On Wednesday, May 13, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) announced their next expansion team. Ahead of the 2025-26 season, the Vancouver Goldeneyes and the Seattle Torrent were the first two expansion teams after two seasons. Last week, they announced their ninth team will be expanding to Detroit. The PWHL has announced that their second expansion team for the 2026-27 season will be in Hamilton.
All of Hamilton’s games will be played at TD Coliseum. Earlier in the 2025-26 season, the PWHL hosted a Takeover Tour game at TD Coliseum, and 16,012 fans packed the stands to watch the Seattle Torrent and the Toronto Sceptres face off. Now, the city of Hamilton will have a team of their own.
The name for the team has not been announced yet, but their team colors are gold, maroon, and cream. They will likely play under the name PWHL Hamilton for their first season, just like the inaugural six teams did for their first season and Seattle and Vancouver did this season. Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Seattle and Vancouver did announce their names, so we should hopefully expect to have a name for PWHL Hamilton before the team takes to the ice.
PWHL Hamilton will share TD Coliseum with the new American Hockey League (AHL) team that will be moving to Hamilton for the 2026-27 season. The Bridgeport Islanders will be heading to Hamilton under a new name, but that name is to be announced. Hamilton didn’t have any professional hockey teams in their city but will soon have two to kick off the 2026-27 season.
Hamilton is the fifth Canadian city to receive a PWHL team. Both the Toronto Sceptres and Hamilton are located in Ontario, which will create an exciting, built-in rivalry between the two teams.
A press conference to announce more details surrounding PWHL Hamilton will take place on Thursday, May 14, at 10:30 AM ET.
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