Boston welcomed a new sports team this year: one of a new original six franchises that make up the new Professional Women’s Hockey League.
So far, none of the teams have names or mascots (and few of the teams have permanent home rinks), but the league has immediately gained traction, breaking the attendance record for professional women’s hockey games twice in the first week of action in January, and continuing to do so throughout the year.
So, if you’re looking to get in on the hype and become Boston’s biggest fan — or just a casual one to start — here are a few things you need to know.
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What is the Professional Women’s Hockey League?
If you're thinking, didn’t Boston already have a professional women’s hockey team, you’re not going crazy.
The Boston Pride, which resided in Boston for eight years, was disbanded in June along with the rest of its league, Premiere Hockey Federation, as the result of a buyout by retired women’s tennis star Billie Jean King and Mark Walter, who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB) and the Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA).
King and Walter, two financial stakeholders in the former Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, partnered to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the PHF in an effort to pool the resources of the two competitor leagues and create a more sustainable women’s hockey league that provides its players with higher wages.
The agreement, which runs through 2031, offers players on active rosters a salary of between $35,000 and $80,000.
In its final season, the PHF, which was the first women's hockey league to offer players a salary, afforded each of its seven teams a salary cap of $750,000, or about $37,500 per player on a 20-person roster.
In a format reminiscent of the NHL's Original Six, the PWHL comprises six teams: Boston, New York, Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
In September, the league hosted its inaugural draft in Toronto, with the teams selecting 90 players through 15 rounds. Other players were signed as free agents around the same time to fill out each team’s roster.
Boston began its inaugural 24-game season Jan. 3, and games will run through the end of April.
The playoffs begin the week of May 6.
The top four teams will qualify for the tournament, with two rounds of best-of-five series. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, Boston was battling for the final spot.
Gameday in Boston (er… Lowell)
Despite being named for the state’s capital, Boston’s home rink is actually the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. (This is a common theme throughout the PWHL — for example, New York’s home games are split between Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Long Island, New York, just outside of Queens.)
The Tsongas Center seats 6,500 people, and PWHL Boston General Manager Danielle Marmer said at the time that it was announced as the team's inaugural host arena that its location in Lowell means it will "draw fans from the Merrimack Valley, North Shore, Southern New Hampshire, and the Greater Boston Area."
Tickets range from $15-$50 and can be purchased at boston.thepwhl.com.
For drivers, there are affordable parking options around the arena. UMass Lowell has a parking garage of its own, and there are other lots and meters scattered around the venue. (Look for a four-hour meter — games typically last between two-and-a-half and three hours.)
For people taking public transit, the Lowell Commuter Rail line will get you into the city, and from there, you can either walk 30 minutes, order an Uber or take the #18 bus to Lowell High School and walk eight minutes to the game.
Can’t make it to Lowell? Is the team on the road this week? No problem — all PWHL Boston games are televised.
And now, your players of the game…
The PWHL is chock-full of talent, and Boston is no different, with Olympic medalists and collegiate record-breakers up-and-down the lineup.
Here are a few of the names you should know:
Hilary Knight (#21)
As one of the most highly decorated American women’s ice hockey players in history, it’s no wonder Knight was named captain of the inaugural PWHL Boston team.
Before she broke into the world of professional hockey, the forward played for the University of Wisconsin where, by her sophomore season, she had broken the program records for single-season points (83), goals (45) and power play goals (16). She also led the NCAA in goals, points and power play goals that season.
Knight finished her tenure with the Badgers holding program career records in points (262), goals (143), game-winning goals (30), power play goals (37), shots (986), hat tricks (9) and most goals scored in one game (5). For her efforts, she was a three-time top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award, an award given by the USA Hockey Foundation that recognizes the strongest NCAA Division I women’s hockey player each season.
Post-college, Knight played in several pro leagues: with the Boston Blades (Canadian Women’s Hockey League), the Boston Pride (National Women’s Hockey League), and Les Canadiennes de Montréal (CWHL) before becoming one of the first players to sign with the Boston PWHL team in September.
Knight joined the Pride in its inaugural season, scoring the team’s first-ever goal, recording the team’s first multi-point game, becoming the NWHL’s first scoring champion, and helping the team win the inaugural Isobel Cup.
