PWHL New York to Play First Home Game at UBS Arena

History will be made at UBS Arena on Wednesday night, as the puck drops on the first Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game at the venue, when New York hosts Montreal. Wednesday night marks the first of four PWHL games at UBS Arena in the league’s inaugural season.

“Any time you get to play at an NHL venue it’s special,” said Alex Carpenter, forward and alternate captain of PWHL New York. “It’ll be pretty special to play at UBS for the first time. We’re all excited.”

That excitement has been building up through two months of intense practices, as well as the anticipation of launching a new league, the first unified professional women’s hockey league, which played its first game on Jan. 1. As their inaugural season is underway, the players are focused on their game and keeping it simple on the ice.

“The stakes are bigger, and the league is still blooming, but we’re just reverting back to the fact that it’s just a hockey game for us and we know how to play,” said Abbey Levy, goaltender for PWHL New York. “This is what we do.”

In the first-ever game of the PWHL, New York defeated Toronto 4-0 on Jan. 1 in a historic matchup in Toronto.

“When the schedule came out and we saw that we were the first game of this new league, we were so excited,” Carpenter said. “To not only make history like that, but to also win that game was so cool.”

Carpenter scored for the second straight game in a 3-2 loss to Toronto on Jan. 5, while Levy made 34 saves in New York’s home opener at Total Mortgage Arena, the home of the Bridgeport Islanders. New York has two home arenas this season. They’ll play four more games at Total Mortgage Arena and have four games at UBS Arena in the regular season.

“It was great to see how many people came out for us even though we’re a New York team in Connecticut, to see the love and support from all those fans,” Levy said. “It’s pretty cool to have two homes, we’re excited to see the crowd at UBS [Wednesday].”

Tickets are available HERE for Wednesday's game with puck drop set for 7 p.m. at UBS Arena. You can also catch the game on MSG Networks or on the official PWHL YouTube channel.

The new professional women’s league made a positive splash, garnering positive and encouraging reactions from sports fans at large, players in other leagues and surrounding teams. New York Islanders players are thrilled for the PWHL and are excited to share a home venue with the PWHL New York team.

"There's a lot of talented women in this game, it's great to see them get a league and the recognition they deserve,” Matt Martin said. “For them to have a home and the foundation to start and grow is massive. Hopefully it continues to expand from here." 

"Pretty cool jerseys too," Martin added.  

For Carpenter, hockey is the family business as her father, Bobby Carpenter, spent 18 seasons in the NHL and was teammates with Islanders Head Coach Lane Lambert during in the 1986-87 season for the New York Rangers. Ahead of the first game at UBS, Lambert expressed his enthusiasm and support for the new professional women’s league. 

"It's outstanding to see," Lambert said. "It's exciting to watch and I wish them all the best.”

When Carpenter was growing up, the idea of playing professional hockey was a dream she wasn’t sure would ever become a reality. After a successful career at the collegiate and international level, she’s now playing pro and the future is brighter than it’s ever been for women’s hockey. 

“When I was younger, I just wanted to play in the NHL,” Carpenter said. “But obviously that wasn’t possible, so I went down other avenues such as national teams and the Olympics, but this is always what I wanted to do. To be able to give that to the younger generation who have the same dreams I did growing up is pretty special.”

The new professional league creates opportunities for women looking to pursue hockey full-time.

“Instead of having to focus on a career they didn’t necessarily want, but have to because they’re a woman, they now have somewhere to go,” Levy said of the opportunity the PWHL provides. “I see college students now coming out of school and being excited to be a professional athlete and have that chance.”

Levy sports a successful NCAA run on her resume with Boston College, becoming the first female goaltender in Hockey East history to play an entire conference slate with a save percentage above .945 among other accolades.

She grew up as an Islanders fan, as her whole family have been Season Ticket Members for decades. Levy rode in the Zamboni as a toddler, grew up attending Islanders games with her family. On Wednesday, it’ll all come full circle when she will hit the ice in the home building of the team that she grew up rooting for.  

“It’s a huge deal for my family. It’ll be a full circle moment,” Levy said. “Being a kid, watching at the Coliseum and Barclays [Center] and now UBS [Arena], it’s going to be a cool moment to play in the same building. It’ll be something special that I can hold onto for the rest of my life.” 

Many PWHL players across the league’s original six teams know each other from playing with or against each other at some point in their careers, but New York’s team bond and identity is already strong. The future is bright for New York and the PWHL as their historic inaugural season continues. 

“Our team is very close,” Carpenter said. “Right from day one, everyone was able to find their way. We mesh so well, and I think that’ll be a huge key to team success going forward.”

“We all have so much to bring,” Levy said. “There’s a lot of talent on our team and in this league. It’s fun to see the game grow.”