Four-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Jayna Hefford (third from right) joins local dignitaries at a press conference announcing the PWHL Vancouver expansion franchise on 23 April, 2025.
photo: © Lucas Aykroyd
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced on Wednesday that an expansion franchise has been granted to Vancouver, Canada. The league’s seventh team, PWHL Vancouver, will begin play in the 2025-26 season at the Pacific Coliseum.
Jayna Hefford, Canada’s all-time goals leader at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, was one of several legends at a packed press conference on the 37th floor of a new Vancouver skyscraper overlooking Stanley Park. U.S great Cammi Granato – one of the first three women inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame (2008) – joined alumnae of the 2010 Canadian Olympic gold-medal team, including tournament MVP Meghan Agosta and Tessa Bonhomme, who MC’d the event.
Jayna Hefford, Canada’s all-time goals leader at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, was one of several legends at a packed press conference on the 37th floor of a new Vancouver skyscraper overlooking Stanley Park. U.S great Cammi Granato – one of the first three women inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame (2008) – joined alumnae of the 2010 Canadian Olympic gold-medal team, including tournament MVP Meghan Agosta and Tessa Bonhomme, who MC’d the event.
“I'll never forget stepping on the ice here in Vancouver in the 2010 Olympic Games with almost 17,000 people in the stands,” said Hefford, a four-time Olympic champion who is now the PWHL’s executive vice-president of hockey operations. “That moment, I think, really helped set the stage for where we are today and where the women’s game is.”
The way British Columbia’s largest city embraced the PWHL’s Takeover Tour was a major factor in its being granted the league’s first expansion franchise, according to PWHL executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer. An 8 January game between the Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres drew 19,038 spectators to Rogers Arena. That was the Takeover Tour’s largest crowd out of nine neutral-site games this season, and it also spawned the most engagement on social media.
The PWHL, now in its second year, features the lion’s share of elite IIHF female players.
To illustrate, five members of the media all-star team at the just-concluded 2025 Women’s Worlds in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia were PWHLers: goalie Klara Peslarova (Boston Fleet), defenders Renata Fast (Toronto Sceptres) and Ronja Savolainen (Ottawa Charge), and forwards Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal Victoire), and Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost).
The way British Columbia’s largest city embraced the PWHL’s Takeover Tour was a major factor in its being granted the league’s first expansion franchise, according to PWHL executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer. An 8 January game between the Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres drew 19,038 spectators to Rogers Arena. That was the Takeover Tour’s largest crowd out of nine neutral-site games this season, and it also spawned the most engagement on social media.
The PWHL, now in its second year, features the lion’s share of elite IIHF female players.
To illustrate, five members of the media all-star team at the just-concluded 2025 Women’s Worlds in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia were PWHLers: goalie Klara Peslarova (Boston Fleet), defenders Renata Fast (Toronto Sceptres) and Ronja Savolainen (Ottawa Charge), and forwards Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal Victoire), and Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost).
It will be intriguing to see how PWHL Vancouver – the club’s long-term nickname is still to be determined – mingles homegrown talent with international stars. British Columbia has historically trailed Eastern Canada in producing women’s hockey players, but that is starting to shift.
In addition to 2022 Olympic champ and New York Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart (Victoria), Canada’s silver-medal team in Ceske Budejovice included two noteworthy rookies from the suburbs of Vancouver (metro population 2.64 million). Forward Jennifer Gardiner (Surrey) led the Women’s Worlds with six goals. Blueliner Chloe Primerano (North Vancouver) played six games as an 18-year-old, becoming Canada’s youngest Women’s Worlds defender since Cheryl Pounder in 1994.
As Hefford noted, the 2010 Olympics marked Vancouver’s international women’s hockey peak. Attracting a record 162,419 spectators over 20 games, the tournament climaxed with the Canada-U.S. gold medal game at Canada Hockey Place (now Rogers Arena). Poulin, then 18, made a huge statement by scoring twice in a 2-0 victory, and goalie Shannon Szabados had 28 saves as the Canadians celebrated their third straight Olympic title.
Vancouver is no stranger to hosting IIHF tournaments in general. The IIHF World Junior Championship also took place here in 2006 and 2019.
