DETROIT – In 5 months, Detroit’s own team for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will begin its first season.
In the PWHL draft, Detroit began with the first pick, in goal, Andrea Brändli, who won bronze with Team Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Detroit’s next pick was a Port Huron native, Casey Borgiel, and to close out the draft, Detroit chose MK O’Brien, Kyla Josifovic, Sena Catterall, and Georgia Schiff.
The PWHL was created when hundreds of players and Olympic athletes came together after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded in 2019.
Three years later, the athletes got backing from investor Mark Walter, owner of the LA Dodgers.
The organization was co-founded by Billie Jean King, a tennis player, who joined forces with the players
The league’s first season began in January of 2024.
PWHL hosted a takeover tour, bringing games to cities without a team. Detroit hosted four games at the Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit hosted the most games of any city on the tour and drew more than 53K fans combined.
The last game hosted on March 28 brought nearly 16k fans and made history as the first ever PWHL game broadcast on national TV in the U.S.
At that game, fans chanted “WE WANT A TEAM”. After that, the league listened.
The only thing Detroit’s team is missing now is a name.
Elle Hatje, Detroit native and Forward for the New York Sirens, joined Local 4 Live to discuss the league and what Detroit can expect.
You can watch the full interview in the video at the beginning of this article.