The first ever season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is underway as of January 2024, and Canadian sportsbooks are getting in the spirit with newly added PWHL betting odds for 2024! Hockey fans know the inaugural PWHL draft took place in September 2023, and now this newly minted league is already underway in its regular season. In this article, we cover where to bet on the PWHL, and the PWHL betting lines we’re likely to see at the best Canadian sportsbooks going forward.
Next PWHL Games
PWHL Minnesota vs. PWHL Boston
Saturday April 27th, 1:00 PM CDT
Xcel Energy Center
PWHL Ottawa vs. PWHL Montreal
Saturday April 27th, 12:30 EDT
TD Place
Where To Bet On PWHL In 2024
While PWHL betting is a brand new market for sportsbooks, hockey betting is no stranger to Canadians. The PWHL presents an exciting new opportunity for women’s hockey betting, and Canadian sportsbooks already have PWHL odds published for bettors to wager on! Currently, bet365, Bet99, and Betway are the only sportsbooks in Canada with up-to-date PWHL betting odds, and they’re only offering odds on the outright winner at this time. Currently, Betway is offering the shortest odds on average.
With that said, we anticipate that both sportsbooks will offer in-game betting, puck line, totals, and proposition bets shortly. In addition, as the fan base grows, we expect more sportsbooks such as TonyBet, PowerPlay, NorthStar Bets, and BetRivers to add futures odds for PWHL betting as well. Overall, we predict that as the popularity of the PWHL grows, so will the number of sportsbooks with PWHL odds. For now, bettors should keep an eye on the PWHL betting markets on offer as games get underway.
1. bet365 PWHL Betting
Bet365 Canada is easily one of the best sportsbooks in the country, and they now offer PWHL betting odds as well! At this time, bet365 only offers PWHL futures odds, which means you can only bet on which team will win outright for the 2024 season. We anticipate next year there will be more odds available, including betting odds on the PWHL draft in September.
Bet365 is an excellent sportsbook for live betting (complete with live streaming), competitive odds, and a huge variety of leagues to choose from. This is one of the key reasons bet365 is so quick on the uptake to offer PWHL odds, as they tend to be a leader in league variety. Bet365 also stands out from the crowd for their intuitive sportsbook design; even new bettors will find bet365 simple to navigate, no matter what league or market you’re searching for. If you run into any issues, you can contact bet365 via live chat, email at [email protected], or through your account. As the PWHL picks up in popularity, we recommend checking back here or on bet365’s PWHL page to browse in-game wagering opportunities, in addition to puck line, moneyline, and totals as they become available. At this time, the PWHL futures odds available at bet365 are:
2. Bet99 PWHL Betting
*Note: Bet99 has temporarily removed their PWHL futures line. We have reached out to them for details.
Next on our list, Bet99 is also offering PWHL betting odds on futures markets only. Again, this means you can only bet on the outright winner of the PWHL for the 2024 season. Bet99 is easily comparable to bet365 in sportsbook quality and odds value, which you can assess for yourself with the PWHL lines available at Bet99 at this time.
As another top betting site in Canada, Bet99 is the only other sportsbook at this time offering Professional Women’s Hockey League betting odds. Bet99 is also known for offering a large variety of betting leagues, which is why they’re ahead of the game when it comes to odds on new leagues. We also expect Bet99 will publish moneyline, puck line, and totals odds for games going forward. If not this season, then certainly by next season when the PWHL picks up in popularity. For the new bettors out there, Bet99 is known as Canada’s Premiere Online Sportsbook and Casino, making them a secure, trustworthy choice to wager at. Their primary spokesperson is Canadian UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, largely due to their strong Canadian focus. If you’re looking to branch out and bet on additional hockey leagues, Bet99 should absolutely make the top of your list.
3. Betway PWHL Betting
*Note: Betway has temporarily removed their PWHL futures line. We have reached out to them for details.
Recently added to their extensive list of hockey leagues, Betway now has a futures line for the PWHL! Betway’s lines beat out Bet99 and bet365 for Minnesota, Ottawa, and New York, so if you plan to bet on these teams you can get more bang for your buck here. Betway is known for offering a vast selection of global sports leagues, and are one of the few Canadian sportsbooks to offer hockey betting on multiple leagues outside of the NHL.
