The PWHL Can't Wait for Game in Pittsburgh

Pictured above: Marie-Philip Poulin

Last month, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) set a new women’s hockey attendance record in its inaugural season with a sold-out crowd of 19,285 at Scotiabank Arena – home of the Maple Leafs – to watch Toronto versus Montreal. It was incredibly inspirational seeing the building packed to watch some of the best hockey players in the world face off.

“It’s great,” Kris Letang said. “They're great athletes, and they play on the top stages, like the Olympics, World Championships, stuff like that. It gives some inspiration for the young girls that want to play hockey and get to a level where they're seen by the entire world or filling an NHL rink. There's a lot of people that it's going to open their eyes on different things.”

“It’s amazing to see almost 20,000 people showing up to a game, and it’s good hockey, it’s been good hockey internationally for a good amount of years, too,” P.O Joseph said. “All those US-Canada games, now it's fun to just have more and more players coming in and able to compete against each other in big cities. I'm really happy that the league has been doing good.”

Now, those same two teams are coming to Pittsburgh on March 17 as part of ‘PWHL Takeover Weekend,’ with the league playing three games in NHL venues this upcoming weekend. PWHL Toronto and PWHL Montréal are set to play at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday, March 17 at 12:30 PM before the Penguins host the Red Wings at 6 PM. Tickets are still available for the PWHL matchup here.

“To get to play in Pittsburgh, in a city that really supports women's hockey and goes out of their way to make games like these happen – it's a special moment, and I think our team is really looking forward to it,” said Laura Stacey, a two-time Olympic medalist with Team Canada who is one of PWHL Montréal’s three franchise players. “We can't wait to get down there.”

Many members of both PWHL franchises have been here before, with Team USA and Team Canada coming to town for a joint training camp in 2019; PPG Paints Arena hosting the “Rivalry Rematch” game following the Beijing Olympics in 2022; and the Penguins partnering with the PWHPA and PHF to host events at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex last season.

Before the PWHL season, Montréal head coach Kori Cheverie served as a guest coach for Penguins development camp and training camp.

“I've spent obviously a short time with them, but even how they made me feel as a coach coming into their organization was something that I'll never forget,” she said. “The great thing about Pittsburgh is that their environment on a day-to-day basis is how they make people feel.

“I think that that's something that they've done for women's hockey, and that's something that they've done for the players and the coaches and the support staff that have had an opportunity to be a part of their organization. So, this just seems like a natural fit for a game to happen in their arena and under the scope of their organization.”

The PWHL was officially introduced back in August, after so much hard work by so many people to create a sustainable professional women’s hockey league. All of the sacrifices feel worth it, considering how everything has been unfolding in such a positive way.

“It's been unbelievable. I think it's far exceeded our expectations,” said Stacey, who was one of more than 200 players who announced they would not compete professionally in the 2019-20 season until they received proper support and resources.

“Obviously, when we sat out four years ago, we dreamt of this, we thought of this, but I don't think what's happening is actually what we thought was going to happen, especially in year one. I think it's going to keep growing, and I think that's the best part about it. Hopefully, little girls and little boys see that and want to aspire to either be a part of it or to support it, and to continue pushing forward down the road."

Getting to make a living out of playing hockey professionally has been a wonderful experience. Stacey said having the details that come with that consistently, like “going to the rink every single day, showing up and doing video and practicing and having our breakfast and lunch there for you, an equipment manager who's sharpening our skates every single day,” is so significant.

It's resulted in a fantastic on-ice product, with PWHL Toronto forward Rebecca Leslie saying fans are in “for a really high-paced, high-energetic game,” along with the opportunity for the women to showcase their personalities, as evidenced by the arrival fits the teams post on social media. “We definitely have fun with it. It’s a huge part of our game,” Leslie said.

“Just being able to reach that broader market I think is really special. Women's sports are just excelling right now. It's special to be in a time where we have the PWHL and we have people like Caitlin Clark who are reaching these incredible milestones in other sports. So, for us, we've known that the quality on the ice is there. To kind of finally have that seen throughout the world is really special."

In addition to all of that, the support that all six franchises have received – Ottawa, Boston, New York, and Minnesota are the other four – in all of the cities they’ve played in has truly stood out.

“It's not just a one-and-done of oh, we hit 20,000, we broke a record, and now we're back to square one,” Stacey said. “I think it's being able to hold those numbers consistently, being able to see those fans show up to every single game – whether it's a playoff game, a regular season game, no matter what the case may be. So, to be honest with you, that's my favorite part: is just seeing how it's continuing to grow and grow and grow and not just kind of fall back after one record’s being broken.”

And at some point in the future, Pittsburgh would love to be in the mix as another city with its own PWHL franchise.

“I think it’d be great,” Sidney Crosby said. “I think we’ve shown as a city, that with the fan support that we have and the way that people love the game, that’d be something that would be great to have in the city. If the league was willing to expand, hopefully that’s something that could happen. That’d be great to have.”