PWHL Game Draws Passionate Crowd in Steel City

The signs at Sunday’s PWHL in the Steel City game between Montréal and Toronto at PPG Paints Arena truly said it all.

“Now I can dream big, too!”

“You fought so I can follow in your footsteps!”

“The Steel City wants this!”

“Girls hockey rules!”

It was an emotional afternoon in the Pittsburgh hockey community seeing professional women’s hockey players take the ice after years of striving to establish a league like this one – which is in its inaugural season and currently features six teams in North America – and seeing the turnout from the city.

A crowd of 8,850 packed the lower bowl to watch Toronto’s 2-1 victory over Montréal, which is the highest-attended women’s hockey game in Pittsburgh history. It was excellent attendance, especially considering the Penguins played twice over a busy weekend that also featured St. Patrick’s Day festivities, including later that evening against the Red Wings.

“Honestly, like, just to see how much support we're getting… the phrase ‘you build it and they will come’ is so real, and it's happening,” said Montréal forward Kristin O’Neill, who scored her first of the season in the contest.

“I mean, it sounds so cliché… but just to see little girls watching our game, it's so inspiring, and I'm honestly jealous of them [laughs]. I wish I got to watch professional women's hockey every weekend when I was a little kid. So, I think the professionalism that we feel every day, all the staff that supports us, and just the fan base we have every game are the best parts of this league.”

There was a sense of excitement going in from the teams and, in particular, the PWHL players who have been here before for different events – like the Rivalry Rematch between the U.S. and Canada after the 2022 Winter Olympics – because of how Pittsburgh has embraced women’s hockey in the past. The entire Penguins organization truly cares so much about growing the game and giving these amazing athletes - who are incredible ambassadors - the stage and support they deserve, and the fans tend to respond accordingly.

“I know that we've hosted some different games over the years, the rivalry series and things like that. But with them coming here and seeing the turnout, year after year, I think it'll be a great experience,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “I think people always show their support and always show up.”

That was certainly the case again on Sunday. Walking the concourse before warmups began, it was packed with fans wearing apparel that represented not only Montréal, Toronto, and the PWHL, but USA and Canada, the NWHL’s Metropolitan Riveters, women's college teams like Mercyhurst, and various girls amateur team jerseys, just to name a few.

Those in the building (myself included) flocked to PensGear for PWHL merchandise brought in by the league, which quickly sold out. People of all ages were in the seats, including families with young kids and teenagers and adults who simply love the game.

“Growing up, I always watched men's hockey and I couldn't imagine this happening. So, it's really emotional and it's really amazing to see these women being represented in this way,” said Karley Doucett, there with her daughter Arbor. They had a Taylor Swift-themed sign that read, ‘In our PWHL Era!’

“Fans from all genders, all walks of life are coming in and supporting them. I'm just thrilled that there's a professional women's hockey league. Arbor doesn't play hockey, but we’re big women’s hockey fans, and we're happy to cheer them on, and it's great that there's a league for the next generation to play in.”

When the game itself began, those in attendance were engaged and enthusiastic – cheering, ooh-ing, and ahh-ing at every play, whether it was a goal like O’Neill’s beauty or Kali Flanagan’s game-winner, a save, or just physicality along the boards.

The in-arena experience proudly celebrated women, from the introductory videos that were shown; to Pittsburgh’s own DJ Jess playing anthems like Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ along with other hits from female artists throughout the afternoon; and a dasher board by Montréal’s bench from the movie Barbie reading, ‘you can be anything.’

“Having an atmosphere like that, a crowd like that, our team has had so much cool support and I think it was just really fun,” Flanagan said.

Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph had lamented that the guys wouldn’t get to fully experience the game because of the conflicting timing with their own game preparation, but a few of the players were able to watch some of the third period. Members of Pittsburgh management – including Amanda Kessel, a three-time Olympic medalist with Team USA, now working in hockey operations for the Penguins – had a suite, while Mike Sullivan joined the Pittsburgh Pennies, Pittsburgh's first professional women's hockey team that played from 1973-1979.

“I thought it was great. It's real good hockey. I think the girls that are participating in that are real trailblazers,” Sullivan said. “I think there was a great crowd. They're inspiring the next generation of young girls that aspire to play the game. We certainly support that initiative. Obviously, we had a vested interest in Montreal's team with Kori Cheverie behind the bench, who spent some time with our coaching staff at training camp. We just think the world of her and she's a great leader, and we wanted to be supportive of her, also.”

Cheverie has spoken highly of her time here as a guest coach, saying, “the Penguins have been awesome to us, awesome to me – and to be able to bring our team here and share the experience has been pretty cool.”

This was considered a neutral-site game, but the hope is that in the not-so-distant future, Pittsburgh will have its own PWHL franchise to root for … and Sunday was evidence that the team would thrive.

“I loved coming here after the Olympics and the turnout for that, and now getting to come back and play here – I think they've proven time and time again they’re a sports city,” said Toronto veteran forward Natalie Spooner, who leads the league with 12 goals in 17 games. “They're supportive of all their athletes and we were lucky enough to be able to come this year – and hopefully down the road, they get a team here.”