On April 23, 2025, Vancouver became the PWHL's first official expansion franchise.
Vancouver has officially been home to a Professional Women’s Hockey League team for exactly one year. On this exact date last year, the PWHL announced that the Vancouver Goldeneyes would be their first-ever expansion team, with the Seattle Torrent following closely after on April 30. The road to Vancouver’s one-year anniversary has been nothing short of memorable.
How To Build A Brand-New Team
The lead-up to expansion was bolstered most by a standout Takeover Tour stop in Vancouver, in which the Montréal Victoire defeated the Toronto Sceptres by a score of 4–2 in front of 19,038 fans. This remains the highest attendance number for the PWHL’s Takeover Tour through both seasons since it was introduced.
With a team officially introduced, the next step in bringing the PWHL in Vancouver was creating the team itself. With General Manager Cara Gardner Morey at the helm, Vancouver signed five big-name players during the exclusive signing window at the start of June: Claire Thompson, Sophie Jaques, Sarah Nurse, Emerance Maschmeyer, and Jenn Gardiner. Not only have these five players done an excellent job of representing Vancouver and the Goldeneyes throughout the team’s inaugural season, they also took to the ice for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
From there, Vancouver got to work in constructing their roster via the expansion draft. The Goldeneyes used the first-overall selection to draft now-captain Ashton Bell before also picking Brooke McQuigge, Abby Boreen, Izzy Daniel, Gabby Rosenthal, Denisa Křížová, and Sydney Bard. They built on their roster even more through the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft by picking Finnish National Captain Michelle Karvinen with their first-round pick and adding rookie defender Nina Jobst-Smith. Vancouver also conducted their first trade in franchise history during the draft, acquiring goaltender Kristen Campbell and a third-rounder for 2025 second and third-round picks.
In free agency, Vancouver signed North Vancouver local Hannah Miller, former Ottawa Charge forward Tereza Vanišová, and a trio of Walter Cup champions in Michela Cava, Emma Greco, and Mellissa Channell-Watkins.
What’s In A Name?
While the then-titled “PWHL Vancouver” had gone nameless up until November, there was no shortage of fan-voted names or suggestions for the team’s branding and identity. At the time, the PWHL had yet to have a team named after an animal. With Vancouver and Seattle’s connection to the lush landscapes of the west coast, the popular belief was that both names would draw on this particular element when it came to their team names.
Seattle’s name ended up leaking early, with the Torrent being the name assigned to a squad led by Olympic Gold medalist Hilary Knight. When Vancouver peeled back the metaphorical curtain to reveal the bright bronze symbolizing the golden eye of a Goldeneye, many seemed surprised. It wasn’t exactly what people had been expecting, given that the popular votes were for names such as the Spirit, Peak, or even the Valkyries.
Regardless of this, however, the name’s popularity grew. Vancouver leaned into the 007 Goldeneye narrative by playing the James Bond song at their games. Fans have adopted duck-inspired chants and connections, calling the team’s social media admin ‘quackmin’ and chanting ‘quack, quack, quack’ during games at home. Even the team has warmed up to the duck-themed name, constructing a ‘flying-V’ celebration for their fans after their home wins.
Magical Starts At Home
Vancouver began their tenancy at the storied Pacific Coliseum with essentially the most theatrically-perfect game possible. The excitement had been building throughout the city long before puck drop, however, with training camp signings and roster moves — including their second trade in franchise history, flipping Křížová for forward Anna Segedi — occurring only days before their opening night.
Behind the scenes, the Coliseum faced preparation for what would ultimately be a sell-out crowd of 14,958 fans. Goldeneyes logos and branding were splayed across the arena’s walls, complete with photos of players donning the team’s jersey. As well, for the first time in league history, a team’s logo was embedded deep into the ice at their home-barn, signalling the team’s status as the Coliseum’s primary tenant.
During the game itself, Vancouver only ever led once — after Boreen scored the overtime winner to get the Goldeneyes their first win as a PWHL franchise by a score of 4–3. Earlier on, it was Nurse who scored the first goal in team history, followed by tallies from Rosenthal and Thompson to continue digging at the Torrent’s single-goal leads.
Off-the-ice, the support for the Goldeneyes from the rest of Vancouver’s sports community was imminent. Aatu Räty of the Vancouver Canucks, wearing a Karvinen jersey, was joined by teammates Nils Höglander, Teddy Blueger, and Thatcher Demko at the Goldeneyes’ home-opener. Former Canucks Darcy Rota, Dave Babych, and Nathan Lafayette also attended this game, while Canadian soccer legend Christine Sinclair dropped the puck.
Vancouver’s success on home-ice has been a big part of their inaugural season. With one more home game to go before their season wraps, the Goldeneyes currently sport a record of 6–1–3–4 at home, earning them 23 points compared to their 3–1–1–10 record on the road.
The Road To Expansion Success Isn’t Always An Easy One
The Goldeneyes have been a feel-good story for Vancouver sports this season, though their road hasn’t particularly been easy. Adjusting to the tricks of expansion has proved to be a bit more difficult than many initially believed for both Vancouver and Seattle, with both expansion franchises being the first two mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in April.
After their storybook home-opener, Vancouver faced their first road trip of the season, during which they fell to all three of the Charge, New York Sirens, and Boston Fleet. While they have since picked things up after the Olympic break in February, a slow start in the fall and winter months — during which Nurse departed from the lineup due to injury — ultimately contributed to Vancouver’s elimination from playoff contention.
One aspect of Vancouver’s on-ice struggles has been their ability to generate offence. While they have had the occasional four or five-goal win, as a whole, the Goldeneyes faced their fair share of difficulties in scoring goals at the beginning of the year. Connecting on passes or knowing where their teammates would be were elements of the game that Vancouver struggled with early on, which eventually would lead them to one or two-goal losses that could have made a big difference in the league’s standings.
With their offence not quite clicking the way many hoped it would, Vancouver made the decision to conduct a blockbuster mid-season trade. In what has stood as the PWHL’s biggest trade in league history in terms of volume, the Goldeneyes sent Cava, McQuigge, and Greco to Ottawa in exchange for a trio of forwards: Mannon McMahon, Anna Meixner, and Anna Shokhina.
Towards A Golden Future
Despite appearing much more cohesive towards the end of the season, the Goldeneyes were eliminated from playoff contention on April 18 in a thrilling 6–5 overtime win against the Torrent. Since overtime wins only count as two points compared to the three earned in regulation, Vancouver was unable to make up the point gap with their win and are now collecting points as a means of finding success as part of the PWHL’s Gold Plan.
Vancouver’s chase for Gold Plan points began on April 21, in a game in which they won 4–3 against the Victoire to secure three points and take the lead with one more game to go (at the time). By the end of the season, the team with the most Gold Plan points is awarded the first-overall selection in the PWHL Entry Draft as well as every round that follows.
This year’s PWHL Entry Draft class looks to be one of the most intriguing yet. The talent of many of these players were on full-display during the 2026 Winter Olympics, with projected first-round picks Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, Tessa Janecke, and Kirsten Simms all having represented Team USA in their gold-medal win. Selecting first-overall would give a massive boost to a Vancouver roster that could face a few changes with more expansion on the way.
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