With a banner raising night in Minnesota and the first game for PWHL's two newest franchises, it was a historic opening night to the league's third season.
The puck dropped on the PWHL's third season with a banner raising ceremony in Minnesota, and an overtime thriller at a packed Pacific Coliseum between the league's two newest teams.
In Minnesota, 9,138 fans were in attendance to see the Frost's Walter Cup championship banner raised to the rafters prior to the Toronto Sceptres spoiling Minnesota opener with a 2-1 Toronto win. Despite the result, Minnesota won't soon forget the Frost's back-to-back Walter Cup celebration.
“It was really special," said Taylor Heise." I caught myself thinking back to those moments. I remember our celebration, and it brings back a lot of cool memories. Sometimes you forget that in the months of your training in the summer. It was fun to bring that back up, and it builds confidence that you can do it. Just to go and look upon all that hard work was great.”
In Vancouver, a sold out crowd of 14,958 were on hand to see the expansion Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent in the inaugural game for both teams.
It was a game filled with firsts including the first goal in franchise history for each team, which for Seattle went to Julia Gosling, while Vancouver's was scored by Sarah Nurse.
After playing to a 2-2 tie through regulation, Abby Boreen scored the first overtime winner for Vancouver causing the Pacific Coliseum to erupt in extra time.
The game itself was also a first for the league playing at their first primary venue with the Pacific Coliseum featuring Goldeneyes branding in the concourse, seating areas, and their logo at centre ice.
“You know that when you walk into the Pacific Coliseum, you're coming to see the Goldeneyes, and I think that's something that's so special," said Nurse. "I think it's something that the fans have really embraced. To see the amount of jerseys and merch in the stands—I took a second to look around the entire arena and it just seemed like everybody had a piece of Goldeneyes merch.”
New York will face the Ottawa Charge on the second day of the PWHL schedule, with Boston hosting Montreal on Sunday.