Outside of PWHL betting, Betway is known for taking deep security measures to protect player’s bank accounts, their excellent mobile betting app, and for offering an all-around great sportsbook. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Betway today is one of the leading international sports betting organizations. They’re an excellent source for soccer betting and horse betting, largely due to their UK roots, but they hit every major North American category as well. Judging by the odds below, Betway tends to offer odds that benchmark well against their competitors, and occasionally beat them out entirely. They make it easy to cash out and offer a number of standard payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, MuchBetter, Paysafecard, Interac, and more for players to choose from. All in all, Betway is an upstanding sportsbook where you an now bet on the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
What Is the PWHL?
The PWHL, or the Professional Women’s Hockey League is a newly formed professional women’s ice hockey league in North America. The newly launched league is intended to be the men’s NHL equivalent, with the hope of more teams joining the roster annually. Similar to the NHL, the PWHL plays a regular season followed by a postseason championship. The regular season spans between January 1st 2024 and May 5th 2024, and consists of 72 games in total. Each team will play 24 games during the PWHL regular season, fighting for one of four spots in the postseason. The PWHL playoffs begin the week of May 6th and will follow a best of five, head-to-head competition format.
The notable differences between the PWHL and the NHL are a number of unique rules introduced to the women’s league that make more sense based on style of play. The PWHL will use a 3-2-1-0 points system, where teams earn 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime win, 1 point for an overtime loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. The PWHL will also impose greater rules on body-checking, a best of five shootout format, and will release all penalties following a short-handed goal.
PWHL Teams 2024 Season
For its inaugural season, there will be six teams competing for the title of champion – three from Canada, and three from the United States. All six teams and the league as a whole are owned by the Mark Walter Group, and employs more than 100 operational staff. On average the PWHL athletes will earn between $32,000 (nine players to a team) and $80,000 (six players to a team) annually, with the league aiming for an average salary of $52,000. The league also established a player’s union, the PWHL Player’s Association, to ensure player salaries remain competitive, and increase by 3% annually. Because the PWHL is still largely in its infancy, the six teams involved do not yet have nicknames, and are instead known by their hometowns as follows.
Current Favourite: Toronto PWHL
Toronto PWHL To Win Outright
The Toronto PWHL currently comes in with +175 odds to win the season outright. Despite a rocky start to the season, Toronto has stepped up their game and stunned fans with a rapid improvement in skill and strategy. With Canadian national team players Sarah Nurse, Renata Fast, Blayre Turnbull, and veteran player Jocelyn Larocque signed on as the first four players of the franchise, Toronto is set to keep improving as long as they play to their strengths. With many more opportunities to show what they’re made of, we’re keen to watch Toronto hit their stride in speed, skill, and teamwork this season.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Gina Kingsbury
- Head Coach: Troy Ryan
- Team Captain: Blayre Turnball
- To Watch: Spooner, Nurse, Fast, Turnbull, Larocque
- Home Rink: Maple Leafs Gardens
Runner-Up: Minnesota PWHL
Minnesota PWHL To Win Outright
The Minnesota PWHL is stacking up in the top two rankings for now, easily earning their place in the league under former Olympian and now general manager Natalie Darwitz. The Minnesota PWHL is fronted by a younger core of athletes which gives them a leg up in this veteran-heavy league, but can they sustain their top spot for long? The sportsbooks seem to think so, giving them the second best odds to date at +225. While their standings are looking up, Minnesota has been on the decline in terms of performance. We’re waiting to see this change in success impact their PWHL betting odds, but nothing so far. What’s more is the league’s very first pick (ever), Taylor Heise, has yet to score once in her past six games. Given their wins and losses to date, we’d chalk up Minnesota as a PWHL betting wild card.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Natalie Darwitz
- Head Coach: Ken Klee
- Team Captain: Coyne Schofield
- To Watch: Heise, Schofield, Zumwinkle
- Home Rink: Xcel Energy Center
To Watch: Montreal PWHL
Montreal PWHL To Win Outright
Montreal is easily shaping up to be a team for bettors to watch with a strong lineup of veteran players to their name. Currently standing in third, Montreal’s odds of +325 could prove valuable given the team’s success so far. They’ve secured powerhouse goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens and captain of the Canadian national ice hockey team Marie-Philip Poulin, brining them success overall to date. The team’s inaugural game at TD Place Arena in Ottawa set an attendance record of 8000 fans for women’s professional hockey — a trend that’s likely to continue if they keep up their strong gameplay. With another hard fought week behind them, Montreal continues to prove their mettle as a strong contender to place your PWHL bets on.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Daniele Sauvageau
- Head Coach: Kori Cheverie
