Thanks to PWHL, women’s hockey will be better than ever at 2026 Olympics

Frost forward Klára Hymlárová, who is from Opava, Czech Republic, dreamt of being a professional hockey player as a child. With a twist.

“When I was growing up, I always wanted to play in the NHL,” said Hymlárová, who began playing at age 4. “Even though it’s not possible. But you are growing up with boys, yeah?”

Hymlárová moved to Canada at 19 and played a year there before coming to the United States to play for St. Cloud State. While there, she represented the Czech Republic in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, even scoring a shorthanded goal in a victory over Sweden during group play.

Without a sustainable professional league at the time, college hockey was the most reliable part of the women’s hockey infrastructure. More than 100 college players were on Olympic teams for the 2022 Beijing Games.

Enter the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

In the middle of its third year, the league will shut down for most of this month as 61 players head to Italy for the Olympics.

They will arrive as well-prepared as they ever have, now that a viable North American women’s league sits on top of the hockey food chain. Women’s hockey has never been better.

She’s in Italy for her second Olympics, her game sharpened from playing in the PWHL. The league can now boast it’s where the best players in the world thrive.

“PWHL players are going into the Olympic Winter Games more prepared than ever as a result of the resources and support the league has provided and the competition the players experience on a daily basis in the PWHL,” Jayna Hefford, PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “From a game perspective, we have 61 players competing for eight countries, and that impact is going to be significant in raising the speed, skill and physicality to a level above what we’ve seen at a previous Olympics.”

The PWHL’s emergence has improved the level of international talent as the rest of the world tries to catch up to the two superpowers, the United States and Canada. The two teams are heavy favorites to reach the gold medal game in Milan.

The entire 23-player Canadian team consists of PWHL players. Team USA has 16 players from the league; the rest play in the NCAA. And 22 PWHL Olympians are from European countries. Those 61 players make up roughly 30% of the league.

Before, players made national teams mostly by being selected to participate in camps and playing in exhibitions until the World Championships or Olympics rolled around.

“I think we are really lucky to be playing best-on-best women’s hockey all season long, and especially in the seasons leading up to the Olympics,” Thompson said following the Frost’s 4-1 win over her current team. “In the past, the national teams have centralized together, so I’m really excited for the product that will be on display at the Olympics.”

There are different ways the PWHL is helping players level up for the Olympics.

There’s exposure. National teams can evaluate players by scouting in person or by recording games. That aids the selection process. Frost forward Taylor Heise, a Lake City native, was one of the final cuts for the 2022 U.S. Olympic team. She has scored 51 points in 63 career PWHL games. Her 13 assists this season are one shy of her career best. Heise’s success in the league helped her make a case for selection.

There’s development. A player who needs to score more, improve in the faceoff circle or learn how to handle physicality now has a path to grow their game. They have facilities, coaches and trainers to watch them in practice daily and help them hone their games over the course of training camp, the regular season and the postseason.

That’s how Olympic coaches benefit from having professional players in the national team setup. Someone who wasn’t an option on the power play four years ago might have grown into such a role thanks to PWHL experience.

Pairing Heise and Murphy on one line and Kelly Pannek and Kendall Coyne Schofield on another makes too much sense. With Grace Zumwinkle and Britta Curl-Salemme on the American team, there could be all-Frost lines in the Olympics.

The PWHL is influencing Team USA’s transition from the experienced group led by coach Joel Johnson in 2022. Only 11 players return from that team, meaning starring in the PWHL helped many players, like Curl-Salemme, develop and earn a trip to Italy.

At the same time, the college game hasn’t been shut out. Seven members of Team USA, including Murphy, are part of the youth movement activated by Wroblewski. All seven players are from Big Ten teams. Wisconsin, 24-2-2 and ranked No. 1, is represented by four players on the Olympic roster.

“The NCAA, it has a big impact on the PWHL,” Hymlárová said.

Team USA opens play on Thursday, Feb. 5, when it faces the Czech Republic. Pannek will enter the tournament having scored goals in her past four games for the Frost.