Professional Women's Hockey League is coming to UBS Arena

It’s a new era of ice hockey, and it’s coming to UBS Arena.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League makes its debut this month, kicking off 72 games played across eight different venues between the league’s “original six” franchise teams — Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto.

And one of those venues happens to be the same place where fans also can find the New York Islanders in Belmont.

“We are extremely pleased to be welcoming the PWHL to UBS Arena during their inaugural season,” Kim Stone, the president of UBS Arena, said in a release. “I’m proud that women’s hockey is getting a beautiful new building to call its home for several games during this historical moment in women’s sports history.”

The New York roster boasts 26 of the top women hockey players worldwide. Chief among them is Alex Carpenter, a 29-year-old forward from North Reading, Massachusetts, arguably one of the most skilled in the game today. She won two Olympic silver medals for her performance with Team USA and is a six-time International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s world champion.

Abby Roque played for Team USA alongside Carpenter, and will now join her on the roster in New York. The 26-year-old hockey star from Michigan made history as the first indigenous hockey player to compete in the Olympics and led the University of Michigan to a national championship in 2019.

She also finished the 2020 season as one of the Top 10 scorers in the NCAA.

Micah Zandee-Hart will lead the backcheck as one of the top-tier defensive players in the league. The 26-year-old Canadian was formerly a co-captain of the Cornell University hockey team, making her the second sophomore in the program’s history to wear the “C.”

She was also the first player in her province to take home the gold medal for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Having the privilege to showcase our skills in front of dedicated fans, in a top-tier arena, represents an opportunity that impeccably aligns with the professional standards upheld by the PWHL,” Pascal Daoust, general manager of the PWHL New York franchise, said. “It promises to be a premier sports experience not only for our athletes but also for our fans, allowing them to gather in greater numbers and take immense pride in standing united behind our team.”

Four of the PWHL New York team’s 12 regular season home games will take place at UBS Arena, and at least five of the remaining home games are scheduled to take place at the Total Mortgage Arena in Connecticut.

The schedule was constructed to ensure all six teams will play head-to-head a minimum of four times throughout the regular season, including twice at home and twice on the road. It also includes a pause in February for the PWHL 3-on-3 Showcase at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto during the NHL All-Star event and a break in April for the IIHF Women’s World Championship.

Playoffs begin the week of May 6.

Single-game tickets range between $17 and $47 and are available through Ticketmaster.com. Season ticket membership and half-season plans are also available online via NewYork.ThePWHL.com.