Women's hockey league reveals first six franchises

The new Professional Women's Hockey League announced its six inaugural franchises on Tuesday.

Three teams based in Canada and three in the U.S. will begin a 24-game regular season this January.

The American PWHL franchises will be based in Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York City area.

The Canadian clubs will call Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa home.

Details on team names, logos and arenas will be announced at a later date.

PWHL board member Stan Kasten, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, said many games will also be played at neutral sites.

"That means games in other cities that are not cities in our 'Original Six,' both NHL cities and possibly even non-NHL cities," Kasten said, per ESPN. "In some of our markets where we are not playing [home games] in the bigger NHL venues, we will probably have events in those venues. We'll be promoting those as special events."

The NHL released a statement Tuesday supporting the new venture.

"The National Hockey League congratulates the Professional Women's Hockey League on today's announcements," the league said. "We remain committed to supporting the women's game and look forward to working together with the PWHL to grow our sport."

Each team can sign up to three players during a Sept. 1-10 free agency period. A draft is scheduled for Sept. 18.

The PWHL is fully funded by Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra.