PWHL Weekly Notebook 1/26/26: League Surpasses 500,000 Fans on the Season

JANUARY ATTENDANCE SURPASSES 200K, SEASON ATTENDANCE MORE THAN 500K

The PWHL has set a new monthly attendance record with 229,691 fans across 24 January games, with four more games this week to grow the total. This exceeds the 194,881 fans that attended 24 games in December, with the game average month-over-month climbing from 8,120 to 9,570. Through 57 games of the 2025-26 PWHL season, total attendance now stands at 502,912 with a per-game average of 8,823. The league surpassed the half-million mark on Sunday with a crowd of 11,612 at Denver’s Ball Arena during the PWHL Takeover Tour™, with the week’s highest attendance of 14,006 recorded Thursday at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum, representing the largest weekday crowd (Monday to Thursday) at a primary home venue in PWHL history. In 2024-25, the league surpassed 500,000 fans in the 69th game of the season (12 more games than this season), played on Mar. 15.

MILE HIGH MEMORIES

The 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour™ made its 10th of 16 stops on Sunday for an all-expansion matchup presented by Woody Creek Distillers. The Vancouver Goldeneyes defeated the Seattle Torrent 3-1 in Denver for the first game of this season’s Tour, decided by multiple goals. This was the league’s second game played at Ball Arena in two seasons and the first of two matchups in the Mile High City this season, with the Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens returning on Mar. 15. Jenn Gardiner scored a goal and an assist, giving the Goldeneyes forward goals in two straight games played in Denver, while Izzy Daniel netted her second straight game-winner and third goal in Takeover Tour™ games this season. On Friday night, Torrent forward Danielle Serdachny attended the Colorado Avalanche game and joined the studio panel on Altitude TV. Both teams held open practices and autograph sessions for fans at Family Sports Center on Saturday, with youth hockey players enjoying a special on-ice experience with the Goldeneyes. Vancouver players also embraced the elements for walk-ins with slopes-to-skates inspired fits. Click here for more about the PWHL Takeover Tour™.

MURPHY LEADS VICTOIRE TO TWO WINS

Montréal forward Maureen Murphy led the PWHL with three goals on six shots in two games to be named PWHL Player of the Week presented by SharkNinja. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old from Buffalo, NY, found the back of the net for the first time this season, scoring the opening tally in the Victoire’s 2-1 overtime win over the Frost. She followed that up by scoring again on Saturday, netting two in a 3-1 win over the Charge, the first multi-goal game of her career. Her second goal of the contest held as the game-winner and was her first-ever on the power play. Murphy has four points through 14 games and has matched her three-goal total amassed over 28 games in 2024-25.

FROST RECEIVE CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS

The league celebrated its back-to-back Walter Cup Champion Minnesota Frost on Thursday at a private ceremony in St. Paul, where the team was presented with its 2024-25 championship rings created by Paris Jewellers Canada. The rings were designed in collaboration with the Frost and feature many bespoke design elements that reflect Minnesota’s historic repeat season. The Toronto Star told the story of the meaning behind Paris Jewellers’ design process, while the Frost shared a behind-the-scenes look at player reactions to seeing the rings for the first time. On Wednesday at Grand Casino Arena, fans are invited to join in celebrating their Walter Cup Champions and Olympic-bound players during the team’s 7 Rings Celebration game.

FOUR TEAMS REACH MIDWAY MARK OF SEASON

The first four teams in the PWHL to play 15 of their 30 regular-season games occupy spots four through seven in the standings. New York (7-0-2-6) has 23 points, Vancouver (5-1-2-7) and Ottawa (3-5-0-7) are tied with 19 points, and Toronto (4-1-3-7) has 17 points. The Sirens, who recently saw their team record a seven-game point streak come to an end, are three points ahead of last year’s pace, while the Charge’s seven wins in their last nine games bring them two points ahead of last year’s pace through 15 games. The Sceptres, who dropped both games on their first West Coast trip of the season last week, are two points behind their 2024-25 pace. Boston (8-1-2-2) continues to lead the league with 28 points through 13 games, followed by Minnesota (6-2-3-3) with 25 points through 14 games and Montréal (6-3-0-5) with 24 points through 14 games. Seattle (4-1-2-6) is in eighth place with 16 points through 13 games. See full PWHL standings here.