PWHL Vancouver’s home arena is just east of downtown. The Pacific Coliseum – home to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks from 1970 to 1995 – hosted 14 games at the 2006 World Juniors. The Coliseum has a maximum hockey capacity of 16,281. According to the PWHL, the classic 1968-built venue will get a new scoreboard, as well as upgraded dressing rooms, training facilities, and broadcast technology. The club will be the Coliseum’s primary tenant and practice at the neighbouring PNE Agrodome.
According to multiple media reports, a Seattle PWHL expansion franchise is also upcoming. That would offer a natural cross-border rivalry. Seattle, which also hosted a well-attended Takeover Tour game in January, is about a three-hour drive south of Vancouver.
Things have come a long way since the 1920’s Vancouver Amazons and 2000’s Vancouver Griffins, the previous local women’s pro clubs. In the big picture, the PWHL Vancouver announcement underscores the meteoric growth of women’s hockey in this decade, with Canada continuing to prosper.
Bonhomme said she had spoken to the U11 Vancouver Angels girls’ hockey team, which attended the press conference with hand-drawn signs touting the new PWHL franchise: “I'm like, ‘All right, who's going to be playing for this Vancouver team?’ And there wasn't a hand that didn’t go up. They all went up immediately.”
Canada is slated to host five IIHF women’s tournaments between 2026 and 2030. That includes the 2027 and 2030 Women’s Worlds, as well as the 2026, 2028, and 2030 U18 Women’s Worlds. Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia were just confirmed as the sites of the 2026 U18 Women’s Worlds.
In addition to 2022 Olympic champ and New York Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart (Victoria), Canada’s silver-medal team in Ceske Budejovice included two noteworthy rookies from the suburbs of Vancouver (metro population 2.64 million). Forward Jennifer Gardiner (Surrey) led the Women’s Worlds with six goals. Blueliner Chloe Primerano (North Vancouver) played six games as an 18-year-old, becoming Canada’s youngest Women’s Worlds defender since Cheryl Pounder in 1994.
As Hefford noted, the 2010 Olympics marked Vancouver’s international women’s hockey peak. Attracting a record 162,419 spectators over 20 games, the tournament climaxed with the Canada-U.S. gold medal game at Canada Hockey Place (now Rogers Arena). Poulin, then 18, made a huge statement by scoring twice in a 2-0 victory, and goalie Shannon Szabados had 28 saves as the Canadians celebrated their third straight Olympic title.
Vancouver is no stranger to hosting IIHF tournaments in general. The IIHF World Junior Championship also took place here in 2006 and 2019.
PWHL Vancouver’s home arena is just east of downtown. The Pacific Coliseum – home to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks from 1970 to 1995 – hosted 14 games at the 2006 World Juniors. The Coliseum has a maximum hockey capacity of 16,281. According to the PWHL, the classic 1968-built venue will get a new scoreboard, as well as upgraded dressing rooms, training facilities, and broadcast technology. The club will be the Coliseum’s primary tenant and practice at the neighbouring PNE Agrodome.
According to multiple media reports, a Seattle PWHL expansion franchise is also upcoming. That would offer a natural cross-border rivalry. Seattle, which also hosted a well-attended Takeover Tour game in January, is about a three-hour drive south of Vancouver.
Things have come a long way since the 1920’s Vancouver Amazons and 2000’s Vancouver Griffins, the previous local women’s pro clubs. In the big picture, the PWHL Vancouver announcement underscores the meteoric growth of women’s hockey in this decade, with Canada continuing to prosper.
Bonhomme said she had spoken to the U11 Vancouver Angels girls’ hockey team, which attended the press conference with hand-drawn signs touting the new PWHL franchise: “I'm like, ‘All right, who's going to be playing for this Vancouver team?’ And there wasn't a hand that didn’t go up. They all went up immediately.”
Canada is slated to host five IIHF women’s tournaments between 2026 and 2030. That includes the 2027 and 2030 Women’s Worlds, as well as the 2026, 2028, and 2030 U18 Women’s Worlds. Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia were just confirmed as the sites of the 2026 U18 Women’s Worlds.