PWHL announces Seattle for 2nd expansion franchise, plans to add 2 more by 2026-27, AP source says

The PWHL is expanding to eight teams next season by adding Seattle as its second new franchise alongside Vancouver, and The Associated Press has learned that plans already are in the works to add two more in a year’s time.

Seattle’s addition, announced Wednesday, gives the PWHL a strong foothold in the Pacific Northwest and comes a week after the unveiling of the new team in Vancouver for the 2025-26 season. The westward move broadens the league’s reach across North America, pairs two markets separated by a three-hour drive and captures Seattle's history of supporting women’s sports.

Seattle will now be home to three women’s pro sports leagues, with the PWHL team joining the WNBA's Storm and NWSL's Reign. And it was fitting for Storm star Skylar Diggins to open the news conference and formally welcome women's hockey.

“This city takes incredible pride in its women’s sports teams. We show up for one another. We support each other and we help build this community together,” Diggins said. “I know Seattle fans will embrace you guys with the same passion and pride as they’ve done for us. So welcome to the family, PWHL. Let’s get it.”

Amy Scheer, the PWHL's executive vice president of business operations, referred to Seattle as the “capital of women’s sports,” and recognized the numerous female owners and executives of the Storm, Reign and NHL's Kraken in attendance.

“We’re here because of you, and you’ve made this possible for us, so thank you for paving the way,” Scheer said.

As for pairing Seattle and Vancouver, Scheer told the AP earlier that the geography “made a ton of sense,” and the league hoped the two would establish a natural rivalry. “But most importantly is they met all the criteria in terms of what we were looking for,” she added.

The two-team expansion for Season 3 is only the beginning for a league that launched in January 2024 with five Eastern franchises — Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto — and one in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The PWHL plans to grow to 10 teams for its 2026-27 season, a person with knowledge of discussions told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were to remain private. The person said the league is accelerating its plans based on the strength of responses and feedback received during its eight-month expansion search in which the PWHL considered more than 20 markets.

Scheer didn’t entirely dispute the plan, without providing an exact timetable.

“I think we’ve been pretty clear from the outset that this is the first year of a multiyear process,” Scheer said as the PWHL closes the final week of the regular season. “It could come in Year 4. It could come Year 5. I think that those conversations are still being had.”

Neutral-site stops this season in Denver, Detroit, Quebec City and Edmonton each topped 14,000 fans.

The new team initially will go by PWHL Seattle and its colors will be emerald green and cream. The team will play in the Kraken’s Climate Pledge Arena and practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex.

Though all PWHL teams are centrally controlled by the league, Seattle’s expansion bid was led by the Kraken and the Oak View Group, which developed and operates Climate Pledge Arena.

Oak View has longtime ties to women’s hockey and expressed interest in landing an original six franchise when the league was established in June 2023 by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, his wife, Kimbra, and tennis icon Billie Jean King.

Seattle features a growing youth hockey program and previously showed support for women’s hockey. In November 2022, Seattle drew a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series record crowd of 14,551. In January, the PWHL drew a crowd of 12,608 in Seattle when kicking off its nine-game Takeover Tour of neutral-site games.

“Seattle is an incredible sports city and we’ve seen firsthand the passion for the women’s game,” Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said. “We’re also proud to grow the game of hockey ... and together we’ll continue to inspire the next generation of hockey players and fans alike.”

Jayna Hefford, the PWHL's executive vice president of hockey operations, noted women’s hockey in the region dates to 1921, when the Seattle Vamps and Vancouver Amazons competed in what’s believed to be women’s hockey’s first international tournament.

“A new chapter of this Pacific Northwest rivalry begins now,” Hefford said. “We’re not just honoring that history. We are reigniting it.”

The PWHL plans to announce later the date of an expansion draft and how Vancouver and Seattle will be integrated into its entry draft on June 24. The league also has yet to determine if it will expand its playoff field from four and whether to adopt a divisional format of four teams each.

The PWHL’s accelerated expansion plans coincide with a deep pool of college talent anticipated to enter the league over the next two years. The league’s growth also is expected to lure more Europeans to North America.

“Upon launch, you’ve got six teams and maybe if you’re not North American, you don’t know really what to expect,” Hefford said. “Now I think these players are seeing that this league is here, it’s thriving, it’s growing, and they are going to want to be a part of it.”

Scheer was impressed by the response when overseeing the expansion search.

“I feel more encouraged than ever about what our business looks like and what our business can be,” she said. “As we look to expand and move beyond Year 3, we’ll have plenty of suitors along the way as we look to grow.”

AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin in Seattle contributed to this report.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

FILE - New York Sirens' Micah Zandee-Hart (28) keeps Ottawa Charge's Brianne Jenner (19) from the puck during first period PWHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Member of the Vancouver Angels girls ice hockey team help announce that the PWHL will be expanding to Vancouver for the 2025-26 season during a press event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday April 23, 2025. (Rich Lam/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - New York forward and Sault Ste. Marie, native Abby Roque, left, and Minnesota defenseman and Plymouth native Mellissa Channell-Watkins battle for the puck during the first period of a PWHL game between the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost, at Little Caesars Arena, in Detroit, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP, File)

FILE - Montreal Victoire goaltender Elaine Chuli, right, stops Toronto Sceptres' Sarah Nurse (20) during third-period PWHL hockey game action in Laval, Quebec, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - FILE - Professional Women's Hockey League senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford speaks before the PWHL Toronto team opened the Toronto Stock Exchange in Toronto, Jan. 12, 2024. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP, File, File)

Police in Rhode Island say they have a person of interest in custody after a shooting at Brown University killed two students and wounded nine others.

The incident happened Saturday afternoon in a classroom during final exams.

The shooting paralyzed the campus, with students sheltering in place for hours. Nine students with gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital, with one in critical condition. An FBI agent says the arrest took place at a hotel in Coventry, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Providence.

The latest:

Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez did not give any details about the progress of the investigation except to say it was progressing “extremely fast.”

No other information about the progress of the investigation was released at a noon press conference in Providence.

Meanwhile, the city's mayor said he visited victims in the hospital.

“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me was frankly overwhelming,” Mayor Brett Smiley said.

Armed with a handgun, the shooter fired more than 40 9 mm rounds, according to a law enforcement official.

Authorities as of Sunday morning hadn’t recovered a gun but did recover two loaded 30-round magazines, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

— by Alanna Durkin Richer

Classes and exams have been canceled. University officials also said students are free to leave.

Those who remain on campus will have access to services and support, Provost Francis Doyle said in a statement.

“At this time, it is essential that we focus our efforts on providing care and support to the members of our community as we grapple with the sorrow, fear and anxiety that is impacting all of us right now,” Doyle wrote.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, one of the leading Democratic voices on gun policy, said Sunday that the prospects of new restrictions on firearms were “slim.”

“As we know right now, unfortunately, the Republicans in Congress don’t ever meaningfully break from this president,” Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” arguing that Trump and the GOP were too aligned with the gun lobby.

Murphy added: “That doesn’t mean I won’t try.”

A police officer hangs yellow crime tape at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

A police vehicle rests at an intersection near crime scene tape at Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A law enforcement official directs traffic in a neighborhood near Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday, Dec. 13 shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)