A recent update toNHL 25brought the Professional Women’s Hockey League to the game.Game Rant was able to sit down with internationally recognized hockey star Marie-Philip Poulin to learn more about how this collaboration withNHL 25will advance women’s representation in hockey.
The PWHL is a recently formed hockey association, one with the goal of better representing women in the sport while also offering them better bargaining rights and career stability. Given its youth, founded only a year ago in 2023, its inclusion inthe long-runningNHLseriesis an important step. To learn more about just how significant this tie-in has been, Game Rant sat down with globally recognized hockey captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
How NHL 25’s PWHL Collaboration Impacts Women In Hockey
Hockey Star Marie-Philip Poulin Talks Representation
ThisrecentNHL 25expansionhas brought the PWHL’s six teams to the game, marking another advancement in the series' representation of women in the sport. Poulin talked at length about how measures such as this update tangibly impact the sport itself.
“For us, honestly, it’s been our first year as PWHL, and right away at the second year you have the support, I think it’s gonna grow a lot. That’s what we want; we want to grow women’s hockey, not only as a sport but also in games. Knowing that we truly inspire little girls and that we are part of that game, I think it goes a long way.”
The PWHL itself started as a way to improve the position of women in hockey, especially after the collapse of predecessor organization CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League) in 2019. The fallout from that event led to many fans and players believing that more needed to be done to future-proof the sport for women—leading to the founding of the PWHL in an effort to provide greater stability, operational support, and collective power for women in the sport. The immediacy with which thePWHL came toNHL 25is a good sign for this new association.
How The PWHL X NHL Collaboration Came To Be
Poulin was able to shed some light on how such a new organization managed to land itself a role inEA’s AAANHLseries. In discussing the matter, Poulin greatly emphasized the work that went into creating the game.
“I think they’ve worked very hard for us to be part of this game, and we have been part of the scanning process where we scan our head, and really wanted us in that game.
For us, this is just one step in such a big process, it’s just knowing and acknowledging the effort and the amount of work that’s been put in for us to be part of that game, and I hope it becomes the norm, and I hope it just makes people realize that, yes, there are boys playing hockey, but also that little girls can dream to be part of that as well. It’s really cool to see.”
This most recentadvancement in theNHLseriesreleased back in October, while this update came about in December. The amount of planning that’s gone into the PWHL inclusion is clear, and the progress it marks is certainly evident. The PWHL positions itself as a league built on its members' own terms, with greater operational support for women on every level; its collaboration withNHL 25is undeniably something of a landmark.