- Team Captain: Marie-Philip Poulin
- To Watch: Poulin, Stacey, Bettez, Ambrose, Daoust
- Home Rink: Verdun Auditorium
Ottawa PWHL
Ottawa PWHL To Win Outright
Under head coach Carla MacLeod, the Ottawa PWHL is gearing up for an interesting season despite PWHL betting odds of +500 at bet365 and Betway. With her knack for building medal-winning teams and exceptional team culture (see Team Czechia), MacLeod is sure to pull out the potential of Ottawa’s newest professional women’s team. Ottawa started last in the standings, but the strong game play from their star players to date shows how close the PWHL can get in its rankings. For instance, Ottawa has pulled ahead (once by 3 points) in more than one game so far only to fall behind in the final period. So, what do they have to do to keep their lead? We’ll leave that to Carla MacLeod, and we’ll leave it to you to decide if this team is worth your wagers.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Michael Hirshfeld
- Head Coach: Carla MacLeod
- Team Captain: Brianne Jenner
- To Watch: Adzija, Clark, Jenner, Grant-Mentis
- Home Rink: TD Place Arena
Boston PWHL
Boston PWHL To Win Outright
The Boston PWHL is struggling to find consistency in the league, despite having some of the most experienced and decorated players on its roster. Led by team captain and former Olympian Hilary Knight, the Boston PWHL sits second last, with a concerning number of wins secured through last-ditch efforts. Though the team has yet to see a star goal scorer emerge, Boston’s roster of young players have started to step up and help the team find its footing. One bright spot for Boston is Alina Muller, who leads the team with four goals and six points. Can Boston turn things around and make a run for the playoffs? Unlikely given their odds of +4000, but anything can happen as this league settles in.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Danielle Marmer
- Head Coach: Courtney Kessel
- Team Captain: Hilary Knight
- To Watch: Knight, Mueller, Frankel
- Home Rink: Tsongas Center
New York PWHL
New York PWHL To Win Outright
The New York PWHL is showing signs of improvement after a slow start to the season, thanks to the stellar play of their star forward Alex Carpenter. Proving her mettle, Carpenter scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in a dramatic comeback win over Ottawa on Sunday, February 4th. New York also boasts a strong defensive core, led by Canadian Olympians Ella Shelton and Micah Zandee-Hart. New York is currently last in the standings, and given their odds of +5000 is not expected to recover. The next few weeks will be crucial for New York’s playoff hopes.
Key Players:
- General Manager: Val-d’Or Foreurs
- Head Coach: Howie Draper
- Team Captain: Micah Zandee-Hart
- To Watch: Carpenter, Packer, Shelton, Roque
- Home Rink: Total Mortgage Arena
PWHL History & Timeline
As hockey fans will know, the PWHL is not the first time an organization has attempted to establish a professional women’s hockey league. Past leagues suffered from a lack of funding, interest, and international adoption. Both the National Women’s Hockey League and the Western Women’s Hockey League were Canadian-based, non profit leagues that did not pay player salaries, and existed exclusively in Canada. Both were replaced by the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, which was not a professional league, but aspired to become one, expanding to include the United States and China over their 12 seasons in operation. Unfortunately, this league eventually succumbed to the consequences from lack of funding, and discontinued operations in 2019.
A new era of women’s professional hockey was born in 2015 under the name of the National Women’s Hockey League. They later rebranded to the Premier Hockey Federation when it was purchased by the Mark Walter Group in 2022. While it began in the United States, the league expanded to include Canadian players, and was the first successful league to pay player salaries. At the same time, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, or PWHPA, was founded in response to the dissolution of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League back in 2019. This non-profit organization united former Olympians and professional hockey players with the intent of unifying all professional female hockey players under one league. Their goal was to create one recognized league for players to aspire to play professionally, and allow investors to confidently fund.
In 2022, Mark Walter and Billie Jean King began discussions with the PWHPA to solidify the Premier Hockey Federation (previously National Women’s Hockey League) as the professional women’s hockey league in North America. In June of 2022, the Premier Hockey Foundation was dissolved by the new partners to make way for the PWHL – established August 29th, 2023. Now as the only professional women’s hockey league in North America, backed by investors, a union, and the PWHPA, we hope to see this league thrive under its new management and pave way for a new era of professional women’s sports.
PWHL FAQ
The PWHL draft took place in September of 2023.
The PWHL inaugural season began on January 4th, 2024.
PWHL betting is available at bet365 and Bet99 in Canada.
The PWHL stands for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and is the first official professional league to pay salaries to women’s hockey players. It it backed by the Mark Walter Group and the non-profit organization, the PWHPA.
There are six inaugural teams in the PWHL including: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Minnesota, Boston, and New York.
PWHL players are paid between $32,000 and $80,000 annually, with a goal average of $52,000.
