A PHF expansion team is heading to Montreal after the league made an announcement on Tuesday. This means the women’s hockey circuit will expand to seven teams. It will be the second Canadian team to join the league after the Toronto Six.
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) today announced details regarding expansion for the 2022-23 season with a seventh franchise to be introduced in Montreal, Quebec.
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— PHF (@PHF) July 12, 2022
PHF Expansion Squad Coming to Montreal
The expansion team will start play for the upcoming 2022-23 season. It will be the seventh team to play in the Premier Hockey Federation to join five other American-based teams. These United States teams are the Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Boston Pride, Minnesota Whitecaps and Metropolitan Riverters.
A team name, logo and colour scheme has yet to be announced for the club. However, one will likely be coming soon. The team’s coaching staff will also be announced at a later date. The leadership group is said to have TVA commentator and women’s hockey supporter Kevin Raphaël as team president. Raphael’s business partner Emmanuel Anderson will serve as vice president.
The franchise also announced a two-year contract with the Centre 21.02 in Verdun. This will serve as the team’s primary training facility. Games will be played in communities across the province during the 2022-23 season.
What it Means
There had been rumours of Montreal getting an expansion team as early as 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic might have slowed those plans down. It’s still great news to see the league expand by one and add a traditional hockey market like Montreal to the fold. It’s a big win to see Montreal get a team in the league.
Montreal is no stranger to women’s hockey as it’s had a CWHL team with Les Canadiennes de Montreal in 2007. The team won four Clarkson Cup championships between 2009 and 2019.
This is the third time the league has expanded since its inception in 2015. The league was known as the National Women’s Hockey League until it was rebranded as the PHF in 2021.
