It isn't often that I find myself sitting a couple stories above the ice for any game, but, yesterday, there was a big event that happened down at the rink as 15,225 people packed the Canada Life Centre for the first-ever PWHL game in the Keystone Province! Winnipeg played host to the PWHL Takeover Tour on Sunday evening with the Montreal Victoire "visiting" the Ottawa Charge, and this weekend has seen the players capture the hearts and minds of Winnipeggers who wanted to see professional women's hockey without needing a passport and an eight-drive to Minneapolis. I'll recap the events which I attended as the PWHL made itself at home in Winnipeg, and I'll try to determine whether or not Winnipeg is ready to join the PWHL circuit! Let's get into it!
On Friday evening, I had the opportunity to attend the Ottawa Charge Career Panel that took place at the University of Manitoba. The event was designed for university students who were thinking about a career in professional sports, but may not know where to start. The list of participants that the Charge made available for the panel covered a lot of positions with their team. The panel included:
- Mike Hirshfeld, Ottawa Charge General Manager
- Amanda Deluca, Head Athletic Therapist
- Kara Fulawka, Head Equipment Manager
- Olivia Giardetti, Hockey Operations & Team Services Director
The panel answered some pre-submitted questions that had been sent in, and they went over what a lot of their individual jobs entail. What they made clear was that they are never doing just one job. Everyone helps everyone else, there's always something that can be done or made better, and no one ever has the same day twice.
Following the pre-submitted questions, the panel took questions from the audience. There were a number of great questions asked about all aspects of the business, and the four panelists did a great job in answering all the questions as thoroughly as they could. They actually went over the allotted time much to the delight of the audience, so kudos to the Charge for being extremely accessible and informative!
Saturday saw the teams arrive at the Hockey For All Centre where open practices were held for fans to enjoy. I didn't stay long for these as the the teams were extremely busy following the practices in trying to get to youth hockey sessions and appearances, but both teams had uptempo practices that set the tone for Sunday night's game. Fans in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves as well!
The Charge hit the road quickly after practice as they were off to the Eastman Selects U13 practice where they hit the ice with the kids, hung around to sign autographs and take pictures, and generally allowed the Selects players to meet their hockey heroes! The players were generous with their time as everyone had a good time based on comments and excitement. Of course, it didn't hurt that the head coach of the Eastman Selects U13 team is Chantal Larocque, Jocelyne's sister, so seeing the highly-talented sister tandem work together while running a practice was pretty awesome for everyone!
That set up the city of Winnipeg for the biggest women's hockey event it will host this year, and I was down at the Canada Life Centre early as I spent some time in the pressbox watching the U SPORTS Women's Hockey National Championship gold medal game. When the doors finally opened at 5pm CT, the fans clad in both Charge and Victoire gear poured in as if it were a Taylor Swift concert. Fans of all ages anxiously waited for warm-ups to begin, and the crowd roared and waved their signs as players hit the ice to prep for the game.
After the ceremonies prior to the game, the action on the ice started slowly before the teams ramped up the action. There were hits, penalties, saves, shots, and passes, but a lack of goals was the only thing preventing the roof from being blown off Canada Life Centre by the sold-out crowd. As the first period ended, the fans in Winnipeg cheered loudly for their hockey heroes, but the score remained 0-0.
The second period opened with the same intensity that we saw at the end of the first frame as both teams opened up the game a little. 5:37 into the stanza, Peyton Hemp slid a cross-crease pass to Gabbie Hughes on the backdoor, and she buried the puck past Ann-Renée Desbiens to put Ottawa up 1-0 while becoming scoring the first PWHL goal on Manitoba soil! That lead didn't last long, though, as Abby Roque won an offensive zone face-off to Nicole Gosling who one-timed it between the wickets of Gwyneth Phillips at 11:20 to even the score at 1-1! Winnipeg fans rewarded both goals with loud, boisterous cheers, so it seems they were waiting for tallies!
