The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is finally here. The first two games have been played, and they are already making history as we saw an 8318-fan game. That total saw Ottawa set a North American attendance record for professional women’s hockey. From marketing their league to rule changes, the NHL has some things to learn and implement into their league after watching just two PWHL games.
3-2-1-0 Point System
The PWHL announced that they would be using the 3-2-1-0 point system in their league, meaning three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and no points for a regulation loss.
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This is something that NHL fans would love to see: reward the teams for getting the job done in regulation. This makes for a much more diversified order of the standings, and teams notorious for just stringing a game along until extra time will not be rewarded the same and instead motivated to get the regulation win.
Having an overtime or shootout win being worth less than regulation could cause a bit of argument, as a win is a win, but having every game be a three-point game is something to appreciate regardless of the outcome. Keeping the “loser” point around is still fair. Your game came down to a do-or-die, extra frame, so you deserve a bit of something during the regular season. This format just adds a lot more balance between rewarding regulation wins and trying to eliminate the farming of overtime loss points.
The Power Kill
In addition to the new point system, the PWHL will be implementing what many call the “Power Kill”. In this new style, if a team is given a minor penalty, things continue as they would in the NHL and every other league. The player who committed an infraction will sit for two minutes or until the opposing team scores with the extra skater. However, in the PWHL, if you are shorthanded and score a goal, your player is freed from the penalty box.
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This is a great rule more leagues should adopt. Now, there is certainly an argument to be made about whether a team should get rewarded at all if they commit an infraction. Some people are even against the team down a player being able to ice the puck.
The majority of fans will enjoy this rule. It incentivizes the penalized team to be a bit more aggressive on their penalty kill, the team with the advantage to be a bit more cautious, and it’s a lot more fun for everybody watching.
One of the biggest risks in hockey is pulling the goalie for an extra skater. A game could be in the dying minutes with the trailing team having a power play opportunity and pulling the goalie. Now, for the leading team, there is an empty net to try for to end the power play for the other team. It takes an already-risky play and elevates the tension to a whole new level. Usually, a pulled netminder is a last-ditch effort and it is to score a goal or lose the game anyway, but if it is one goal, you will have to think twice about a 6-on-4 opportunity.
Broadcasting to YouTube
Should the NHL broadcast their games to YouTube? Absolutely. The way the NHL and its partnerships with broadcasting networks such as TSN, Sportsnet, ESPN, and TNT have things structured, there are regional blackouts, hefty prices for streaming packages, and more barriers. The PWHL has offered streaming on YouTube. They racked up over 232,000 views between their first two games just from the free platform. Televised ratings for those games are unavailable, and of course, some of the first games will receive some of the highest view counts, but having it as a free, non-regional option is a huge success for the league.
The U.S. audience is the biggest target for the NHL, and according to a report by Braylon Breeze, the NHL has averaged 466,000 views per nationally broadcasted game. That is pretty good, especially considering the 30 percent jump from last season’s average.
The NHL streaming to YouTube wouldn’t be anything new. Sportsnet has plenty of experience on the platform, most recognizably with former employee Steve “Dangle” Glynn. The series “Watch NHL on SN With Steve Dangle” has done very well, most notably in the playoffs. Sure, his Toronto Maple Leafs-loving fanbase and thousands of viewers on his personal channel and podcast help, but viewers from all over the league and world were enjoying the content.
The ratings on that series would land anywhere from 50,000 views to almost 400,000. That is some serious viewership.
Yes, there are contracts and deals in place for now and in the future, but moving forward taking away some of the barriers to grow the game at an exponential rate should be looked at and the NHL should broadcast through YouTube.
Do you know what else helps grow the game? Marketable players like Marie-Philip Poulin, Blayre Turnbull, and Lexie Adzija.
If you are a TikTok user, spend a lot of time on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram — or even just pay any attention to the PWHL in any capacity — you will have seen a significant amount of the players advertising themselves and the league. TSN’s BarDown had an episode with many players, the players have some great accounts on TikTok, and the team X pages are doing great at engaging the fans.
The NHL has some great personalities in the league. Players like Ryan Reaves, Marc-Andre Fleury, Brad Marchand, the Tkachuks, are among many who are always fun to listen to, but the NHL doesn’t embrace them as well as the PWHL and the players already have. Getting fans to love the players is what helps grow the game.
The NHL does a lot of things right. They are the top hockey league in the world. However, there are some things they could do better and the brand-new PWHL has given them a look at how these things work.