A warm welcome to the ice for Boston's Professional Women's Hockey League team

On a hockey rink, a goalie in a green jersey looks on as two players, one in green and one in white, fight for the puck. — Kaleigh Fratkin #13 and Aerin Frankel #31 of Boston defends Sophia Kunin #11 of Minnesota during the second period of the PWHL game at Tsongas Center on Jan. 3 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Esteban is a reporter for GBH News. Feedback? Questions? Story ideas? Reach out to Esteban at esteban_bustillos@wgbh.org.

January 04, 2024

Updated January 04, 2024

Jeremy Siegel: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition. Last night was a big one in Lowell when the puck dropped for the first-ever regular season game of Boston's Professional Women's Hockey League team.

Announcer [previously recorded]: Tonight, we are filled with immense honor, pride and excitement as we launch the inaugural season of the Professional Women's Hockey League.

Siegel: Boston's PWHL team played Minnesota. And in attendance along with the fans was Esteban Bustillos, who has been following this team story since the beginning. Good morning, Esteban.

Esteban Bustillos: Hey, Jeremy. What's up?

Siegel: Not much. So first game ever. Boston's PWHL team. They still don't have an official name yet, despite starting the season.

Bustillos: Yeah. Yeah, working on it. My unofficial nickname for them is the Greenbacks, given their green jersey. You know, green like money. So yeah, but they're still working on it.

Siegel: They should take that name. This team has been in the works since this past summer despite still not having a name. How excited were people to finally see them take the ice last night?

Bustillos: Yeah, there was a lot of energy last night in the Tsongas Center, which is where UMass Lowell hosts their hockey games. And I saw a whole lot of Bruins jerseys. But there's also plenty of green and whites of PWHL Boston in the crowd. One of the people I talked to is Montana Ballard, is 14, lives about two and a half, 3 hours away in New Hampshire, but wasn't going to miss the team's first game.

Montana Ballard [previously recorded]: I'm really excited. My stepmom got me seasons tickets to all the home games, so I'm pretty excited to go to them.

Siegel: That's so exciting to imagine kids like Montana heading to all of these games. So this is the third game of the PWHL's first ever season. This is a new league. I imagine they're pretty thrilled as an organization about how these past few days have been.

Bustillos: Yeah, definitely. You know, the league started regular-season play on New Year's Day between New York and Toronto, so everything is new and they're trying to learn a lot on the fly. PWHL Advisory board member Stan Kasten said there's bound to be mistakes, but he's ready to learn from those broken plates.

Stan Kasten [previously recorded]: We're going to learn which of our markets needs a little more work, needs a little more advertising, more promotion, more group sales, more promotional nights, all of which takes time. But we understand that. The most important thing we have to do is get the hockey right. And we've done that.

Bustillos: Yeah. And Kasten told me another area the league needs to work on is merchandise and apparel, which he admitted they're behind on, but says that more of that is in the pipeline.

Siegel: So what was the crowd like at the Tsongas Center last night?

Bustillos: Yeah, it wasn't a sellout, but still pretty impressive. An official count of 4,012 in attendance. Now there were more than a few fans who I spotted who were wearing sweaters and colors of the Boston Pride, the Premier Hockey Federation team that was essentially nixed along with the rest of that league to make way for the PWHL. Obviously, that hurt a lot of people when that happened. But even though that's the case, I want to say all of those people were immensely supportive of what was going on last night. Charlotte Walsh, who lives in Boston and was wearing a Boston Pride jersey, she simply wants a league that will stick around. That's something that several former leagues, for a number of reasons, failed to do.

Charlotte Walsh [previously recorded]: Women's hockey players, fans, that's all everyone has been asking for, is for something that lasts. And I really hope this lasts. I really hope that my children are watching the PWHL. And I hope it's able to expand. I hope it grows. I hope the players eventually are making nine figures, you know?

Bustillos: One of the big draws for the PWHL is having all of the best players in women's hockey in one league. Elena Davis, who is from Somerville, was especially excited about Boston's team captain.

Elena Davis [previously recorded]: I'm a big fan of Hilary Knight, so I'm kind of glad that I got to see her play again. But I mean, it's nice that sort of all these household names that we've been talking about, especially for the Olympics and stuff, are kind of all in the same area now.

