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More than 4 million Canadians watched the final minutes of the Americans’ overtime win over the Canadians in women’s Olympic hockey on CBC last week.
For the first time, there’s one place for all of those people to keep following women’s hockey after the Olympics, a problem that’s plagued the sport for years.
“People would only rediscover or recognize us once every four years,” U.S. captain Hilary Knight, who also captains the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent, said on Wednesday. “Now we have a consistent place to play, we’re continuing to increase visibility and also marketability of the sport, and draw new eyes and continue to grow our fan base.”
It’s an opportunity the PWHL has been keen to capitalize on as the league resumes play on Thursday, following a four-week pause for the Olympics.
Sixty-one PWHL players competed at the Games, representing eight different countries. All of the Canadian team’s roster was drawn from the league.
Even before the puck drops on Thursday night’s game between the Montreal Victoire and New York Sirens, the PWHL has already seen some signs of increased interest in the sport.
The league sold more tickets in its home venues on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 since Nov. 22, when the PWHL’s third season began, according to the league’s data.
Merchandise sales also increased 101 per cent in February, “compared to the season to date trend prior to the Olympics.”
“What the entire world enjoyed in Milan was the highest level of Olympic women’s hockey we’ve ever seen,” four-time Olympic gold medallist, Jayna Hefford, who is the PWHL’s executive vice-president of hockey operations, told CBC Sports.
“The speed, the skill, the physicality, it’s all been elevated, and the competitive balance is stronger than ever. We hope the Olympics have captivated new women’s hockey fans, and that they know they can continue following these world-class athletes in the PWHL, where they compete at this level every day.”
Here are some key storylines to watch as the PWHL resumes play on Thursday:
Playoff pushes
The Boston Fleet go into the second half of the league only two points clear of the Minnesota Frost for first place. But the Fleet have a game in hand and a ton of momentum to bring back from the Olympics.
Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel returns to the PWHL after posting an eye-popping 0.39 goals against average at the Olympics, having only allowed two goals over six games in the tournament.
Meanwhile, her U.S. teammates, Olympic hero Megan Keller and Haley Winn, were already arguably the best defensive pairing in the PWHL. Now, they’re back with gold medals, after Keller scored the overtime winner over Canada in the final.
“I was just trying to make a move, take a chance,” Keller said about her golden goal. “I was trying to win, not play to not lose. That’s what we talked about in the locker room.”
Fleet assistant captain Alina Müller should return with a ton of confidence, too, after playing a big role in her Swiss team capturing Olympic bronze, the country’s first time on the podium in women’s hockey since 2014. Müller scored the game winner in both of those games, 12 years apart.
At the bottom of the PWHL standings, teams like the Seattle Torrent, Toronto Sceptres and Vancouver Goldeneyes will be looking to use the Olympic break as a reset. They’ll have a short runway to make up ground and push for a playoff spot. Only the top four teams will make the playoffs.
Knight said she’s confident the Torrent, which sit in eighth place with 16 points, can take advantage of the second half.
Many predicted the Torrent, along with the Goldeneyes, would be among the top teams in the standings, after stockpiling talent during the expansion process last year. That hasn’t been the case so far.
“While we were out realizing our Olympic dreams, we had a whole team here working their butts off, getting ready for the moment we all came back and could collectively continue this journey on behalf of Seattle forward,” Knight said. “There’s been a tremendous amount of hard work that’s gone in and just continuing to team build and get going.”
‘It’s OK that it hurts’
Players from the Canadian team who came within two minutes of winning a gold medal will have to reset from that disappointment quickly.
Watch every goal scored by Canada’s women’s hockey team at Milano Cortina 2026.
For Montreal Victoire assistant captain Laura Stacey, who was part of that Canadian team, the loss still stings.
But there’s not much time to process, because the third-place Montreal Victoire will play three games in the next six days before a nearly two-week break from play.
“It’s going to take a lot to get over what happened there,” Stacey said after the Victoire’s practice on Wednesday. “I think that’s OK. I think we have to expect that, we have to know that we’ve worked our entire life for that moment. It’s OK that it stings, it’s OK that it hurts. But it’s definitely nice to be back with the girls and be surrounded by some great people.”
Both Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was injured in preliminary-round play at the Olympics, and defender Erin Ambrose, who absorbed a hard hit in the final minutes of the gold-medal game, missed Montreal’s practice on Wednesday, according to Radio-Canada’s Christine Roger.
It’s not yet clear whether Poulin and Ambrose will play on Thursday or the extent of their injuries.
Poulin returned to play in her team’s final two games at the Olympics, but it was clear she was in discomfort. Just how much pain she was feeling wasn’t something she wanted to share with her teammates, so she wouldn’t be a distraction.
Emotionally, the loss has been difficult for Poulin. Stacey said it’s been hard to see Poulin hurting.
“Coming up short, I think it’s going to hit all of us and it’s going to hit her really hard,” Stacey said. “But I know she’s surrounded by some amazing people, this team in particular. I think obviously once everything settles down physically, being around great people really helps you get through tough things in life, and I think she knows that and is going to lean on the people that matter most.”
Prospects to watch
Half of the league’s teams won’t make the playoffs, but they’ll still have plenty to play for down the stretch.
It’s not exactly clear yet how the league’s draft format will work, given that more expansion teams are expected to be added ahead of next season. (News on expansion came last season in April.)
What is clear is the existing teams that are eliminated from playoff contention will be looking to win games to earn Gold Points to draft at the top of the order. The system is designed to discourage tanking, while also giving fans of a team eliminated from playoff contention something to cheer for.
This year’s draft should be deep, and there’s franchise-altering talent at the top.
That starts with defender Caroline Harvey (University of Wisconsin) who was named Olympic MVP and best defender after putting up nine points in seven games.
Not far behind her in the points race at the Olympics was Wisconsin teammate Laila Edwards, who has the versatility to play both defence and forward.
Or teams could pick Abbey Murphy, the University of Minnesota forward who boasts both game-breaking skill and the ability to get under her opponents’ skin.
The PWHL is back on CBC Sports on Saturday, as the Ottawa Charge hosts the first-place Boston Fleet at 2 p.m. ET.
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