"To play at Bell Centre would be historical" Says PWHL Montreal

"To play at Bell Centre would be historical" Says PWHL Montreal

In front of the Montreal Canadiens' faithful, the city's new professional hockey team took center stage. Eight members of PWHL Montreal took part in the Montreal Canadiens' skills competition at the Bell Centre Sunday.

On the ice at the 21,000 seat Bell Centre, players including Marie-Philip Poulin, Tereza Vanisova, Laura Stacey, Sarah Bujold, and Erin Ambrose put on a show for fans, and saw the possibilities in building their already thriving fan base at the Bell Centre.

"Every other team in our league says our fans are louder than everybody else, it's a testament to the city, it's a testament to hockey culture here and the fans that truly have loved and embraced us since the very beginning," said Montreal defender Erin Ambrose.

After facing Toronto at Scotiabank Arena in front of a record setting 19,285 fans, Montreal wants their own chance at history. It's believed they may get that chance in April, as their April 21 game against Toronto has been reported to be headed to the Bell Centre.

"We all would love to, to have the opportunity to play at Bell Centre would be historical," said Ambrose, a long time member of Canada's national team. "We've talked about how great our fans have been, the way they've showed up in Laval, the way they've showed up in Verdun, the way they showed up on the road too in Toronto, we would love that opportunity, and hopefully it can happen. I know that I'm crossing my fingers that we can be here, I mean it would be pretty unbelievable to walk out there and hear the crowd erupt, it would be something pretty monumental."

At the skills competition, PWHL Montreal's players put on a shot with Sarah Bujold grabbing attention with her repeated "Michigan" goals in a competition the teams held for the move. Ambrose was also spotted chatting with Canadiens' star Cole Caufield. 

"Cole is somebody I've watched a lot of hockey and obviously he's got a lot of skill so being able to talk to him and just talk hockey about how our games are going, the fans that we have at all our games, and just being able to relate about the city of Montreal and being here, it's pretty special," said Ambrose. "I've never met him before but he was awesome. It was great to be able to chat with him."

When it comes down to it for PWHL Montreal and the Montreal Canadiens, it was a collaborative opportunity to show the city supports all hockey players, both men's and women's, as PWHL Montreal and the Montreal Canadiens 

"We want to prove it to ourselves but we also want to prove it to other people that yes our game is just as entertaining as the NHL," said Ambrose. "Being able to come out here to a thing like today it allows you that opportunity...we play the exact same sport, and we're representing the same city, I think we did pretty well overall, I think it was a lot of fun."