r/PWHL

It’s over

For San Jose fans like me who are hungrily awaiting San Jose expansion news, the Shark City Hockey instagram is reporting that the expansion announcement for San Jose is coming next week!

I can't be personally too mad about where they're going because we went from 2 years ago not having a league or teams at all to 2 years later having soon to be 12 teams. We alse have something insane like over 200 people declaring for this year's draft. That is nothing but an amazing thing for the sport and it's growth.

Well it's as official as it can be now!

1. Hamilton is in the biggest hockey market in the world, especially for women. Over 15% of PWHL players come from the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area.
2. Hamilton’s downtown arena just went through a $300,000,000 renovation last year. It seats 18,000 people, and the PWHL team will likely be the main tenant.
3. ⁠Hamilton is the only city to have a PWHL team and not an NHL team. This means Hamilton will be the only city where the PWHL team is the biggest hockey team in town.
4. ⁠Lots of large nearby cities that make Hamilton more lucrative than other Canadian cities. Kitchener, London, Niagara, Burlington, the list goes on. These are people who may not make the trek to Toronto, but would to Hamilton.
5. ⁠Low cost, high potential reward. Hamilton is a relatively cheap compared to every other PWHL city, and the return on investment for a team in hockey-obsessed Hamilton should be massive for the league.
6. ⁠While other cities were playing hardball with the PWHL, Hamilton officials and Oak View Group were very cooperative and genuinely wanted a team, no strings attached. Hamilton was the path of least resistance.
7. ⁠Hamilton has infamously wanted an NHL team badly. (similar to struggles in Québec City). When the owner of BlackBerry tried to move the Penguins to Hamilton, season tickets sold out in one day. I believe Hamilton will embrace this PWHL team like no other city would (aside from maybe Québec City).

I’m so happy to see high-level pro hockey in my city for the first time in 102 YEARS! I love Hamilton and this expansion is gonna be a massive deal here. I’m expecting near-sellouts every game. The need for more high-quality hockey teams here is real; the Leafs are too expensive and shitty, and the Sceptres are always sold out. I can’t wait for the next season to start! GO HAMILTON!