April 30, 2025 It was announced that the Professional Women’s Hockey Team (PWHT) will be expanding to Seattle as the eighth team in the league. They will be joining Vancouver as the first two expansion teams in the PWHT, playing alongside the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Since they are such a new team, they will operate under the title “PWHT Seattle” until an official name is chosen. Currently, the specific player names are yet to be announced, but the team already boasts an intensely experienced crew. Zoë Harris, the founder of PWHT Seattle, has worked as a player, coach, and administrator for over 30 years to grow the sport of ice hockey in the United States. She has focused her career on building new teams, leagues, and associations, and the PWHT Seattle team is sure to take her career to the next level. Spokespersons Kelly Stephens Tysland and Maealie Glanzer, responsible for promoting the team and interacting with the media, are among the few contributors announced. Alicia Crank serves as the Ambassador Chair, where she will lead campaign ambassadors at community activities and events while aiding in the promotion of the local movement. Their team advisors are Cindy Dayley, who has been involved in ice hockey in the Seattle area for over 50 years, as well as John Barr, the community catalyst of a Seattle National Hockey League (NHL) team. Even without the players announced, the amount of excitement radiating from the team is undeniable.
While women’s ice hockey is a new Seattle edition, ice hockey culture has been huge in Seattle since its addition, much of that being credited to the Seattle Kraken, founded in 2021. They have been a part of the NHL for four seasons and were the 32nd franchise in NHL history. The enthusiasm over the addition of Seattle’s Professional Women’s Hockey Team is fueled by the preexisting excitement over Kraken games in Seattle. Crowds buzz in anticipation as they wait in lines for the games, followed by thousands of eager fans awaiting the intense rivalries in the stands. Their fans even coined their own name, the KrakHeads. Apart from the Kraken’s struggles in their third season, where they ranked 29th in the league, their passion has never dwindled. They focus on uplifting the community and benefiting Seattle as much as they can. Alongside Starbucks and One Roof Foundation, they established the Kraken Unity Fund during the 2022-23 season to honor heroes in the community and donate to Pacific Northwest nonprofits. With the addition of a female team, the fund could be expanded and further the impact of donations. Apart from finances, the team is beneficial to diversify the sport of ice hockey and introduce new competitive teams to the enthusiastic athletic atmosphere of Seattle.
As the new Professional Women’s Hockey Team gains momentum, the hope is that they will receive similar support and love from the Seattle community, as well as give back in their own monumental ways.
