The Professional Women’s Hockey League is shifting to Eastern and Western conferences this season and increasing the playoffs from four to eight teams.
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The Professional Women’s Hockey League says it will establish Eastern and Western conferences this season and expand the number of playoff teams from four to eight.
The 12-team league, which includes four expansion clubs, will begin play Dec. 5 with Seattle facing Vancouver.
Expansion teams Hamilton and San Jose will play Montreal and Minnesota, respectively, as part of the league’s Dec. 5 slate.
The league’s season runs until April 18.
Eastern Conference teams will be the Boston Fleet, PWHL Hamilton, the Montreal Victoire, the New York Sirens, the Ottawa Charge and the Toronto Sceptres.
Western Conference clubs will be PWHL Detroit, PWHL Las Vegas, the Minnesota Frost, PWHL San Jose, the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
The PWHL says each team will play 30 regular-season games: 18 within its conference and 12 interconference games.
All teams will observe a one-week break around the debut of PWHL All-Star, which is scheduled for March 7, 2027, at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
For the playoffs, the top four teams in each conference will qualify for postseason play.
The league will use best-of-three series for the first round, best-of-five conference finals, and a best-of-five league final for the Walter Cup.
The league also says each conference’s first-place team will get the opportunity to select its first-round opponent by choosing between the third- or fourth-place team in that conference.
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