Troy Ryan knows the gravity of a moment, including the inaugural PWHL puck drop. He wants his staff and athletes to soak in the moment.
Troy Ryan knows the gravity of a moment, including the inaugural PWHL puck drop. He wants his staff and athletes to soak in the moment.
Troy Ryan has dealt with significant moments and games in the past. As the coach of Canada's national team, he's been through gold medal games, and watch players make national team debuts.
He knows the importance and rarity of these moments, which is why he wants his staff and players to "soak it in" at the inaugural PWHL game January 1 at Mattamy Athletic Centre. The sold out game will feature a crowd of 3850.
He's mentored athletes entering those moments many times, and he wants his athletes present and experiencing it all when the puck drops.
"I try to tell them not to push it aside, not to try to ignore those feelings and those emotions you're having and just embrace them and make the most of them," said Ryan. "There's only going to be one ever first Professional Women's Hockey League inaugural game, so I think we need to soak it up and enjoy the moment."
Toronto sold out all 12 home games for their inaugural season.
Watch Ryan's full comments above.