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Expansion incoming? PWHL picks Edmonton to host multiple games this season

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
|
Nov 10 2025, 7:09 pm
Expansion incoming? PWHL picks Edmonton to host multiple games this season
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It looks like the PWHL is eyeing Edmonton as a potential expansion franchise.

After hosting a wildly successful neutral-site game at Rogers Place last season, the PWHL has announced that the Alberta capital will host two more games this upcoming season. This is part of the second edition of the league’s Takeover Tour initiative, in which a host of regular-season games are played in a variety of neutral-site locations across Canada and the United States.

Both games will occur at Rogers Place, with the first featuring the reigning champion Minnesota Frost taking on the newly formed Vancouver Goldeneyes on Dec. 27. The second matchup will come on April 7 with the Goldeneyes returning to take on the Boston Fleet.

Last year’s matchup between the Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge nearly sold out Rogers Place, with 17,518 fans packing the stadium. That one was a thriller that saw the Sceptres take a 3-2 win in OT.

“After last year’s overtime thriller in front of a capacity crowd, we are excited to welcome the PWHL Takeover Tour back to Rogers Place and ICE District for two more games this year,” said Stu Ballantyne, the president and COO of Rogers Place and ICE District.

“Last year’s historic event showed us that families across Oil Country are big PWHL supporters, and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best women’s hockey players back to ICE District for two more games in front of the world’s best hockey fans.”

Edmonton is one of only two Canadian cities that will play host to two PWHL games on this tour, joining Halifax. Other stops across the country include games in Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Quebec City.

In the United States, the PWHL has awarded multiple games to each of Denver, Chicago, and Detroit, signalling some potential interest in expanding across the U.S. as well. The league will also make stops in Dallas and Washington.

The Alberta capital has been a popular destination in terms of expansion speculation. Edmonton is a hockey-crazed market, and they showed very well in their inaugural PWHL game last season. With the league recently expanding to Vancouver and Seattle this season, it would make sense to add another Western-based team to help reduce travel for those two teams.

Canadian women’s hockey legend, a new Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Jennifer Botterill, recently told Offside that she would like to see teams come to Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg.

 

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A report from The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta back in September said that up to four new expansion teams could be added to the PWHL in time for next season. That would bump the league up to 12 teams, double the amount that they launched with back in the 2023-24 season.

While nothing has been confirmed by the league, it feels like Edmonton is definitely in the running to be one of those new teams.

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