Shortly after the ball drops in Times Square to signify the New Year on Monday, the puck will drop in Toronto to start a new era in women’s hockey. That’s when the first-ever PWHL game will be played, with Toronto hosting New York in a Jan. 1 matinee.

For New York general manager Pascal Daoust, opening day can’t come soon enough.

“I’m so happy to finally be at the starting line,” Daoust said last week. “We started from scratch, did a lot of hard work and now are close to that historical first game. I’m so excited for the players and for all women and for everyone who’s  invested so much time and money to make this work.”

Each of the six PWHL teams are owned by one entity, the Mark Walter Group, which also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers. Working in collaboration with the players’ union, the PWHL is hoping to succeed where previous women’s hockey leagues didn't in North America.

First-ever PWHL game Jan. 1 starts sprint to make playoffs

Rosters were largely built in September through free agency and the inaugural PWHL Draft. Training camp began in November, and now all involved are ready to begin the regular season, with each team playing 24 games and the top four reaching the playoffs.

Compared to 82 games in the NHL, the PWHL regular season will be a sprint, not a marathon.

“Those 24 games, you’ve got to make that count, and I think that sprint will be awesome for the performance level with how important every game is,” New York forward Jessie Eldridge told Clutch Points. “One bad game could be the difference in making the playoffs or not, so we don’t have much time for those mistakes. And it starts in Game 1.”

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Forward Emma Woods added, “Every single game is going to matter, it’s basically playoffs all year round. There’s so much talent in this league that you can’t go into any game simply expecting two points without earning them.”

New York was 3-0-0 during the preseason, including a 6-4 win against Toronto when Woods had a hat trick. The New York squad features Canadian Olympic gold medalists Ella Shelton, Jill Saulnier and captain Micah Zandee-Hart and United States silver medalist Alex Carpenter.

Toronto is no pushover, though. Its lineup includes women’s stars Sarah Nurse, Natalie Spooner and Renata Fast, among others.

‘All eyes' will be on New York, Toronto for historic first PWHL game on New Year's Day

But the New Year’s Day clash is more than one of 24 games in a sprint to make the playoffs. It’s the first game in League history after so many years in the planning stages. Simply, it will be an emotional day for many more than just the players on the ice.

“It’s going to be an opportunity for us to set the tone for our season, but there’s more to it than that,” New York forward Jade Downie-Landry told Clutch Points. “All eyes will be on us, and that includes future generations of players, which is really cool. It’ll be a really special moment and, on behalf of everyone here, we’re super humbled and privileged to be the team playing Toronto on January 1st.”