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.
“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.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
