Provincial Women's Hockey League
 |
|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| CEO | Fran Rider, OWHA |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Most recent champion(s) |
Oakville Jr. Hornets |
| Most titles | Toronto Jr. Aeros – 6 |
| Official website | PWHL official site |
The Provincial Women's Hockey League (or PWHL) is a Junior women's ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada that was founded in 2004. It is considered to be the highest level of junior women's amateur ice hockey in Ontario, and is sanctioned by Hockey Canada and the Ontario Women's Hockey Association.
The PWHL provides alumni to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport,National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Professional Canadian Women's Hockey League, as well as the Canada women's national ice hockey team.
The PWHL was founded in 2004 by the Ontario Women's Hockey Association. The PWHL is the women's equivalent to men's junior hockey, but is classified by the OWHA as Intermediate AA officially as the OWHA does not have an official "junior" classification system. Despite this, the teams of the PWHL market themselves as women's junior hockey.
One of the league's most notable alumni is Meghan Agosta who played for the Windsor Wildcats. She went on to play professional with the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League and is a member of two Olympic championship teams.
In the early years of the league, when PWHL teams had to compete for OWHA provincials they would do so with representatives of the Ottawa District. The PWHL franchises proved much more competitive than their Ottawa counterparts and after two seasons Ottawa applied to and joined the PWHL. By the 2009 league playoffs, the Ottawa Senators beat the league powerhouse Toronto Jr. Aeros to win its first league championship.
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