The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s season is starting on November 21, and it got us wondering: how many queer athletes are playing this year?
Women’s sports are gayer than they’ve ever been. The WNBA had a record number of LGBTQ+ players last season, women’s soccer is famous for producing sapphic power couples, and 54 queer athletes competed in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
And hockey is no different. There were already dozens of sapphic players last year, but this season, there may be even more. The entire league is expanding, with two new teams — the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes — being added. Now, instead of six teams, there are eight, and seven of them have multiple queer players. The Boston Fleet has the league beat, though, with seven sapphic players on the team.
So get ready to become a huge hockey fan so you can cheer these queer players on this season!
Emily Brown — Seattle Torrent
Emily Brown was drafted during the inaugural season of the PWHL in 2023 and played for Boston until the newly formed Seattle Torrent picked her up during the expansion draft.
Carly Jackson — Seattle Torrent
When she’s not posting thirst traps on TikTok, goalie Carly "CJ" Jackson is stopping shots in the PWHL. She played for the Toronto Sceptres, and after the 2024-25 season, she signed a one-year deal with the Torrent for 2025-26
Hilary Knight — Seattle Torrent
Forward Hilary Knight has been to the Olympics four times, winning a gold medal in 2018. Knight played for Boston — where she was named the team’s inaugural captain — until she was hired by the Torrent in the expansion draft. She is currently dating USA speed skater Brittany Bowe.
Alex Carpenter — Seattle Torrent
Alex Carpenter, daughter of three-time Stanley Cup winner Bobby Carpenter, played for the New York Sirens until she signed with the Seattle Torrent ahead of the 2025-26 season. In January 2022, she got engaged to girlfriend Steph Klein, an assistant equipment manager with the Toronto Marlies.
Emma Greco — Vancouver Goldeneyes
Defenseman Emma Greco won the inaugural Walter Cup while playing for Minnesota and then signed with Boston before ending up on the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Greco met girlfriend Michela Cava while the two were playing for Minnesota, but while trades usually split couples up, both women were picked up by the Goldeneyes.
Michela Cava — Vancouver Goldeneyes
Center Michela Cava was drafted by Minnesota back in 2023 and played for the team until she was nabbed by the Goldeneyes. Cava is currently dating her Goldeneyes teammate Emma Greco, who she started dating back in 2022 when they were both playing for Minnesota.
Emerance Maschmeyer — Vancouver Goldeneyes
Goalie Emerance Maschmeyer played for the Ottawa Charge before landing on the Vancouver Goldeneyes for the 2025-26 season. She married her former Team Canada teammate Geneviève Lacasse in 2023, and the two now share a son named Beckham.
Hannah Miller — Vancouver Goldeneyes
Forward Hannah Miller was drafted by the Sceptres in 2023, and last season she managed to record 10 goals and 14 assists in 29 regular season games. In June 2025 she signed a three-year contract with the Goldeneyes as a free agent.
Kristen Campbell — Vancouver Goldeneyes
Star goalie Kristen “Soupy” Campbell is a member of Canada’s national team and was the first woman to win the Frozen Four championship without conceding a single goal. After playing the 2023-24 season with the Toronto Sceptres, Campbell was named the PWHL Goaltender of the Year. During the 2025 PWHL draft, she was traded to the Goldeneyes. She is currently dating Team Canada Softball Olympian Emma Entzminger.
Amanda Pelkey — Boston Fleet
Amanda Pelkey signed with the Boston Fleet during the PWHL’s inaugural season and has been a forward with the team ever since. Pelkey married two-time Olympic hockey medalist Venla Hovi in August 2023, and the pair welcomed their first child in 2024.
Jill Saulnier — Boston Fleet
Jill Saulnier has been a star forward with the New York Sirens since 2023, when she was drafted in the seventh round. She finished the inaugural season with a goal and an assist in 18 games. Early in 2025, Saulnier was traded to the Boston Fleet.
Abbey Levy — Boston Fleet
The 2025-26 season will mark goalie Abbey Levy’s first with the Boston Fleet. She signed a one-year contract with the team in June 2025 after having played for the New York Sirens since being drafted in 2023.
Jamie Lee Rattray — Boston Fleet
Hockey star Jamie Lee Rattray is a three-time World Champion, Team Canada gold medal Olympian, and has been a Boston Fleet forward since 2023. Rattray married wife Whitney Rattray in August 2024, and the two welcomed a son in June 2025.
Liz Schepers — Boston Fleet
Former Minnesota Frost forward Liz Schepers, won her second consecutive Walter Cup championship with the team before signing a two-year contract with the Boston Fleet in June 2025. Schepers and her girlfriend are the proud owners a golden doodle named Rookie.
Chloé Aurard-Bushee — Boston Fleet
Chloé Aurard-Bushee played two season with the New York Sirens before signing a one-year contract with the Boston Fleet for the 2025-26 season. Aurard-Bushee got engaged to girlfriend Ella in 2024 and the two married and hyphenated their last names on October 2025.
