Inaugural PWHL season opener to air live on CBC Sports, Radio-Canada

New Year's Day marks a new beginning for women's hockey.

The Professional Women's Hockey League's inaugural season begins Jan. 1 when Toronto hosts New York live on CBC Sports, with a pre-game show at noon ET ahead of puck drop at 12:30 p.m. ET. CBC Sports will air another 17 games through the season.

The New Year's Day contest at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre inside the building which used to be Maple Leaf Gardens is also available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem as well as in French on ICI TL and ICI TOU.TV.

Coverage of the Toronto-New York game, the first in league history, will by led by a studio panel featuring host Andi Petrillo alongside The Athletic's Hailey Salvian, former pro hockey player Saroya Tinker, and TSN reporter and Olympic gold medallist Tessa Bonhomme. Daniella Ponticelli is the play-by-play announcer next to colour commentator Cheryl Pounder of TSN, while CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis will be rinkside.

WATCH | A look back at the year in sports, including the formation of the PWHL:

CBC Sports' 2023 Year In Review: A sport-by-sport breakdown

10 months ago

Duration 10:19

Join CBC Sports' Rob Pizzo, as he takes you through the biggest stories in Canadian sports over the last year.

"CBC Sports is committed to providing equal coverage of women's sport across all platforms and is proud to provide a national stage for the PWHL, helping to further grow audiences for women's hockey in Canada and celebrate the incredible talent in this country and around the world," Wilson said.

CBC Sports will also launch a new digital show titled Hockey North, with host Rob Pizzo taking you through the top storylines in the PWHL and throughout Canadian hockey. The show will be available weekly on YouTube and CBC Sports digital platforms.

The remaining 17 PWHL games on CBC Sports' schedule will all take place on Saturdays, continuing Jan. 6 when Montreal visits Minnesota.

The full schedule is available here.

All 72 games of the league's inaugural season will be available live to viewers, with additional coverage on TSN, Sportsnet and RDS,and regional deals in the United States withMSG Networks (New York)andNESN(Boston).

"The visibility offered across our broadcast and streaming schedule is unprecedented in women's hockey and reinforces the growing interest in our sport,"said Stan Kasten, PWHL Advisory Board member.

The PWHL was formed in June, when a group led by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and Billie Jean King bought the Premier Hockey Federation with plans to fold it and begin a new league with members of the Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association, which included most of the top players.

After the six franchise locations Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Boston and Minnesota were announced, movement toward the Jan. 1 league opener has been full steam ahead.

The league's first-ever player draft was held at CBC headquarters in September, with American Taylor Heise selected first overall to her hometown Minnesota squad.

Each team also signed three free agents each prior to the draft, with the likes of Marie-Philip Poulin landing in Montreal, Sarah Nurse heading to Toronto, Hilary Knight inking a deal with Boston and Brianne Jenner leading Ottawa. New York is captained by Canadian defender Micah Zandee-Hart.