The puck dropped on the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, or PWHL, in January 2024, and fans have been excited so far.

The nascent league has attracted eyes, and dazzled with its play, while big names like Hilary Knight, Marie-Philip Poulin, Alex Carpenter and Natalie Spooner have packed fans into arenas, proving that there’s room in North America for women to take the ice.

But this is the fourth swing at establishing a professional women’s league since 2007, leaving some to ask, what makes the PWHL different from its predecessors?

Today ESPN Senior NHL Writer Greg Wyshynski takes us through the PWHL’s inception, explores the history of women’s professional hockey in North America, and explains why there’s optimism that this time, it’ll stick.

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