BIGGEST SCORES OF THE SEASON

There were 41 goals scored across last week’s seven games for an average of 5.9 per game, representing an increase of approximately 1.3 goals above the full-season per-game average. The last time there were more than 40 goals scored in a week was Dec. 16-21, with 42 across nine games. This surge was largely driven by a pair of team records by the league’s expansion teams. Seattle scored a season-high six goals on Tuesday in a 6-4 win over Toronto, with the 10 combined goals representing the most in a single game this season. Vancouver’s five goals in a 5-0 win over Toronto on Thursday was a new season-high and the largest margin for victory so far in 2025-26. Minnesota also scored six goals for the second time this season in a 6-2 win over New York on Sunday, and is the only team averaging more than three goals per game (3.14). Follow all PWHL results here.

FASTEST TWO GOALS IN PWHL HISTORY

The Goldeneyes set a new PWHL record for the fastest two goals by a team with two in 11 seconds during the second period against the Sceptres, with Tereza Vanišová scoring at 13:31 followed by Sarah Nurse at 13:42, both unassisted. The record was nearly matched Sunday by the Frost in the first period against the Sirens when Taylor Heise scored at 6:13 followed by captain Kendall Coyne Schofield 12 seconds later at 6:25. Before this week, the record for fastest two goals was 16 seconds achieved by Toronto against Minnesota on Feb. 3, 2024, and Minnesota against New York on Mar. 16, 2024, both in third period action.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH AND THE WIZARD OF WOZ

Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Charge rookie Sarah Wozniewicz became the first two players to score their second overtime-winning goals of the season. Both of Poulin’s tallies have come in wins against the Frost, including Wednesday night in Minnesota with her all-time leading 35th career goal and 10th game-winner. Wozniewicz won Tuesday’s game for Ottawa over New York in the extra frame, making all three of the third-round pick’s goals this season game-winners to tie Daniel for the league lead in the category. Laura Stacey of the Victoire holds the single-season record with three overtime goals in 2024-25, while Poulin’s six game-winners last season is the benchmark.

DESBIENS AND CAMPBELL SET GOALTENDING FIRSTS

Montréal’s Ann-Renée Desbiens became the first goaltender in PWHL history to record 30 career regular-season wins in her 49th appearance between the pipes on Saturday against Ottawa. The performance was the seventh time in 12 starts where she has allowed one or fewer goals, trailing only Boston’s Aerin Frankel, who has had nine such performances in her 12 starts. The pair is tied for the league lead with eight wins, with Frankel narrowly holding the lead in goals-against-average with a mark of 1.23 to Desbiens’ 1.24, while Desbiens has the edge in save percentage at .951 to Frankel’s .950. Vancouver’s Kristen Campbell became the first goaltender to record a shutout against a former team, stopping all 24 shots against the Sceptres on Thursday. Her fourth career shutout includes three with Toronto during the inaugural season. Between her and Emerance Maschmeyer, the Goldeneyes are the first team this season to have a goaltending tandem with shutout victories. Frankel (28) and Campbell (27) are next in line to reach 30 career wins. See PWHL goaltending leaders here.

COYNE SCHOFIELD AND HEISE FIRST TO DOUBLE DIGITS IN GOALS, ASSISTS

The Frost duo of Coyne Schofield and Heise became the first players this season to reach double digits in single offensive categories while riding five-game point streaks. Coyne Schofield leads the league with 10 goals and 16 points, and Heise leads the way with 11 assists and is tied for second with 14 points. Two more Frost players have 14 points: alternate captain Kelly Pannek (7G, 7A), who has goals in three straight games, and forward Britta Curl-Salemme (5G, 9A). Charge captain Brianne Jenner (8G, 6A) also has 14 points to round out the top five scorers. Fleet captain Megan Keller (5G, 6A) leads all defenders in points with 11, and the Sirens duo of first overall pick Kristýna Kaltounková (9G, 1A) and third overall pick Casey O’Brien (4G, 6A) lead all rookies with 10 points this season. See this season’s PWHL leaders here.

