PWHL will kick off inaugural season on Jan. 1 with Toronto hosting New York

The PWHL announced on Tuesday that the first game of their inaugural season will take place on New Year’s Day as Toronto will host New York.

The afternoon matinee, taking place at Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto, formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens, will headline a stretch of five home openers scheduled over the first six days of the 2024 calendar.

“Giving our athletes the opportunity to step onto the ice to compete in front of our passionate fans has been the driving force of our efforts, and it’s going to be an exciting reality on New Year’s Day,” said Stan Kasten, a PHWL advisory board member. “It’s time for the best women’s hockey players in the world to lift our game to greater heights.”

Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury, who won two Olympic gold medals as a player with the Canadian National Team in 2006 and 2010, said it’s “almost poetic” that the franchise writing its first chapter of its history in one of Toronto’s historic buildings.

“It is an honour that we will call Mattamy Athletic Centre home and be under the same roof that housed the legendary Maple Leafs organization for so many years,” said Kingsbury. “We can’t wait to write our story and represent this world class city with great pride.”

Toronto will also take part in New York’s home opener on Jan. 5 at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. The league will announce its full season schedule later this week.