The third period started somewhat more conservatively as both sides seemed to be more mindful of the defensive zone, but chances were had as Montreal went to work on a power-play while Ottawa continued to push the pace with quick strikes. Winnipeg fans got a chance to exercise the pipes as the karaoke cam brought out an extended version of ABBA's
Dancing Queen that extended far past the song being cut off. It seemed pretty clear that Winnipeg just needed a reason to explode with excitement! Would we get a reason?
Winnipeg responded loudly following a scrum that was preceded by a Rebecca Leslie boarding penalty as the more-than-15000 fans enjoyed the pushing and shoving between the teams. A shorthanded two-on-oh for the Charge was stopped by Desbiens, and the Winnipeg crowd roared again. Time, however, would tick down without a big moment, and we'd go to overtime with this Takeover Tour game tied at 1-1.
It would take only twelve seconds for Rebecca Leslie to wire a wrist shot on the power-play past Desbiens for the overtime winner, and the Winnipeg faithful responded with a loud ovation for the Charge! As the teams shook hands, lots of fans rushed to the glass for photo opportunities. As the two teams came to center ice for a photo, the building got loud with PWHL fans showing their appreciation by honouring their hockey heroes with cheers and applause!
When it comes down to it, Winnipeg showed up for the PWHL. As per
Kyle Cushman's spreadsheet to the left, Winnipeg is just the third arena to hit 100% capacity or better, and Winnipeggers made this Takeover Tour stop the seventh-best attendance total for these neutral sites games in PWHL history. Obviously, Winnipeg hockey fans deserve some kudos for their efforts all weekend at welcoming the PWHL into the Manitoba capital, and there were people that attended the game from outside Winnipeg including both Ontario and Saskatchewan. That's just incredible, and it certainly says that there are a ton of women's hockey fans in the region.
I'm not saying Winnipeg can never be a PWHL city, but we need to understand that entertainment dollars are already stretched thin in this city when it comes to supporting professional sports, high-end entertainment, and other ventures on top of paying for the everyday bills and costs that pop up. If you had asked me five years ago when I was covering Bisons women's hockey as a broadcaster if I ever would have thought we'd see a sold-out Canada Life Centre for women's hockey that didn't include Team Canada, I likely would have said no.
So is Winnipeg a PWHL city or not? Frankly, it's a complicated answer.
There's no doubt in my mind that a PWHL team would get solid support here in Winnipeg, but the same issues that plagued the WHL's Winnipeg Ice will likely plague a PWHL franchise. There isn't an 8000-seat arena available for them to occupy, so they would need to play out of Canada Life Centre. If they do that, I can't see Mark Chipman being very enthusiastic about his staff having to work games for another team, so the PWHL would need to look at selling a franchise option for True North Sports and Entertainment to operate.
If all of those stars were to align, I feel like David Thomson wouldn't say no to an additional twenty nights per year where his arena is being used. It would then fall to True North Sports and Entertainment to acquire a PWHL franchise via expansion or relocation, and that's where the rubber hits the road here in Winnipeg. Having people put down deposits on seats doesn't appear to be a problem based on last night's support for the game, so it's likely just working through some of the logistical hurdles before Winnipeg would join the PWHL.
In summary, the short answer is that, yes, Winnipeg could be a PWHL city. The more nuanced answer is that there are business-related matters that would need to be cleared before skates hit the ice at Canada Life Centre. We know that True North Sports and Entertainment doesn't rush into things without considering all options so jumping into this without some sort of guarantee of profitability wouldn't be a move they'd make under any circumstance. After all, a PWHL team is still a business with an entertainment side of hockey.
In a longer view, Winnipeg likely will be on the PWHL's list as an expansion location. For now, though, I wouldn't hold my breath due to the business-related reasons I mentioned above preventing the league from putting a team in the Manitoba capital. What shouldn't be questioned, though, is the region's passion and enthusiasm for professional women's hockey as 15,225 fans showed the PWHL that there's a women's hockey market waiting in Winnipeg.
You did good, Winnipeg and surrounding areas. It was a team effort, but I'm proud of this region's support for women's hockey.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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