CARTER SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL

Seattle’s Megan Carter scored her first career goal against her former Sceptres team on Tuesday, becoming the first-ever Torrent defender to find the back of the net. The 24-year-old from Milton, ON, tallied in her 31st career game and has four points in 13 games this season. There have been 98 different goal scorers this PWHL season, including 24 defenders. See this season’s top offensive defenders here.

TRIO CHASING 50-POINT MILESTONE

Three players are on the brink of reaching the PWHL’s half-century mark for career points with Torrent captain Hilary Knight (23G, 26A), Jenner (24G, 25A), and Heise (15G, 34A) all holding 49 points heading into Wednesday’s action. So far this season, the milestone has been achieved by four players, including Poulin, Coyne Schofield, Toronto’s Daryl Watts, and Seattle’s Alex Carpenter. See PWHL all-time leaders here.

FIRST HALF UNITY GAMES

Vancouver hosted the league’s first-ever Lunar New Year Celebration on Thursday as part of the PWHL Unity Game Series, which celebrates diverse cultures and communities and promotes a welcoming and inclusive PWHL game experience for all. The first half of the regular season also saw Black History Celebrations in Boston, Minnesota, Montré, al and Seattle, Indigenous Peoples Celebrations in Minnesota and Seattle, a Hispanic Heritage Celebration in New York, and an Asian Heritage Celebration in Toronto. PWHL Unity Games will continue in the league’s second half, with Pride Celebrations across all eight markets among the highlights. Click here for more.

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE

The first-ever four-game day in PWHL history on Wednesday will be accompanied by Olympic send-offs celebrating the league’s 61 players heading to Italy, and bobblehead giveaways in all four host markets. In Montréal, the first 6,000 fans in attendance can get their hands on a Desbiens bobblehead when the Victoire welcome the Sceptres to Place Bell at 6:30 p.m. ET. The first 3,000 fans at the Tsongas Center to watch the Fleet take on the Sirens at 7 p.m. ET will receive a Frankel bobblehead. In Ottawa, the first 6,000 fans to arrive at TD Place for the Charge against the Torrent at 7 p.m. ET will get a Jenner bobblehead. And in Minnesota, Lee Stecklein bobbleheads will be given away to the first 4,000 fans attending the Frost against the Goldene, yes, which starts at 9 p.m. ET at Grand Casino Arena, all while supplies last. Following Wednesday’s action, 61 games will be completed, representing just over half of the 2025-26 schedule’s 120 regular-season games. Games will resume on Feb. 26, following the Olympics. Full broadcast details are below and available online here.

Wednesday, January 28 – 6:30 PM ET
Toronto Sceptres at Montréal Victoire (Place Bell)

• Canada: TSN and RDS

Wednesday, January 28 – 7 PM ET
New York Sirens at Boston Fleet (Tsongas Center)

• Canada: TSN+
• U.S. (In-Market): NESN, TV 38, MSGSN
• U.S. (Out of Market): FOX 11+ Los Angeles, SNP+ (Pittsburgh)

Wednesday, January 28 – 7 PM ET
Seattle Torrent at Ottawa Charge (TD Place)

• Canada: TSN+
• U.S. (In-Market): FOX 13+
• U.S. (Out of Market): Great Lakes Sports & Entertainment Network, Last Frontier Sports & Entertainment Network (Alaska), North Star Sports & Entertainment Network, Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, Peachtree Sports Network (excludes Augusta)

Wednesday, January 28 – 9 PM ET
Vancouver Goldeneyes at Minnesota Frost (Grand Casino Arena)

• Canada: TSN
• U.S. (In-Market): FanDuel Sports Network North Extra, FOX 9+
• U.S. (Out of Market): FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, Scripps Sports

Fans around the world can continue to follow every game live via the PWHL YouTube channel and thepwhl.com, with the exception of Canada, and in Czechia and Slovakia, where Nova Sport will continue to carry games locally.