The PWHL is taking women’s pro hockey to places from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the Pacific Northwest in releasing its nine-date schedule of neutral site games on Monday.
Billed as the “Takeover Tour,” the six-team league selected six U.S. cities — Raleigh, Buffalo, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver and Seattle — and Canadian stops in Vancouver and Quebec City, with one site yet to be announced. The announcement comes as the PWHL prepares to open its second season on Nov. 30, and with the league launching plans to expand by as many as two teams by 2025-26.
“Bringing PWHL games to fans across both countries is a natural next step as we continue building our audience,” said Amy Scheer, PWHL senior vice president of business operations. “The PWHL ‘Takeover Tour’ lets us showcase our game and exceptional athletes across a wider North American footprint — an exciting moment for our players and an important move for our business as we consider expansion.”
The league is also exploring the opportunity to hold neutral site games in Europe after this season.
The PWHL is returning to Detroit, with defending champion Minnesota playing New York on March 16. Last year, Detroit drew a crowd of 13,736 in hosting one of the league’s two neutral-site games — with the other played in Pittsburgh.
Buffalo made the list and will play host to Boston facing New York on Feb. 23.
This marks the return of women’s pro hockey to Buffalo after losing the Beauts, who in 2015 were founding members of the four-team National Women’s Hockey League. The NWHL eventually became the Premier Hockey Federation, which folded after it was bought out in June 2023 in paving the way to establish the PWHL.
With the exception of Quebec City, the other seven announced neutral-site games will be played at the homes of each city’s NHL franchise. Quebec City has an NHL-ready arena, the Videotron Centre, and has already began making a pitch to land a PWHL expansion franchise.
Each of the PWHL’s six teams will play at least two neutral site games as part of the league’s schedule, which expanded from 24 games per team last season to 30 this year.
The neutral site schedule opens with Montreal playing Boston in Seattle on Jan. 5, followed by Montreal playing Toronto in Vancouver three days later.
The schedule is rounded out with Montreal playing Minnesota in Denver on Jan. 12 and Ottawa and Montreal will play in Quebec City on Jan. 19, in a game previously announced. Raleigh will play host to Ottawa facing Minnesota on March 7, and Ottawa will play Boston in St. Louis on March 29.
AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Minnesota Frost head coach Ken Klee watches over his players during a PWHL hockey practice Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)
Minnesota Frost forward Brooke McQuigge (3) skates during a PWHL hockey practice Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 at TRIA Rink in St. Paul, Minn. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)
FILE - Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield celebrates with the trophy after beating Boston in Game 5 of the PWHL Walter Cup hockey finals, May 29, 2024, in Lowell, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether the swing state's top elections official, who has been the target of disproven Republican election conspiracy theories, will remain in her post.
Republicans who control the state Senate tried to fire Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe last year, leading the commission to sue in an effort to keep Wolfe on the job.
The commission argues that the state Supreme Court should uphold a lower court’s ruling in Wolfe's favor, which would allow her to remain in her position and not face a confirmation vote by the Senate.
But Republican lawmakers argue the commission must appoint a commissioner, either Wolfe or someone else, so the Senate can vote on confirming that person. Wolfe can't be allowed to remain in the position as a holdover, they contend.
Wolfe was first appointed for the nonpartisan position in 2018 and confirmed to a four-year term by the GOP-controlled state Senate in 2019. The commission is overseen by a bipartisan board that is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and Wolfe is head of the nonpartisan staff.
Wolfe was targeted for removal by Republican lawmakers who were unhappy with the 2020 presidential election won by President Joe Biden. President-elect Donald Trump won Wisconsin this year, just as he did in 2016. Unlike after his loss in 2020, Trump backers are not alleging widespread fraud in this year's election.
Wolfe was the subject of conspiracy theories and targeted by threats from election skeptics who falsely claim she was part of a plot to rig the 2020 vote in favor of Biden. Biden's win by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a conservative law firm’s review, and multiple state and federal lawsuits.
When Wolfe was up for reappointment in 2023, all six members of the commission voiced support for her. Three Republicans voted to reappoint, but the three Democrats abstained, resulting in a deadlocked vote. Had she gotten a fourth vote in support, her appointment would have been sent to the Senate, which then could have voted to fire her.
Wolfe, in a statement ahead of court arguments Monday, emphasized that all six commissioners voiced support for her.
“While they disagreed on the mechanism for making my appointment, the Commissioners have always supported me staying in this role,” Wolfe said. "If they didn’t, they always had the ability to terminate my appointment and select someone new.”
Even though her appointment was not forwarded to the Senate, Republican senators voted in September 2023 to fire Wolfe over objections from Democrats and the Legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys. They argued that the Senate did not have the authority to vote at that time because Wolfe was a holdover in her position and had not been reappointed.
The commission sued to challenge that Senate vote. Republican legislative leaders changed course and claimed in court filings that their vote to fire Wolfe was merely “symbolic” and had no legal effect.
Republicans asked the judge to order the elections commission to appoint an administrator for the Senate to vote on.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Ann Peacock, in a 2023 ruling, said Wolfe is legally serving as administrator of the elections commission as a holdover given that the commission did not have a majority vote to appoint her. The Senate’s vote to remove her had no legal effect and the commission has no duty to appoint a new leader while Wolfe is serving as a holdover, Peacock ruled.
Republican leaders of the Legislature appealed and the state Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday. It will issue a decision weeks or months from now.
Wolfe was asked about the case during a news conference the day after this month's election and whether she was committed to remaining in her position “for the long haul.” She made no promises.
“I’m completely committed to seeing through this election and making sure that this election is certified,” Wolfe said.
The state Senate is charged with voting on approving appointees such as Wolfe. However, the GOP majority starting in January will shrink from 22-11 to 18-15 as a result of this month's election. That means Republicans can only lose one vote on their side and still have a majority.
FILE - Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe participates in an election forum, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
