MONTREAL — A Professional Women’s Hockey League game between Toronto and Montreal has, once again, broken the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game, just two months after first setting the new high.
The league has broken several attendance records in its inaugural season: first for the most fans at a professional women’s hockey game in Ottawa (8,318) on Jan. 2 and then four days later in Minnesota (13,316).
On Feb. 16, the league drew 19,285 fans to a game between Toronto and Montreal at Scotiabank Arena — home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs — which became the largest crowd to watch women’s hockey ever, including at the Olympics, world championships and the NCAA.
GO DEEPER
PWHL breaks women’s hockey all-time attendance record
Now, the new record stands at 21,105, a capacity Bell Centre crowd that watched Toronto beat Montreal in overtime on a goal by Sarah Nurse 13 seconds into overtime. But the loss did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, the majority of whom stayed to cheer on Nurse as she was named the game’s first star.
“I never dreamed of playing at the Bell Centre,” Nurse said, “but that was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin received a roaring ovation when she was introduced to the crowd in the starting lineup before the game. It was a moment that meant so much because of everything Poulin has meant to the women’s game for so long, and all the work she’s put in to get to this moment, playing in a viable professional league in front of more than 21,000 fans.
Une ovation exceptionnelle pour notre capitaine
The people love Pou ???? pic.twitter.com/J6lii5ais2
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) April 20, 2024
“It got to me,” Poulin said of the ovation. “It gave me chills. It made me emotional, for sure. Taking a moment to look around and see all the white towels in the stands, people standing, we talked about how every time the puck crossed the red line, people got loud. It was incredible, a moment I’ll never forget, and I appreciate being a part of that moment.”
Saturday’s game wasn’t originally scheduled to be played at the Bell Centre, but after the success of the game at Scotiabank Arena and the consistent sellouts of PWHL Montreal’s primary and secondary arenas — the 4,000-capacity Verdun Auditorium and 10,000-seat Place Bell in Laval, Que. — the league felt comfortable moving a game into the largest capacity arena in the NHL.
“It’s nice to have a few months of the season under your belt to be able to make a decision based on what you’ve seen,” said Amy Scheer, the senior vice president of business operations for the PWHL. “The Montreal fans were amazing. We sold out in no time at all.”
Scheer said that after the Scotiabank Arena game, the league spoke with the Montreal team and the Canadiens to see if a game at the Bell Centre could be possible. Things moved quickly and the league “jumped at the opportunity” for a Saturday afternoon game in Montreal.
“They could not make us feel more welcome (in the building),” Scheer said about working with the NHL club. “They’ve been unbelievable partners for us. They want to help advance women’s hockey, they support the sport through their foundation. I think it’s going to be a very fruitful relationship.”
The sellout is just the latest proof of concept of the audience for professional women’s hockey — and the growth in the game over the last several years. In 2016, the Bell Centre hosted a CWHL game between the now-defunct Montreal and Calgary franchises. Poulin, then 25 years old, scored the game-winning goal, as she typically does. Fewer than 6,000 fans were in attendance.
“When you look back to (2016), it was the lower bowl, maybe 5,000 or 6,000 people in the stands,” Poulin said. “We talked a lot about getting more, and today, it was full. It’s incredible. When you put in the effort, when you believe in something, people believe in this product, believe in this league, believe in our team. I think this shows how remarkable our fans are here in Montreal.”
Toronto defender Lauriane Rougeau, a Montreal native who grew up playing with Poulin on various teams, was also playing for Les Canadiennes in that game against Calgary at the Bell Centre eight years ago.
“I don’t think back then I thought this was possible,” Rougeau said. “But looking back, it’s the hard work that we’ve put in, all of us, growing the game, putting our foot down and saying this is enough, we’re going to work at this and we’re going to make it happen. It’s a lot of work behind it and a lot of thank you’s to a lot of people and a lot of gratitude, but also we’re just excited for the future.
“The next 10 years is going to be incredible.”
Now, for the PWHL to break this current record, it will likely need to head outdoors. Could that be in the cards?
“We’re not just going to say, ‘Hey, let’s play at X stadium and see what we do,’” Scheer said. “I think it would be a measured approach and making sure that if we do it, that we choose a location where we know we can be successful. Of course, it’s possible. When and where (is) TBD.”
But for Poulin and Nurse, it’s not necessarily about records anymore. They and the PWHL have set a very high bar. Now it’s a matter of keeping it high.
“Now it’s not just a one-off,” Nurse said. “Obviously being able to break a record like that today was incredible, and we knew coming into today we were going to do it. And so we want to continue to push so that we can continue to — I’m not sure if we can break another record, I don’t know if this place can hold any more — but we want to continue to push so that we can be doing this on a consistent basis.”
For Poulin, the dream is to make it so a game like the one held at the Bell Centre on Saturday isn’t even newsworthy.
“The next step is this becomes the norm, and we won’t even talk about it because we’ll have this every game,” she said. “It’s something I think is very possible, I believe in it a lot, and I think today we showed it.”