On the national stage, Knight is Team USA's current captain. She's helped carry the red, white and blue to nine gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women’s Championship, one gold Olympic medal (2018) and three silver Olympic medals (2010, 2014, 2022). At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Knight, then 20 years old, was the youngest member on either the men’s or women’s squad. She finished the Games with eight points.
Alina Müller (#11)
Taken third overall by Boston in the PWHL Draft in September, the 25-year-old left wing is an offensive powerhouse.
A recent Northeastern University graduate from Lengnau, Switzerland, Müller’s prowess was first recognized on the international level when she was just 15 years old.
In Switzerland’s bronze medal game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Müller netted the game-winner against Sweden, becoming the youngest ice hockey player to earn an Olympic medal.
Four years later, Müller tallied four goals in the first two periods of Switzerland’s opening match at the 2018 Winter Olympics, tying the Olympic record for most goals scored by a woman in a single game. She was named Swiss Ice Hockey Woman of the Year that year and earned the honor again in 2022.
Over the course of her incredibly successful career at Northeastern, Müller grabbed the program records for career points (254), assists (156) and game-winning goals (28), as well as the Hockey East career points record (175) and Hockey East Tournament scoring record (33 goals). Müller led the Huskies in points in her freshman, sophomore, junior and graduate student seasons, carrying Northeastern to six-consecutive Hockey East Championships and three-straight Frozen Four appearances.
In her final season at Northeastern, the Huskies, who finished the season 34-3-1, were 30-0-0 when Müller recorded a point.
Loren Gabel (#36)
Drafted by Boston in the fourth round, 22nd overall, Gabel's reliable ability to find the back of the net bumped Clarkson University to two consecutive national championships.
As a freshman, she led all Golden Knights rookies in scoring and ranked second among rookies nationally. In her junior campaign, Gabel broke Clarkson’s record for fastest hat trick, scoring thrice in under two and a half minutes on her way to a six-point game. The next year, she potted a goal eight seconds after puck drop, became the all-time scoring leader (213 points) and punctuated her career with the Patty Kazmaier award.
After three seasons with the PWHPA, Gabel signed with the Pride prior to the 2022-23 season. She led the league in points, goals and assists that year.
Megan Keller (#5)
Another former member of the collegiate hockey scene in Boston, Keller is the top defender on the team.
Keller was a staple on the blue line during her time at Boston College, becoming the fastest defender in program history to reach 100 points (102 games). At the time of her graduation, she held the program career records for goals (45) and assists (113) by a defender. She also led the nation in scoring among blue-liners in her latter three years with the program.
As a senior, she became the second-ever defender to be named a top-three Patty Kazmaier finalist.
At 17-years-old, Keller was selected by Team USA for the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship and led all skaters with a +9 rating. The next year, she participated in the IIHF Women’s World Championship for the first time, joining Knight on the U.S.’s run to gold — her first of five gold IIHF medals (she also has two silver under her belt).
Keller then joined Knight on the USA Olympic squads for the 2018 and 2022 games and supported the team to gold and silver finishes, respectively.
Aerin Frankel (#31)
Frankel, who signed as a free agent in September, is one half of Boston’s goalie tandem.
A five-year starter at Northeastern, the 5-foot-5-inch netminder, who spent most of her Husky career sharing the ice with Müller, holds the program records for career shutouts (39), single-season goals against average (1.31), single-season save percentage (.965) and single-season shutouts (11). With 103 career wins, she stands as the winningest goalie in both the men’s and women’s programs.
Frankel made a name for herself across the NCAA early on, posting an NCAA-rookie-leading .934 save percentage as a freshman. By her senior season, she led all goalies in the nation with a .965 save percentage and nine shutouts. That season, she also broke the Northeastern career shutout record (again, for both men and women) with 39.
In 2021, Frankel became the third Northeastern player to win the Patty Kazmaier award and the inaugural Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association Goalie of the Year award. The following season, she won Goalie of the Year again.
After graduating from Northeastern, Frankel spent a year with Team USA. At the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship, she backstopped the team through an unbeaten run to gold, racking up a .931 save percentage, 1.48 GAA, and 5-0-1 record.
There you have it — your all-inclusive guide to being a fan of the Boston PWHL team. Now, go grab a jersey and enjoy the season!
