Boston Will Have a Team in the New Professional Women’s Hockey League

The bad news is that while the Bruins were skating towards a disappointing first round elimination in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you may have missed the Boston Pride just missing out on a three-peat.

But the good news is that despite rumors the franchise would fold after the Premier Hockey Federation was bought out, the women on Boston’s “other” professional hockey team will be back this season in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

According to WGBH, the franchise will be among the new league’s “Original Six,” but will be renamed and rebranded. Also up in the air is where the team will play its home games.

The PWHL’s goal is to put women’s hockey in North America under the same umbrella, after it had spent years divided between two leagues. Who does Boston have to thank? The league’s new owners, who also own the Los Angeles Dodgers (maybe it’s their way of thanking us for Mookie Betts).

But the main challenge, though, is that the league is essentially starting from scratch. Imagine playing a video game where you “Fantasy Draft” an entire league; that’s the future ahead for the Professional Women’s Hockey League and its Boston franchise.

Other markets joining Boston: Montreal, New York, Minnesota, Toronto, and Ottawa. Time will tell if Boston’s PWHL team will grow as quickly as New England’s WNBA franchise, the Connecticut Sun.

Ironically, Connecticut was mentioned earlier this year as a potential home to an NHL franchise, with some speculating that it would mean the long-waited return of the Hartford Whalers.