On January 8, the top women in the world faced off in front of a sold-out Vancouver crowd.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) kicked off its first season last year and is made up of six teams across North America: the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. The teams are composed of players from the Canadian and American women’s national teams plus a handful of European players.
At the beginning of this season, the PWHL announced their Takeover Tour — nine neutral-site games in major cities across the continent. These games would be played at NHL arenas (save for the stop in Québec City) and presumably were a way for the league to evaluate potential homes for their forthcoming expansion. Vancouver played host for the second game, a battle between the Victoire and the Sceptres.
This game was a homecoming of sorts for three BC-born players: Montréal’s Jennifer Gardiner (Surrey) along with Toronto’s Rylind MacKinnon (Cranbrook) and Hannah Miller (North Vancouver).
Gardiner was drafted in the second round this season after five years at Ohio State, where she led the school to their first two national championships ever. Fellow rookie MacKinnon played five seasons with the UBC Thunderbirds, leading them to three consecutive Canada West Championships and a bronze medal at the 2023 U Sports Championship. Miller, who was drafted to the Sceptres last season, is no stranger to professional hockey. She previously played for the Chinese expansion of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) before moving to the Russian-based Zhenskaya Hockey League following the CWHL’s collapse.
“You couldn’t go ten feet without running into a gaggle of jersey-clad kids carrying hand-made signs or a row of older women rocking beer league sweaters.”
The Victoire — captained by Canadian legend Marie-Philip Poulin — ultimately came out victorious over the Sceptres with a 4–2 win. Montréal started the first period strong with a breakaway goal from Mikyla Grant-Mentis, who then assisted Claire Dalton’s goal from the hash marks just minutes into the second. Poulin netted the Victoire’s third goal in true “Captain Clutch” fashion — from her knees. Shortly after, Daryl Watts put the Sceptres on the scoreboard with a powerplay goal, spurring the team to take control of Montréal’s zone for the rest of the second. Toronto kept the energy up going into the final period, pulling off a two-on-one that resulted in a goal for Jesse Compher. In a final attempt to tie it up, the Sceptres pulled goalie Kristen Campbell in the final minute and a half, leading to an open net goal from Poulin.
The stands were buzzing with excitement all game long — you couldn’t go ten feet without running into a gaggle of jersey-clad kids carrying hand-made signs or a row of older women rocking beer league sweaters.
With two expansion teams slated for next season, fans across the continent are rallying for their cities to be chosen. The league’s considerations include a range of items including economic opportunity, youth hockey involvement, population, and location.
Despite the physical distance from the existing teams, Vancouver seems to stand a good chance of getting their own team. This event marked the third most-attended game in the league’s history and even Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s senior vice-president of hockey operations, agreed that the city has a lot of potential. With the Christine Sinclair-backed soccer team kicking off their inaugural season later this year, Vancouver is rallying behind women’s sports. Could hockey be next?
