Hockey season is here – well, almost – as the NHL opens training camp next week and takes the ice the week after that.
On the women’s side, there’s still a bit longer to wait, however, with the season not slated to start until December, following November’s World Championships in Denmark. Still, for fans of Detroit’s expansion team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League – which is entering its fourth season, and first in the Motor City – the season feels right around the corner, with several updates for the team’s inaugural season being revealed last week.
Here’s the latest on the PWHL’s debut in Detroit:
What will the PWHL’s Detroit expansion team’s name be?
OK, we’re still in the dark on that one,
as the league is still going with “PWHL Detroit” on its official releases – and even the branded merchandise that went on sale in August.
But we’re pretty sure there will be an official name announced before the season; last year’s expansion squads in Seattle and Vancouver had their names – the Torrent and Goldeneyes, respectively – about two weeks before their regular-season openers.
As for what that name will be? Well, a lot of PWHL Detroit’s branding on Instagram this offseason – from the slogan in the team’s bio, “Let’s get revved up!” to the profile vids – have featured automobile phrases. Shocking for the Motor City, we know.
What will PWHL Detroit jerseys look like?
The team’s official colors, per the league’s expansion announcement back in May, are black and silver, with white as a secondary color and red as an “accent color.” That all tracks with, again, the team’s Instagram branding.
The release of EA Sports’ “NHL27” video game, which features all 12 PWHL teams, gives us another hint, with a placeholder for PWHL Detroit’s home jersey appearing as mainly black with silver striping, and the away placeholder appearing as white with black striping. Interestingly, the “NHL27” placeholders also have the placeholder logos on the crests, rather than the team city in a diagonal that each of the eight older teams wore in their first season. So take these with a grain of salt.
OK, so when will PWHL Detroit play its first game?
We have actual news there (not just screenshots)! The league announced starting dates for training camp on Sept. 10, as well as some dates and locations for scrimmages between teams. Camps will open on Nov. 18 across the league, just two days after the gold-medal game at Worlds in Denmark. That’s likely to leave a few members of PWHL Detroit a bit gassed; U.S. legend Hilary Knight confirmed in August she wouldn’t be suiting up for Team USA, but fellow international standouts Cayla Barnes (defense, U.S.), Hannah Bilka (forward, U.S.), Daryl Watts (forward, Canada) and Andrea Brändli (goalie, Switzerland) are likely to see some extended work across the pond.
After camps open, each team will play in two scrimmages; unfortunately for the Motor City, PWHL Detroit is the only one of the four expansion squads not hosting scrimmages (which will be 60 minute games followed by three-on-three overtime and a shootout, regardless of score). Instead, PWHL Detroit will head across the border to Ancaster, Ontario, (near Hamilton) for a pair of exhibitions on Nov. 23-24, just before Thanksgiving. On Nov. 23 (1:30 p.m.), PWHL Detroit faces Ottawa at Morgan Firestone Arena; the next day, at 1:30 p.m. again, it’ll be a battle of expansion squads: Hamilton vs. Detroit.
When will PWHL Detroit play at Little Caesars Arena?
With camp going so late, when will PWHL Detroit’s first game at LCA be? That’s still unknown, but sometime in the Dec. 4-10 range looks like a possibility, with the final preseason scrimmages set for Nov. 29-30, the Wings and Pistons playing at LCA on Dec. 1-3 and then not again until Dec. 11.
How much will PWHL Detroit tickets cost at Little Caesars Arena?
After drawing an average of more than 13,000 to a trio of “Takeover Tour” games the past two seasons, the PWHL reportedly received more than 6,000 season-ticket deposits in Detroit earlier this summer. So things at LCA may be a bit cramped, especially if there is only limited upper-bowl and mezzanine seating – which means tickets may get a bit pricey, too, for the 15-game slate.
Emails sent out to deposit holders earlier this month showed only lower-bowl seats, with costs ranging from $30 per game (for the upper fourth of the lower bowl behind the nets) to $102 per game (for seats in the first two rows). The priciest tickets are “Comerica Players Club” seats, located along the neutral zone on the east side of the ice, at $137 a game. Of course, those come with all-you-can-eat food plus unlimited draft beers and wine.
How do those prices compare to Wings games? When the NHL is in the building, the cheapest lower-bowl seats check in at $116 a game and soar up to $161 closer to the ice, with “Players Club” seats given an ominous “call for pricing options” note instead of per-game figures.
How can I watch PWHL Detroit on TV?
If those prices are still a bit steep, we have good news: every PWHL Detroit game this season will be available on local TV, with Scripps coming to a deal with the league to broadcast games both nationally (on ION, with a Saturday “Game of the Week”) and locally, via WMYD-TV (Channel 20 in Detroit) and The Spot Channel 20 (WMYD’s online sibling).
Additionally, the PWHL will stream every game on its YouTube channel, as well as PWHL.com.
Ryan Ford is deputy sports editor for the Free Press and has been with Freep Sports since January 2006. Contact him at rford@freepress.com or follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford and on BlueSky at @theford.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: PWHL Detroit tickets, preseason, TV, uniforms; here's what we know
