The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. PWHPA members expressed dissatisfaction with the operations of the existing professional National Women's Hockey League and vowed to boycott existing women's leagues and to work towards the establishment of a unified, financially sustainable professional league. From 2019 to 2023, the PWHPA organized a series of exhibition seasons, known as the Dream Gap tours, to generate support towards its goal.
Anissa Gamble during the PWHPA Dream Gap Tour in September 2019.
A ceremonial face-off during the 2019 Toronto Dream Gap tour stop. Vicky Sunohara dropping the puck between Brianne Jenner and Marie-Philip Poulin.
The collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League occurred in the spring of 2019. Previously one of the top women's ice hockey leagues in the world, the Canadian Women's Hockey League announced on 31 March 2019, that it would be folding effective 1 May.
Les Canadiennes de Montréal in action against the Toronto Furies in 2015
NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan hands the Isobel Cup to the Buffalo Beauts in 2017
The Angela James Bowl, awarded to the top CWHL scorer, in 2008