Yet another milestone for the PWHL came Thursday when gaming giant EA Sports announced that the PWHL and its players would become part of EA Sports NHL25.
It’s a multi-year partnership that will allow hockey fans to choose PWHL players when they sit down to play NHL25.
Izzy Daniel, the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the top player in NCAA women’s hockey and currently skating with the Toronto Sceptres who drafted her No. 18 overall, considers herself a gamer but never in her wildest dreams did she ever even consider the possibility of sitting down one day and playing a video game of which she was actually a part.
“As somebody who grew up playing video games and played NHL, it’s kind of surreal that I am going to be in the game now,” Daniel said. “But it’s really cool. You grow up playing the game as your favourite guys – Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, whoever? And now it’s like, we’re in the game so it’s kind of … I mean I don’t think I’ll believe it until I actually see it.”
And if Daniel was having a tough time believing the PWHL was going to be a part of EA NHL25, goaltender CJ Jackson was barely able to contain her excitement at the idea of it.
“Every time something like this gets announced, it just feels like a little bit of growth,” Jackson said.
Jackson is considered the biggest ‘gamer’ on the Sceptres and while it has been a minute since she sat down and played a hockey video game, this news had her amped up and ready to get back into it.
“I don’t want to sound conceited or selfish but I’m definitely going to play as myself,” Jackson said. “I mean, you have to, right? I played it a lot in high school, a little bit in college and then put it away.”
The game launches Dec. 5 and just like the NHL players in the game, all the PWHL players from the six league teams will be rated and available to join a team of your making.
PWHL players can be utilized in Play Now, Online Versus, Shootout, and Season Modes.