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PHOTOS COURTESY PWHL A New Chapter In Women's Hockey Has Arrived With The Professional Women's Hockey League's Inaugural Season Underway By Nicole Haase JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 33 T HE INAUGURAL SEASON OF THE PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S HOCKEY LEAGUE (PWHL) is officially under- way, and the first season will feature each of the PWHL's six teams playing a 24-game regular-season schedule that will end on May 5. Playoffs will begin the following week. "It's time for the best women's hockey players in the world to lift our game to greater heights," said Stan Kasten, PWHL Advisory Board member. The six teams—Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto— will play each other at least four times. American and Canadian teams will have a fifth game against each of the other teams in their country. There will be two breaks in the season —one in February for the IIHF national team break when USA and Canada will close out the Rivalry Series and another in April for the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, New York. Rosters have been trimmed to 23 players after training camps where coaches could test team chemistry and get a better look at players they were less familiar with. "We've all been working towards this the last 10-plus years," said Hilary Knight, who is playing for Boston and is a four-time U.S. Olympian. "Many years we've been scratching the surface of what could be. Now we're here, and it's going to be a magical journey for everyone."