Katie Chan, Sarah Nurse, and Jenn Gardiner reflect on Vancouver's PWHL expansion one year after the announcement.
April 23, 2025 will forever be a notable date in Vancouver’s sports history. Atop a sky-high The Stack tower, league representatives, community members, and the U-11 Vancouver Angels all gathered to welcome the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s first official expansion team: Vancouver.
They weren’t officially named the Goldeneyes at the time — that announcement wouldn’t come until later on in the calendar year in November — but already, the pacific blue and cream branding spoke intentionally of the West Coast’s wild shores. It paved the way for what would ultimately become shocker 6–5 overtime wins against fellow expansion sister Seattle Torrent, dance-battles occurring during intermissions in the stands of the Pacific Coliseum, and soaring goals celebrated to the tune of JLo's "Let's Get Loud."
But you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who could predict all of that on April 23, 2025.
It’s been one year since the PWHL officially announced their expansion to Vancouver. In that span of time, the Goldeneyes have built an identity, forged a team culture, and turned themselves into a pillar in Vancouver’s sports community.
Katie Chan knew she wanted to play for the Goldeneyes long before the team was even announced. Still a member of the Cornell University Big Red at the time, Chan remembered watching the expansion broadcast at the rink and feeling “over the moon” — though the announcement only marked the next step in what would ultimately be a dream of hers coming true.
“That was on my mind before it was even announced,” Chan, who is from BC, said to The Hockey News. “I heard that they were in discussion, and from that moment on, I knew that was my dream and what I was working towards that year. When I heard that Vancouver was getting a team, I was ready to hit the ground running.”
While not in the PWHL at the time, Chan didn’t have to wait too long to continue forging a path towards the Goldeneyes. After watching some friends and former teammates be drafted by Vancouver in expansion, the forward ended up hearing from none-other than her hometown team about possibly joining them for training camp. A little bit of deliberation later, and Chan ended up being one of the first camp invites announced for Vancouver.
“I was super excited to be able to come home.”
Photo Credit: Nancy Shields @ THN For a veteran player like Sarah Nurse, witnessing the expansion of the PWHL remains a point of hope for the sport moving forward. Originally a member of the Toronto Sceptres, Nurse was not protected in the expansion process and ultimately ended up inking a deal with Vancouver during the exclusive signing window.
“I think we’re all very excited about the growth of the sport and the league and the game all over North America,” she explained. “I think expansion has proven, from a fan perspective, to be super successful, and I hope moving forward, the league does a good job of setting the expansion teams up for success moving forward.”
Having played in the 2025 Takeover Tour stop in Vancouver, Nurse was a bit familiar with the city’s support for women’s hockey prior to their expansion announcement. The forward reflected on what she’s seen from the city since, having gone from playing there from a neutral-site perspective to being a member of the home team.
“I think, just getting to Vancouver, seeing how the community has embraced us, and seeing how excited everybody is for women’s hockey, and obviously how it all has come together,” she said of what has stood out the most. “Every time we play at the Coliseum, it’s a pretty rocking building, so it’s been great to play here.”
One player who has felt synonymous with the Vancouver PWHL movement since a little before expansion first took place is Surrey-local Jenn Gardiner. The forward, who was one of the first five players to join Vancouver via the exclusive signing window, knew that she wanted to play for the Goldeneyes once expansion was announced. This decision, however, didn’t come without its emotional difficulties.
“When they announced expansion in Vancouver, obviously, the first thought was like, ‘Well, I want to be on Vancouver.’ It’s so hard because at the same time, I loved every single thing about Montréal. It was the best experience, and I’m so grateful to have been drafted there. I don’t think my career would be panning out the way it is if I wasn’t on that team last season and my first experience in the PWHL, but when there’s a chance to play in your hometown team, I think anybody would take that opportunity.”
While it has been a year, for Gardiner and many others, that year has gone by quicker than a flash. Extended road trips, a month-long break for the Winter Olympics in February, and two separate pauses for the Rivalry Series factored into the amount of time this PWHL season has taken.
“It all happened so fast, and all of a sudden we were playing in our first game, and it still feels like yesterday I signed in Vancouver,” she admitted.
One year may have passed since the official expansion announcement, but clearly, the buzz around the team refuses to die down. In their past two home-games, both taking place on Tuesday nights, the Goldeneyes have drawn crowds of over 10,000. Goldeneyes jerseys hang proudly in sports goods stores all throughout the Lower Mainland.
That’s the thing — regardless of where in BC you may be, you’re likely to find Goldeneyes fans who’d been waiting for that fateful April 23 announcement for a very long time.
“The whole province has been roaring about our team. Every time I’m even in Surrey, and if I have a Goldeneyes logo, my gosh, everybody just wants to know what’s happening and cheering for us. It doesn’t even matter where you are, it just feels like PWHL hockey is on TV or is what’s being talked about. And that’s so exciting for me, just being local, to know how much our province supports women’s hockey,” Gardiner added. “It’s not just the city of Vancouver, it’s the entire west coast. I think there’s season ticket holders that fly in from Dawson City, White Horse. They come in from 100 Mile House, the interior, all over the place. We call ourselves the Vancouver Goldeneyes, but it feels like we’re British Columbia’s team right now.”
As Vancouver and Seattle celebrate their respective one-year anniversaries, the PWHL is set to expand to even more markets towards the end of this season. Just like how the Goldeneyes have reflected on their growth throughout their inaugural season, so will the PWHL's next wave of new teams in the coming year.