We have exciting news for women's hockey fans! For the first time, EA Sports has officially introduced playable women’s teams and full rosters to NHL 22 thanks to the game's latest patch. Players can now take to the ice with female icons such as Team Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Natalie Spooner, Team USA’s Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne-Schofield, and many more across a number of modes.

“It has been such a privilege to lace up my digital skates for the very first time in NHL 22, and to get to do so while playing for my country makes it all the more surreal,” said Team Canada’s Captain Poulin. “Representation matters and I’m thrilled that every young girl who picks up a controller to play NHL 22 can feel like hockey is a sport for her, too.”

These updates arrive shortly after the debut of the latest episode of the five-part digital series Breaking Ice, a collaboration between EA Sports and UNINTERRUPTED Canada, the athlete empowerment platform, which profiles champions of diversity in hockey. The episode, which features members of the Canadian and U.S. Women’s National Teams discusses their work to create long-lasting and meaningful change in the world of sports.

The IIHF Men’s World Championship is also now playable as part of this latest update. Sixteen international men’s teams and ten international women’s teams have been added to NHL 22, each of which is playable in a variety of game modes, including Play Now, Online VS, Threes Now, and Shootout, along with their respective World Championship modes.

To learn more about the update, check out the release trailer below!