PWHL San Jose
PWHL ice hockey team in San Jose, California
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PWHL San Jose is an upcoming professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California that will compete in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are the league's sixth announced expansion franchise, concluding the league's second round of expansions alongside Detroit, Hamilton and Las Vegas for the 2026–27 season. The team will play home games at SAP Center.
| PWHL San Jose | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | San Jose, California |
| League | PWHL |
| Founded | May 19, 2026 |
| Home arena | SAP Center |
| Colours | Orange, blue and white |
| Owner | Mark Walter Group |
| General manager | TBA |
| Head coach | TBA |
| Captain | TBA |
| Website | www |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 0 |
| Walter Cups | 0 |
History
Founding
Despite San Jose not having hosted a PWHL Takeover Tour game (making them the second PWHL expansion city to not have previously hosted one), the success of the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks, the San Francisco Bay Area's strong support of women's sports in general (with the Women's National Basketball Association's Golden State Valkyries and the National Women's Soccer League's Bay FC in particular setting attendance records since beginning play in the last two years as well as the creation of the Women's Professional Baseball League's WPBL San Francisco) and California's strong support of women's hockey in particular (ranking sixth in the United States in women's hockey participation behind five colder-climate states) led the PWHL to place an expansion team there.
The team's founding and entry into the league was announced on May 19, 2026. They will begin playing in the PWHL during the 2026–27 season.[1][2]
The team is the league's twelfth franchise overall and its sixth expansion team, part of the second round of expansion. The team will play its games at SAP Center, which is also the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks.[1][2]
Team identity
As part of the expansion announcement, the team's colors were revealed to be orange, blue and white; orange as an homage to the Sharks' secondary color and the area's orange groves, blue as a nod to the Pacific Ocean coastline and sky above and all three inspired by the San Jose city flag and representing the Bay Area's optimistic energy.[2] Like all previous teams, the team will temporarily operate as PWHL San Jose until a permanent team identity is decided. Current San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan pitched the name "Hammerheads" in honor of former San Jose mayor, Susan Hammer.[3] PWHL Senior Vice President of Business Operations, Amy Scheer confirmed in an interview that Hammerheads is in the short list of names.[4]