Zoe Boyd — Boston Fleet
Defenseman Zoe Boyd — popular among her fans for her skill on the ice, her game day fits, and sexy biceps — joined the Ottawa Charge in 2023, but has signed a one-year contract with the Fleet for the 2025-26 season.
Marie-Philip Poulin — Montréal Victoire
Star center Marie-Philip Poulin is not only the captain for the Montréal Victoire, but she is a three-time gold medalist who scored the game-winning goal in three on the four Olympic Games she’s been to, earning her the nickname “Captain Clutch.” She is also a player development consultant for the NHL team Montreal Canadiens and was International Ice Hockey Federation’s Female Player of the Year in 2025. Poulin got started dating Laura Stacey, her Canadian Women’s National Hockey Team and Montréal Victoire teammate, back in 2017 and the pair tied the knot in September 2024.
Laura Stacey — Montréal Victoire
Olympic gold and silver medalist Laura Stacey has been with the Montréal Victoire since she joined the league in 2023. She is the great-granddaughter of Hockey Hall of Famer Francis "King" Clancy and wears the jersey number 7 in his honor. In 2024, she married her Canadian Women’s National Hockey Team and Montréal Victoire teammate Marie-Philip Poulin.
Erin Ambrose — Montréal Victoire
Erin Ambrose was drafted in the first round of the 2023 draft and has been with the Montréal Victoire ever since. Ambrose came out as queer in 2020 in a piece she wrote about her mental health for Hockey Canada.
Amanda Boulier — Montréal Victoire
Defenseman Amanda Boulier was drafted by Ottawa in 2023, but was traded to the Montréal Victoire in 2024. She won the PWHL Intact Impact Award in 2025. Boulier married Harvard Women’s Hockey heard coach Laura Bellamy in July 2025.
Kennedy Marchment — Montréal Victoire
Kennedy Marchment was drafted by the Victoire in 2023. She is currently on injury reserve for the team, so it is unclear whether or not she’ll be playing this season.
Jade Downie-Landry — Montréal Victoire
Forward Jade Downie-Landry was signed to the New York Sirens in the 2023 inaugural draft and scored her first hat-trick for the team in 2024. She signed a one-year contract with the Victoire in June 2025. Downie-Landry married her wife, Lyndee Flanagan, on September 14, 2024.
Shiann Darkangelo — Montréal Victoire
Shiann Darkangelo was traded from the Boston fleet to the Ottawa Charge in the middle of the 2024 PWHL regular season, which could have spelled disaster for the forward, but she quickly found her footing on the new team and managed to rack up 8 goals and 9 assists in 29 games. Then, in June 2025 she signed a two-year contract with the Montreal Victoire. Darkangelo is currently dating Toronto goalie Elaine Chuli.
Micah Zandee-Hart — New York Sirens
Star player Micah Zandee-Hart was signed to the Sirens when it was created in 2023 before being named the first-ever captain of the team. Zandee-Heart also helped lead Canada to a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, where she recorded four assists.
Savannah Norcross — New York Sirens
Forward Savannah Norcross has had a stressful journey to getting to play for the Sirens this season. She wasn’t selected in the 2023 draft, but ended up signing with the team later that year. Unfortunately, she only recorded one assist in 20 games and ended up leaving to play for Luleå HF before signing a one-year contract with the Sirens for the 2025-26 season.
Élizabeth Giguère — Ottawa Charge
Right wing Élizabeth Giguère was drafted by the Sirens in 2023 when the league was first started before being picked up by Ottawa in June 2025. She has been married to her wife Claudia Duffy since August 2022.
Emily Clark — Ottawa Charge
Forward Emily Clark helped lead Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, years before joining the PWHL. Clark was signed to Ottawa in 2023 and was named assistant captain. Last season, she managed to rack up 9 goals and 10 assists in 30 regular-season games and signed a two-year contract extension with the team in August 2025.
Brianne Jenner — Ottawa Charge
Brianne Jenner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has been playing with the Ottawa Charge since she joined the league in 2023, the same year she was named the team’s captain. Jenner is married to her longtime partner Hayleigh Cudmore, a former teammate with Cornell and the Calgary Inferno.
Allie Munroe — Toronto Sceptres
Allie Monroe has been playing defense for the Sceptres she was drafted by the team in 2023. In 2024 she was named alternate captain and signed a new two-year contract extension with the team.
Elaine Chuli — Toronto Sceptres
Goalie Elaine Chuli started out her career in the PWHL playing for Montreal, but signed a one-year contract with the Sceptres in June 2024. Chuli is currently dating Montreal Victoire forward Shiann Darkangelo.
From left: Unrivaled players Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers, and Saniya Rivers.Megan Briggs/Getty Images; Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images; Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images
From left: NCAA basketball stars Rori Harmon, Azzi Fudd, and Lauren Betts.Scott Wachter/Getty Images; Maddie Meyer/Getty Images; Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
A soccer ball on the field.Tony Quinn/Shutterstock
Two players on the soccer field.Anton Vierietin/Shutterstock
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