(UPDATE: Feb. 20, 2026, 4:09 p.m. ET): The U.S. women’s hockey team won 2-1 Thursday in a thrilling overtime match against Canada for the gold medal.
The U.S. Women’s hockey team has scored 31 goals over the six games it has played during the Winter Olympics in Milan. At the same time, it has allowed just one goal in amassing an Olympic record-setting five consecutive shutouts. In the tournament’s gold medal game on Thursday, the U.S. women’s team faces off against Canada, which has won 5 gold medals in the sport, but was crushed by the U.S. 5-0 in the final game of the preliminary round last week.
One can’t help but wonder if this is the moment in the U.S. where women’s professional hockey takes off.
The U.S., which has won twice, is the only other team besides Canada to win a gold medal in women’s ice hockey, and the team seeks to make it three gold medals by netting a win against its northern neighbor Thursday.
And as the team prepares for that showdown with Team Canada, one can’t help but wonder if this is the moment in the U.S. where women’s professional hockey takes off.
The Women’s National Basketball Association, or WNBA, has been having a moment — although that momentum is threatened by a potential work stoppage that threatens the 2026 season. The National Women’s Soccer League has seen explosive growth, with three times as many people attending games now as five years ago. Given the increasing appetite for women’s professional sports, and the U.S. women’s hockey team’s dominance in Milan, this would seem to be the perfect time for women’s professional hockey to take hold. And the women avenging their 2022 loss to Canada and winning gold Thursday would be a big boost.
Mark Walter, the billionaire owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers, launched the Professional Women’s Hockey League in 2023. Walter owns every single team under the current model being operated. That can work with the smaller footprint the league currently occupies, but true growth will come when billionaire owners in the National Hockey League take a stake in the PWHL as owners of their own franchise.
The league currently has eight teams (four U.S. and four Canadian). There are plans to expand to as many as 12 teams for the 2026-27 campaign. Will Walter continue to operate as the sole owner of the league? I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t like some help from his billionaire friends already in the sports franchise ownership game. One advantage that women’s professional hockey has is that it mirrors the men’s game. One advantage women’s professional hockey has is that it mirrors the men’s game: It’s fast and hard-hitting. By contrast, the WNBA is largely played below the rim, and the men’s game is played above it. Women’s baseball and softball don’t show the same way on television as an MLB game. But if you are a true hockey fan, women’s professional hockey is no less entertaining to watch than the men’s game. There is another issue for the PWHL that needs addressing. Marketing and television coverage are key to growing the brand. While they’ll get a quick sugar high from these Olympic Games, that will eventually wear off for a league competing with the NHL, NBA, college basketball and the start of the MLB season. The PWHL also has no national footprint beyond games being broadcast on YouTube. Yes, some regional sports networks carry PWHL games. But it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the TV rights deals for the WNBA and NWSL. Those rights deals also bring needed capital to a startup league that has a good product to showcase.
Jason Page
Jason Page is the host of the nationally syndicated daily TV show “SportsWrap w/Jason Page.” 
Attendance has grown during the first two seasons of the PWHL. Attendance is up 17% this season versus last season. The league also continues to set new single-game records, drawing 17,228 fans on Jan. 18 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., for a neutral site game and 16,014 on Nov. 28 for the inaugural home opener of the Seattle Torrent. On average for the season thus far, attendance is at 8,650. Keep in mind that this is a season that takes place at the same time as the NHL, unlike the WNBA, which plays its games outside of the NBA calendar.
USA Hockey says girls’ participation in hockey has jumped 65% over the past 15 years. That makes it one of the fastest-growing youth sports in the country. The girls watching hockey in these Winter Olympics will be left wanting more when they conclude after this gold medal game. The PWHL ought to be looking for ways to give it to them.