Play It Big: Redefining Pro-Women’s Hockey
The Professional women’s hockey league has always been in the forefront of my mind since it came about in 2023. I grew up watching hockey, and while I didn’t play, it still felt important to see women on a big stage like the men’s hockey players get. Throughout the years the professional women’s hockey players have struggled to have a living doing what they do best and often the only way they could continue playing professionally was by having multiple jobs. In 2017, the USA Women’s Hockey Team for the Olympics staged a walkout asking for better pay, and it worked. Ever since, it has been a continued agenda to keep women’s hockey going and give them what they deserve. The PWHL coming along was a major improvement for players seeing as before there were three different underpaid women’s leagues that separated most players unlike the NHL. Now they are able to get paid decently, as well as in the Olympics, and create a fan culture around the PWHL that is unforgettable.
In 2025, the PWHL introduced the Takeover tour, a set of games spanning across the country in cities that don’t have a franchise team. This turned out incredibly well and had a lot of people paying attention to the league and what it brought to women’s hockey. Truly, the takeover tour kickstarted the outpouring of love that the PWHL is now receiving. Since then, they have broken many arena records and visited places all over the USA and Canada, including Chicago!
I was lucky to be able to go last year when they visited St. Louis and it was one of the most electric games of my life. Undoubtedly my favorite part was when you could see all of the little girl's
hockey teams that were going to see a league that supported and reflected them. Many of the players in the PWHL expressed that they didn’t have many female role models because there just weren’t any that were given the spotlight. Now, every little girl that wants to play hockey can look up to the league and see a player that they see in themselves.
If you’re interested in watching a game, you can find them for free on YouTube on the PWHL’s page!
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