Laila Edwards will make history at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina when she becomes the first Black woman to represent the United States in Olympic hockey. The University of Wisconsin defenseman was named to USA's 23-player roster announced on the TODAY Show marking another milestone in a career already defined by breaking barriers. Edwards, standing at 6-foot-1, became the first Black woman to play for Team USA in 2023 at the IIHF World Championships.

When the PWHL returned from its international break, three of the league’s four games drew 9,692 fans on average. Vancouver welcomed 9,250, Seattle followed with 9,389 and Halifax opened the Takeover Tour with 10,438 in a sold-out building. New York, meanwhile, drew 1,884. That single figure represents a gap of nearly 8,000 fans between New York and the rest of the league on the same slate of games.

Finland approaches the 2026 Winter Olympics with legitimate medal expectations built on the foundation of expanded offensive depth. While Canada and the United States remain gold medal favourites, Finland's roster construction might just suggest they are better equipped than ever to challenge North American dominance. The evaluation phase has concluded for everyone and Finland's coaching staff now faces roster optimization decisions.

Sweden enters the 2026 Winter Olympics positioned to challenge for their first medal since 2006. While lacking the individual star power of North American rosters, Sweden's program has systematically built depth through NCAA development pipelines and PWHL integration. Safe to say, they now have a balanced roster capable of competing across all four lines. Sweden's investment in youth hockey infrastructure and North American placement has produced a generation of players with professional experience and international pedigree.

Team Czechia arrives at the 2026 Winter Olympics with legitimate aspirations of capturing its first-ever medal. Back-to-back bronze finishes at the World Championships since 2022 have established Czechia as a legitimate threat to the traditional medal powers, and roster continuity heading into Milano Cortina suggests this could be the breakthrough moment. The Czech program's upward trajectory has long been driven by strategic player placement in North American professional and collegiate environments.

PDRD returns as a team-by-team recap of the past week of PWHL action, now moved over from its former home on Rinksiders. This year, it will be formatted as a PWHL power ranking and will include an outside-the-box stat for each team! Here’s how things look going into 2026. 8. Ottawa Charge (Previous Ranking: 7) The Charge have won three in a row, and they've dropped a spot.

The United States enters the 2026 Winter Olympics as the favourite to reclaim gold after sweeping Canada in the recent Rivalry Series. With six consecutive victories over their northern rivals, including a dominant 24–7 scoring margin across four Rivalry Series contests, Team USA's roster decisions might actually have gone from "who makes it" to "who sits." The evaluation window has effectively closed, and USA Hockey faces the enviable challenge of choosing between elite options rather than filling roster gaps.

The two PWHL expansion teams, the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes, each have four rookie skaters on their active roster. But the difference in how each team is using these players is notable. Is one strategy better than the other? Seattle Torrent From first-round pick to last in time on ice Forward Jenna Buglioni made history as the Seattle Torrent’s first-ever first-overall pick, at the 2025 entry draft in June.

As the Boston Fleet continue their undefeated start to the 2025-26 PWHL season, discussions around the team’s long-term infrastructure are beginning to surface alongside a major development proposal in Lowell, Massachusetts. While not officially branded as a Fleet project, UMass Lowell’s newly approved exploration of a secondary ice facility behind the Tsongas Center is probably the most concrete pathway yet toward solving a structural issue that has followed Boston since the league’s inaugural season in access to a dedicated year-round practice ice.

Katie Chan made her first PWHL shot count. The undrafted rookie opened the scoring in Vancouver’s 2-1 win over the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday night scoring her first career PWHL goal on her first shot on goal at 7:50 of the first period. The goal stood up as the game-winner and helped the Vancouver Goldeneyes become the first team in PWHL history to win its first three home games of an inaugural season.

From the outside, there was some skepticism when the Professional Women’s Hockey League announced its expansion to Seattle. Questions lingered about whether women’s hockey could truly take hold on the West Coast and whether the city’s hockey appetite extended beyond the Kraken. From Jessica Campbell’s perspective, there was never any doubt. Campbell, the Seattle Kraken’s assistant coach and a trailblazer as the first woman behind an NHL bench, viewed Seattle as a natural fit for the PWHL long before the Torrent ever took the ice.

Marie-Philip Poulin sent a pretty important message after Canada’s Rivalry Series loss to the United States. While the four-game set ended in a historic sweep, the first time Canada has ever been swept by the U.S. in Rivalry Series play, the Canadian captain made it clear that what happens next matters far more than what already happened. Canada closed the series with a 4-1 loss and was outscored 24-7 across games in Cleveland, Buffalo and two in Edmonton.

PDRD returns as a team-by-team recap of the past week of PWHL action, now moved over from its former home on Rinksiders. This year, it will be formatted as a PWHL power ranking and will include an outside-the-box stat for each team! Here’s how things look coming off the international break. 8. Seattle Torrent (Last Week: 7)

Hayley Scamurra has already made an immediate impression with the Montreal Victoire in the PWHL. The veteran forward, who signed a two-year contract with Montréal in June 2025, celebrated her first goal for the team over the weekend during their 3‑1 home victory against the Toronto Sceptres, her former team from last season. After the game, Scamurra explained that the experience was unreal and that she hadn’t even realized she had scored.

Montréal’s 3-1 win over Toronto on Sunday at Place Bell was defined by one element more than any other: physicality. Toronto’s players suggested afterwards that this was the most physical Montréal lineup they had faced and Victoire star Laura Stacey didn’t downplay it. Addressing the question during the postgame media availability, Stacey confirmed it was exactly what the team has been building toward.

The final leg of the 2025 Rivalry Series between the national women’s teams for Canada and the USA will take place on Wednesday, December 10th, and Saturday, December 13th, in Edmonton, Alberta. Now that the PWHL season is under way, what players should we keep our eye on? Which sidelined players might have a chip on their shoulder and will want to push harder to make that Olympic team?

Since the PWHL began, we’ve seen 20 home openers across the eight markets. What happened in this season’s openers, and are there any interesting storylines from teams’ previous openers? Team trends Boston Fleet Record at home: 1–0–0–2 // 5 GF, 5 GA Boston’s home opener this season took place on November 23, 2025. Aerin Frankel and the Fleet shut out the Victoire 2–0, with goals from Susanna Tapani and the newly appointed captain Megan Keller.