Canada's PWHL Teams Are Sold Out For Openers, Ottawa Smashes Record

Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto are all hanging "Sold Out" signs from their ticket sites this week, as each team will open their season with a packed arena, including Ottawa setting a new pro women's hockey record.

There were some hot tickets on the market this year. Music fans lamented over missed opportunities to get Taylor Swift tickets this year, and women's hockey fans are feeling similar when it comes to the now sold out PWHL home openers in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto.

For the league and teams, it's a level of support and excitement that exceeded all expectations.

As Montreal general manager Daniele Sauvageau stated, "Having this response is just great. we knew it was coming, but it is like, even better than we thought."

Sauvageau has remained tied to the Verdun neighbourhood in Montreal for years, running Centre 21.02. She mentioned the USports teams in the area, and the PHF last season as reasons that women's hockey fans have remained engaged and excited in the Montreal area. It's why Montreal sold out their home opener at the roughly 4000 seat Verdun Auditorium quickly, and they have approximately 50 seats remaining for their second home game on January 20.

In Toronto, the response was swift, selling out all 12 home dates almost immediately. PWHL Toronto will fill Mattamy Athletic Centre with 3850 fans per game.

Perhaps the largest success of the league will be the record breaking home opener of PWHL Ottawa. Ottawa will set a new professional women's hockey attendance record breaking European and North American marks for regular season, playoffs, and special events. Previously, the CWHL All-Star game brought in 8000 fans, while the top playoff game was 7,765, a mark set by Lulea in their SDHL playoff final series.

The team crossed the 8000 mark this week preparing for a new all-time record for attendance to a professional women's hockey game globally.

"Coming in we always knew Ottawa would be a great city to support this league," said general manager Michael Hirshfeld.

According to Hirshfeld, PWHL Ottawa has done a lot of work in the community, and formed strong relationships with minor hockey organizations, the NHL's Ottawa Senators, and OHL's Ottawa 67s, which have all helped promote the club. Ottawa is down to just over 100 tickets remaining for their second home game on Wednesday, January 17 against Minnesota.

With a cross-Canada sold out opening lineup of games for the PWHL, many critics have been silenced. Puck drops on the inaugural game January 1 when Toronto hosts New York. Ottawa will welcome Montreal the following day on January 2, and Montreal is the last team in the league to host their home opener, which they'll do January 13 against Boston.