Inaugural PWHL season deemed a success, though challenges remain ahead of 2nd campaign

Stan Kasten never promised the inaugural season of the Professional Women's Hockey League would go off without a few hitches.

"I will tell you that yes, it exceeded what we thought we were going to exceed," Kasten said during a news conference held before Minnesota hosted Boston in Game 3 of the league's best-of-five championship series, which is tied at one.

"The last time I was here, I told you that I thought that day really convinced us we were going to make this work," Kasten said of Minnesota's first home game attracting a crowd of 13,316 on Jan. 6. "But even then, I couldn't have imagined how the year would play out."

The six-team PWHL is riding high following a season in which it averaged 5,448 fans per game, including a women's hockey record of 21,105 to Montreal's Bell Centre last month; reached sponsorship deals with more than 40 companies; didn't have its playoff race settled until the final regular-season game; and was honoured Wednesday as the sports breakthrough of the year by the Sports Business Journal.

WATCH | Montreal players say fan support during 1st season will be lasting memory:

Now comes the hard part as the PWHL approaches its first full off-season needing to address several major issues ranging from identifying permanent venues, to having little room to fit an influx of more than 150 players declaring for the draft next month.

Stay tuned was the common takeaway from Kasten and senior VP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford on most issues, although the PWHL did announce that it would hold its draft in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 10 followed by its awards ceremony a day later.

Kasten and Hefford, however, were unable to go into specifics on venues. Toronto has already outgrown its current