The debate around where the PWHL will expand, and by how many teams continues to rage. There are some within the league that believe a quiet darkhorse has climbed into the mix of true contenders. That market is Winnipeg.
The conversation surrounding PWHL expansion typically revolves around a small handful of markets. In the United States the noise has clambered to the tune of Detroit, Denver, Chicago, and Washington. In Canada, it's been Edmonton, Quebec, City, Hamilton, and Halifax.
Through that noise however, there are many within the PWHL who believe another market has quietly emerged as a contender for expansion - Winnipeg.
Aside from a handful of resale tickets, Winnipeg's upcoming stop on the PWHL Takeover Tour at the 15,225 seat Canada Life Centre is sold out.
Canada Life Centre is a busy building, already home to the NHL's Winnipeg Jets and AHL's Manitoba Moose. It's perhaps the primary reason why many wrote Winnipeg off in the discussion of PWHL expansion.
Winnipeg appears ready and waiting to support professional women's hockey in Manitoba.
"True North, the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose are committed to growing female hockey through a variety of programs and initiatives," True North, the company who owns the Jets, Moose, and Canada Life Center, vice president of marketing Annie Chipman Stockl told The Hockey News.
"Hosting a PWHL game in Winnipeg brings an exciting opportunity for young female athletes to see what is possible and what they can strive toward in the sport of hockey. It’s especially exciting to welcome home three Manitoba athletes – Kati Tabin, Jocelyne Larocque and Logan Angers – who are already an inspiration for our community, but this will only grow, seeing them in action, in person on the professional stage. Our whole community is looking forward to cheering them on and seeing an incredible display of talent from both the Ottawa Charge and Montreal Victoire rosters.”
Manitoba and Winnipeg have a long history of women's hockey including teams like the Winnipeg Eatons, Winnipeg Royals, Winnipeg Rangers, and Winnipeg Olympics in the first half of the 1900s. By the 1920s, women were playing hockey at the University of Manitoba.
With western expansion this season to Seattle and Vancouver, the PWHL continues to eye expansion further west. Winnipeg could become a regional rival for Minnesota, and would be another bridge between the original teams in the east, and the growing fan base and their teams in the west. The PWHL's desire to move west is why many believed Denver, Edmonton, Chicago, and Detroit were more likely than Quebec City, Washington, Hamilton, and Halifax.
There remains hurdles. In Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Washington, and Winnipeg, the PWHL does not have a venue where they could gain equal footing, and in some circumstances could be at the mercy of the NHL teams who own or operate the businesses. Some of those markets are ready and willing to work with the PWHL, while others may be more willing to have an annual Takeover Tour stop, but not to welcome another tenant.
Time is running out for the PWHL to decide whether they'll move forward with two or four new franchises next season as the league looks to move from eight, to 10 or 12 teams. As it stands, Winnipeg has become a market with significantly more chatter surrounding the city in recent weeks. Whether or not the Manitoba market gains a permanent PWHL franchise, or is simply a popular stop for the PWHL Takeover Tour is yet to be seen.