Quebec City Shows PWHL Potential with Historic Videotron Centre Turnout

With 18,258 fans, the PWHL’s Quebec City debut ignited dreams of expansion, proving La Belle Province’s passion for Professional hockey is far from forgotten

When 18,259 attendees flocked to the Videotron Centre on Jan. 19, they did not solely witness history in the making with the first ever PWHL game held in Quebec City.

The attendance figure was the second-highest attendance in 2024-25 and for a Takeover Tour game, trailing Vancouver with 19, 038. The result was the world witnessing a passionate hockey city buzzing at the thought of PWHL expansion in their own backyard.

When the Quebec Nordiques moved from La Belle Province to Colordado in May 1995, it left an apparent void in the city, one longing for a professional hockey team to return to the city. As last weekend’s festivities showcased, the possibility of return isn’t unimaginable, and the response from city politicians echoes that notion.

“[Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand] said, ‘Listen, we would love for professional hockey to come back to Quebec,’” PWHL VP of hockey operations Amy Scheer told the media during the second intermission of Sunday’s game. “And what a great story it would be if it was the women’s in the PWHL.”

Scheer also explained that cities will submit requests for proposals, and from there, more conversations will be had with the eager cities.

“I think for us, there are other criteria that are much more important like venues,” said Scheer. “Not just for games, but where they practice, what is the economic opportunity for a fanbase from a partnership, sponsorship base? What does travel look like for players in and out of the city?”

It also helps to have star players, especially when they hail from the same stomping grounds as fans in attendance. Quebec City is not lacking such glamour. Three Victoire players had over 100 tickets set aside for friends and family to watch the game: Catherine Dubois, Ann-Renée Desbiens, and of course, Captain Cluth Marie-Philip Poulin.

“As kids, we had the greats, we had Gretzky, we had all these men we could look up to,” said Ottawa Charge head coach Carla McLeod following the Quebec City game. “And to see the response by this crowd to [player introductions], Poulin is Gretzky.”

“It’s a privilege. We don’t take this for granted,” expressed Poulin post-game. “It makes us smile pretty big when we jump on the ice and we see little girls in the stands wanting to be there one day, not only in Montreal, but the six markets. And seeing Quebec City, it means a lot to us, because we’ve seen women’s hockey back in our day, where you have to see what it’s all about. Now, it’s unbelievable.”

One hot-button topic that stems from the topic of Quebec City expansion is language. According to census data from 2021, 58.7 percent of the population could converse in English compared to 40.6 percent in Quebec City. Despite this, both players and operations personnel are not deterred.

“We love everyone and hope our games are accessible for everyone,” explained Scheer when prompted on the subject. “Whether you speak French, English, or any other language, we’re happy to go to a city that wants us and where fans will exmbrace us regardless of language.”

“I think nowadays there’s so many resources, there’s so many ways to get around,” said Desbiens. “We’ve traveled to many countries to play hockey where we didn’t speak the language and we still got around [...] I know the population would go above and beyond to make sure that they are helped and that they feel like they belong.”

“Aujourd’hui, ce moment a été très spécial pour notre équipe,” expressed Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie. “La préparation pour ce jour était très importante pour les joueuses et pour les joueuses du Québec. C’était un moment spécial pour elles.”