Siegel: Okay, so there's so much excitement about this team. It was a win in so many ways for the league, for Boston hockey fans. But this is the question I've kind of been dreading: The outcome of the game. It was a loss.

Bustillos: They lost. They lost to Minnesota, 3 to 2. Still, the moment wasn't lost on the team. After the game, Hilary Knight, who had previously played in Boston for the Pride and for the Boston Blades, which was in a different league, described it as a magical feeling to finally be playing in the PWHL.

Hilary Knight [previously recorded]: You know, understanding how important visibility is and just the growth of the game and the speed and how it's evolved. It's just, it's a fantastic time to have a professional league and to be a part of the first few shifts is just — you can't really put it into words. It's so well overdue and so exciting for where it's going to go.

Siegel: Alright, real quickly, Esteban, where does the team go from here?

Bustillos: They'll be back at Tsongas Center Monday to face Ottawa. And even though they lost, Knight was pleased with how the team ended the game.

Siegel: That is GBH's Esteban Bustillos on Boston's new women's hockey team. Esteban, thanks so much for coming in.

Bustillos: Thank you, Jeremy.

Siegel: You're listening to GBH News.

Wednesday night was a big one in Lowell when the puck dropped for the first-ever regular season game of Boston's Professional Women's Hockey League team.

Boston's PWHL team — still without an official name, playing in green-and-white jerseys — played Minnesota at Lowell’s Tsongas Center, where UMass Lowell hosts hockey games.

Montana Ballard, who is 14, lives two and a half hours away in New Hampshire, but wasn't going to miss the team's first game.

“I'm really excited,” Ballard said. “My stepmom got me seasons tickets to all the home games.”

The league started regular-season play on New Year's Day between New York and Toronto, so everything is new. PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten said there's bound to be mistakes, but he's ready to learn.

“We're going to learn which of our markets needs a little more work, needs a little more advertising, more promotion, more group sales, more promotional nights, all of which takes time,” Kasten said. “But we understand that. The most important thing we have to do is get the hockey right. And we've done that.”

Young girls in hockey jerseys stand in an arena and watch intensely. One of them had hands on her face. — Young fans react to the action as the clock winds down in the third period. PWHL Boston lost to PWHL Minnesota, 3-2. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran)

Another area the league needs to work on is merchandise and apparel, Kasten said. He admitted they're behind, but said that more is in the pipeline.

Wednesday night’s crowd had an official count of 4,012 in attendance. More than a few were wearing the sweaters and colors of the Boston Pride, the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation team that was nixed along with the rest of that league to make way for the PWHL.

Some fans said they were hurt when previous women’s hockey leagues shut down — but they were excited to support the new team.

Charlotte Walsh, who lives in Boston and was wearing a Boston Pride jersey, she simply wants a league that will stick around.

“Women's hockey players, fans, that's all everyone has been asking for, is for something that lasts. And I really hope this lasts,” Walsh said. “I really hope that my children are watching the PWHL. And I hope it's able to expand. I hope it grows. I hope the players eventually are making nine figures, you know?”

One of the big draws for the PWHL is having all of the best players in women's hockey in one league. Fan Elena Davis, who is from Somerville, was especially excited about Boston's team captain.

“I'm a big fan of Hilary Knight, so I'm kind of glad that I got to see her play again,” Davis said. “It's nice that sort of all these household names that we've been talking about, especially for the Olympics and stuff, are kind of all in the same area now.”

Boston Professional Women's Hockey League players Theresa Schafzahl, left, who scored the team's first goal, and team Captain Hilary Knight speak to reporters after the team's first game Jan. 3, 2023.

Esteban Bustillos GBH News

At the end of the night, Boston’s team lost — a 3-2 outcome against the visitors from Minnesota. But Knight, the team’s captain, said she was pleased with how they ended the game. And most of all, she was glad to be back on a Boston-based team. In past years, Knight played for the Pride and for the Boston Blades.

“Understanding how important visibility is and just the growth of the game and the speed and how it's evolved, it's a fantastic time to have a professional league,” Knight said. “And to be a part of the first few shifts is just — you can't really put it into words. It's so well overdue and so exciting for where it's going to go.”

The PWHL’s Boston team will be back at Tsongas Center Monday to face Ottawa.