The PWHL’s expansion wave just reached the Pacific Coast.
On Tuesday, May 19th, the Professional Women’s Hockey League officially announced its twelfth franchise — PWHL San Jose — completing the most ambitious expansion class in the league’s short but remarkable history. San Jose joins Detroit, Hamilton, and Las Vegas as the four new teams set to debut in the 2026-27 season, and in doing so, brings the PWHL’s footprint to both coasts of North America for the first time.
The announcement was made at SAP Center, the home of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, where PWHL executive vice-president of business operations Amy Scheer delivered a message that felt as much like a declaration as a press release. “We are bringing you the highest level hockey in the world,” she told the crowd. “Each game is so competitive. Every shift matters. Every point in the standings matters. The games are the highest level of competition and you will love it.”
San Jose, for its part, was ready to hear it.
Why San Jose Makes Perfect Sense
On the surface, Northern California might not be the first market that comes to mind when you think about women’s professional hockey. But look closer, and the case for San Jose is compelling.
The Bay Area has demonstrated record-setting support for women’s sports in recent years, a fact that was impossible for the PWHL to ignore. The Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA and Bay FC of the NWSL have both set attendance records since beginning play in the last two years, proof that this market does not just tolerate women’s professional sport. It embraces it.
The hockey infrastructure is already there too. San Jose now boasts three professional hockey teams and Sharks Ice, a six-sheet public recreational ice facility, hosting one of the largest collections of boys, girls, and adult hockey players in the United States. California ranks sixth in the country in girls’ hockey participation, a pipeline that gives the new franchise a built-in foundation of young fans who already know and love the game. And with the San Jose Sharks having spent 35 years building a legitimate hockey culture in the Bay Area, PWHL San Jose is not arriving into a cold market. It is arriving into a community that has already proven it will show up.
As Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports and Entertainment, put it: “From its humble beginnings with an NHL expansion team in 1991, San Jose is now truly a hockey city.”
The Team Takes Shape
PWHL San Jose will play its home games at SAP Center and train at Sharks Ice at San Jose, following an expansion bid led by Sharks Sports and Entertainment and the City of San Jose. The backing of the Sharks organization gives San Jose one of the strongest ownership and infrastructure foundations of any expansion team the PWHL has yet announced.
The colors revealed alongside the announcement set the tone immediately — orange, blue, and white. The palette is inspired by the San Jose flag and reflects what the league describes as the Bay Area’s optimistic energy. The orange nods to the Sharks and the region’s historic orange groves, while blue evokes the beauty of California’s ocean coastline and sky. It is a color scheme that feels distinctly Californian without leaning on the obvious — vibrant, warm, and full of energy.
A team name, coaching staff, front office, and roster will all be confirmed in the weeks and months ahead. Details about the expansion roster building process and how San Jose will be integrated into the 2026 PWHL Draft will be announced in the coming weeks.
The League’s Remarkable Growth
Step back and consider what the PWHL has built in just three years.
The league launched in 2024 with six teams. It added Vancouver and Seattle in 2025. And now, heading into its fourth season, it will operate with twelve franchises coast to coast — from Montréal and Boston to Las Vegas and San Jose. PWHL executive vice-president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford noted that 235 players have already declared for the upcoming draft, including a strong European group and what she described as a potentially generational college class ready to make an immediate impact.
“Excited to be able to provide more people the opportunity to play,” Hefford said. It is a simple statement, but it captures everything that this expansion wave represents — more teams, more games, more players, and more fans experiencing the highest level of women’s hockey on the planet.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said it as well as anyone: “San José is cementing its reputation as the premier destination for women’s sports in our region — and today’s announcement is another major win for our city.”
The PWHL is not just growing. It is thriving. And the Bay Area is about to find out exactly what it has been missing.
PWHL San Jose will begin play in the 2026-27 season at SAP Center. Team name, coaching staff, and roster details to be announced in the coming weeks.
– Nathan Add – The Add List +