After strong turnout for Rivalry Series, could Halifax become home to a PWHL team?
Arena availability, growing girls' hockey presence could boost case for Maritime city
With a little more than two minutes left on the clock in a Rivalry Series game between Canada and the United States, Nova Scotian Blayre Turnbull scored the game-tying goal for the Canadians.
The home crowd inside Halifax's Scotiabank Centre exploded with a chorus of cheers from 9,265 people.
Even the American head coach couldn't help but think it was cool to see the crowd's reaction to Turnbull scoring in front of her hometown crowd, even if it forced his team into a shootout.
"That was probably the loudest crowd and most into a game that we've seen in [the Rivalry Series] or even a world championship," U.S. head coach John Wroblewski said after the game, a 2-1 shootout win for the U.S., in early February.
"And that's saying a lot because last year [at the world championship] in Utica, I thought our home crowd was just amazing. But that was electric."
There is a long list of cities that would like to add a PWHL expansion franchise, as the league looks at whether to add as many as two teams as early as next season. An announcement on the league's plans are expected to come within the next month.
Halifax isn't likely to be on the short list this time around. But it's a market that could check off a number of items on the league's wish list, including arena availability, a growing number of girls and women playing hockey, and a fan base hungry for pro sports.
"Women's hockey is thriving in Nova Scotia," Toronto Sceptres and Canadian team head coach Troy Ryan, who's from Spryfield, N.S., said about the prospect of a Halifax PWHL team. "I think the support would be incredible."
Growing women's hockey community
Halifax is home to professional lacrosse and soccer, including women's professional soccer. The Northern Super League team, Halifax Tides FC, will begin play on April 26.
But the city hasn't been home to professional hockey since the AHL's Halifax Citadels left in 1993.
Soon after, the city got a QMJHL team: the Halifax Mooseheads.
The team plays out of Scotiabank Centre, which seats more than 10,500 in downtown Halifax. The Mooseheads regularly rank among the top teams in the QMJHL when it comes to attendance. Last season, the team drew more than 8,300 fans on average.
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There's also evidence that Nova Scotia loves women's hockey. The number of women and girls playing hockey in the province has increased by more than 83 per cent between 2007 and 2024, according to Hockey Canada registration data.
When the women's national team finally played in Halifax this past February, it was in front of a near sell-out crowd. The Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association also organized games in Truro in 2021 and 2022.
"These types of communities really rally around their teams and without a professional team in this market and with the Mooseheads being as successful as the Mooseheads are, I would see it being a great fit, especially when you consider Canadian cities," said Gina Kingsbury, who is GM of both the Canadian national women's team and the Toronto Sceptres.
A downtown arena
The PWHL is using a weighted model to rank the cities interested in a PWHL expansion franchise. Some of the factors include economic opportunity, media, infrastructure and travel costs.
Infrastructure is the most important of them all, executive vice president of business operations, Amy Scheer, told reporters last week.
Adria Young, a spokesperson with Events East, the company that operates Scotiabank Centre, said there would be interest in exploring the arena being home to a PWHL team in the coming years, as explores expansion. She said the company would "welcome these conversations with excitement and enthusiasm when the opportunity arises."
"It has been amazing to see what the PWHL has achieved in terms of success in such a short time since the league was established," Young added.
The team could also draw fans from elsewhere in the Maritimes, which saw a population boom during the pandemic.
Like Nova Scotia, women's and girls' hockey is growing in New Brunswick: registration has increased by more than 120 per cent from 2007 to 2024. Moncton, which is about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Halifax, has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the country.
When Montreal took on Toronto at the Bell Centre last season, Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie saw lots of Maritime fans in the crowd.
Asked during training camp in November to pick any city anywhere to host an expansion team, the New Glasgow, N.S. native chose Halifax.
"I really think it would be supported well," Cheverie said. "I really hope for Halifax."
Elsewhere in Canada, PWHL Takeover Tour games sold out arenas in Vancouver, Edmonton and Quebec City this year, in what could be looked at as auditions for an expansion franchise.
Scheer has stressed that one game won't be a major deciding factor for a potential expansion market. But competition will be stiff should the league want to add another Canadian team.
Major U.S. cities like Detroit, Seattle and Denver have also hosted Takeover Tour games with success. With the league still looking for a national U.S. broadcast partner, the idea of expanding to big, American cities could be enticing.
Travel a downside
Like Quebec City, Halifax wouldn't have an NHL team to partner with for support. It would also be the smallest market in the PWHL.
Travel could also be difficult. Players wouldn't be close enough to bus to any games, under the rules in the collective bargaining agreement. Teams fly commercial in the PWHL and wouldn't be able to fly direct between Halifax and Minnesota.
Turnbull sees travel as a downside of a Halifax team. But for a player who never thought she'd get the opportunity to play a big game in front of a home crowd, the idea is tantalizing.
"I think it would be difficult for a lot of teams to get here," the Sceptres forward said. "But aside from that, I think the atmosphere, the fan support, the amount of young girls playing hockey in the province now is just growing and growing. So I think it would be a great home to a future PWHL team."
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