)New attendance record: 13,316
| January 8 || 6:00 || Ottawa || – || Boston || || align=left| Game postponed to February 19 due to inclement weather
| rowspan=2|January 10 || 7:00 || Montreal || 5–2 || New York || || align=left| Played @ UBS ArenaMarie-Philip Poulin recorded hat-trick (1)
| 8:00 || Toronto || 1–3 || Minnesota || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|January 13 || 1:00 || Ottawa || 5–1 || Toronto || || align=left|
| 3:30 || Boston || 3–2 || Montreal || OT || align=left|
| January 14 || 4:00 || New York || 3–2 || Minnesota || OT || align=left|
| January 16 || 7:00 || New York || 2–3 || Montreal || || align=left| Played @ Place Bell
| rowspan=2|January 17 || 7:00 || Minnesota || 3–2 || Ottawa || OT || align=left|
| 7:00 || Boston || 3–2 || Toronto || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|January 20 || 12:30 || New York || 4–1 || Boston || || align=left| Jade Downie-Landry recorded hat-trick (1)
| 8:00 || Toronto || 4–3 || Montreal || SO || align=left|First regular season shootout.
| January 23 || 7:00 || Toronto || 1–3 || Ottawa || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|January 24 || 7:00 || Boston || 3–2 || Ottawa || || align=left|
| 8:00 || Montreal || 2–1 || Minnesota || || align=left|
| January 26 || 7:00 || New York || 0–2 || Toronto || || align=left| Kristen Campbell recorded shutout (1)
| rowspan=2|January 27 || 3:30 || Ottawa || 1–2 || Montreal || OT || align=left|Played @ Place Bell
| 4:00 || Minnesota || 3–4 || Boston || OT || align=left|
| January 28 || 1:00 || Minnesota || 2–1 || New York || OT || align=left|
| February 3 || 12:00 || Minnesota || 1–4 || Toronto || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|February 4 || 1:00 || New York || 4–3 || Ottawa || OT || align=left|
| 3:30 || Montreal || 2–1 || Boston || OT || align=left|
| rowspan=2|February 14 || 7:00 || Toronto || 5–3 || Boston || || align=left| Natalie Spooner recorded hat-trick (1)
| 8:00 || Ottawa || 1–2 || Minnesota || || align=left|
| February 16 || 7:00 || Montreal || 0–3 || Toronto || || align=left| Played at Scotiabank ArenaNew attendance record: 19,285Kristin Campbell recorded shutout (2)
| rowspan=2|February 17 || 2:00 || Minnesota || 2–1 || Ottawa || || align=left| | |-boston | 4:00 || New York || 2–1 || Boston || OT || align=left|
| February 18 || 1:00 || Minnesota || 1–2 || Montreal || || align=left|Played @ Place Bell
| February 19 || 4:30 || Ottawa || 4–2 || Boston || || align=left|Rescheduled from January 8
| rowspan=2|February 21 || 7:00 || Ottawa || 1–3 || Boston || || align=left|
| 7:00 || Montreal || 2–3 || New York || SO || align=left|Played @ UBS Arena
| February 23 || 7:00 || New York || 1–2 || Toronto || SO || align=left|
| February 24 || 2:30 || Ottawa || 3–6 || Montreal || || align=left|Claire Dalton recorded hat-trick (1)
| February 25 || 4:00 || Boston || 2–0 || Minnesota || || align=left|Aerin Frankel recorded shutout (1)
| February 27 || 8:00 || Toronto || 4–3 || Minnesota || OT || align=left| Played @ 3M Arena at Mariucci
| February 28 || 7:00 || New York || 2–4 || Ottawa || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|March 2 || 3:30 || Toronto || 5–2 || Ottawa || || align=left|
| 4:00 || Boston || 1–3 || Montreal || || align=left|
| March 3 || 12:30 || Minnesota || 2–0 || New York || || align=left|Played @ UBS Arena Maddie Rooney recorded shutout (2)
| March 5 || 8:00 || Ottawa || 3–4 || Minnesota || SO || align=left|
| rowspan=2|March 6 || 7:00 || Montreal || 4–3 || New York || || align=left|
| 7:00 || Boston || 1–3 || Toronto || || align=left|
| March 8 || 7:00 || Montreal || 0–3 || Toronto || || align=left| Kristen Campbell recorded shutout (3)
| rowspan=2|March 10 || 3:00 || New York || 2–3 || Boston || OT || align=left|
| 4:00 || Ottawa || 4–2 || Montreal || || align=left|Played @ Place Bell
| March 13 || 8:00 || Boston || 0–4 || Minnesota || || align=left| Nicole Hensley recorded shutout (1)
| rowspan=2|March 16 || 3:30 || New York || 1–5 || Minnesota || ||
| 6:00 || Ottawa || 1–2 || Boston || SO || align=left| Played @ Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
| March 17 || 12:30 || Toronto || 2–1 || Montreal || || align=left|Played @ PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh
| rowspan=2|March 20 || 7:00 || Ottawa || 3–0 || New York || || align=left| Emerance Maschmeyer recorded shutout (1)
| 7:00 || Boston || 1–2 || Toronto || || align=left|
| March 23 || 1:00 || Toronto || 3–5 || Ottawa || || align=left| Daryl Watts recorded hat-trick (1)
| March 24 || 4:00 || Montreal || 2–3 || Minnesota || SO || align=left|
| March 25 || 7:00 || Boston || 2–3 || New York || || align=left|Played @ UBS Arena
| rowspan=2| April 18 || 7:00 || Toronto || 1–2 || Boston || || align=left|
| 7:00 || Minnesota || 3–4 || Montreal || || align=left|
| rowspan=3| April 20 || 1:00 || Toronto || 3–2 || Montreal || OT || align=left|New attendance record: 21,105 Played @ Bell Centre
| 3:30 || Boston || 2–1 || New York || || align=left|Played @ Prudential Center
| 7:00 || Minnesota || 0–4 || Ottawa || || align=left| Emerance Maschmeyer recorded shutout (2) Brianne Jenner recorded hat-trick (1)
| rowspan=2|April 24 || 7:00 || Boston || 2–3 || Ottawa || SO || align=left|
| 7:00 || New York || 2–5 || Montreal || || align=left|
| rowspan=2|April 27 || 12:30 || Montreal || 2–0 || Ottawa || || align=left|Ann-Renée Desbiens recorded shutout (1)
| 2:00 || Boston || 2–1 || Minnesota || || align=left|
| April 28 || 1:00 || Toronto || 6–2 || New York || || align=left|Sarah Nurse recorded hat-trick (1)Played @ UBS Arena
| April 30 || 7:00 || Ottawa || 3–4 || New York || || align=left|New York clinched first pick in the 2024 PWHL draftPlayed @ Prudential Center
| May 1 || 7:00 || Minnesota || 1–4 || Toronto || || align=left| Toronto clinched first place
| rowspan=2|May 4 || 1:00 || Minnesota || 2–5 || New York || || align=left|Played @ UBS Arena
| 3:30 || Montreal || 3–4 || Boston || || align=left|Boston clinched playoff spot