New Jersey Devils home arena is welcoming a new hockey team

The New York Sirens, previously known as PWHL New York, are ready to rock with a new name and a new location. On September 13, the Sirens made an exciting announcement. In the 2024-25 PWHL season, they will call Prudential Center their primary home.

In the PWHL’s inaugural season, the Sirens split most of their home games between two arenas. They played at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, home of the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, and UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Long Island, home of the New York Islanders. 

Throughout the season, the Sirens struggled with attendance, seeing the lowest attendance numbers of the six teams in the league. Their average attendance for the season was 2,496, with attendance dropping to 728 people at Total Mortgage Arena on March 6.

The PWHL tested out various venues for their teams, giving hockey fans in different areas a chance to show up to support women’s hockey. Toward the end of the season, the Sirens hosted two games at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, home of the New Jersey Devils.

The Sirens’ home game on April 20 at Prudential Center was their most highly attended game of the season with 5,132 fans. On April 30, 2,992 fans attended the second game at The Rock. The April 30 game came after the team’s elimination from playoff contention. While the attendance didn’t reach the heights other teams like the Minnesota Frost and Toronto Sceptres saw, there’s potential in Newark. The players and former head coach noted that the crowd support was the best in New Jersey. It was clear that The Rock would be a great home for the Sirens.

In addition to the battle to find crowd support, the Sirens struggled on the ice in their first season, tallying the lowest number of points and failing to make the playoffs. They received the first overall draft pick, which they used to draft forward Sarah Fillier.

Stars like defender Ella Shelton, forward Alex Carpenter and goaltender Corinne Schroeder will return for their second season with New York. Micah-Zandee Hart continues to serve as the captain of the Sirens. The team has a new head coach, Greg Fargo.

With Prudential Center as their home, the Sirens will be able to grow their fanbase. Devils fans, head over to Prudential Center on a day the Sirens are playing and show them some support. Even though the team name is the New York Sirens, New Jersey should show up to give the new hockey team in town a warm welcome.