The Vancouver Goldeneyes have kicked off their 2025–26 season with a tale of two teams. On one hand, fans have seen a slumping road team that still has yet to win their first away game (not including the Takeover Tour). Once this team heads to the Pacific Coliseum, however, the script flips. Up until their 4–2 loss to the Montréal Victoire, [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/victoire-hand-goldeneyes-their-first-home-loss-of-the-season] Vancouver was undefeated on home ice. Why has this been the case? It’s no secret that Pacific Coliseum means a lot to the Goldeneyes' organization for more reasons than one. The Goldeneyes became the first PWHL team [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/pwhls-first-primary-venue-in-vancouver-a-major-step] to have primary tenancy when they took over the Rink on Renfrew, with many noting the on- and off-ice impact this can have on a professional sports team. But, when comparing Vancouver’s home and away stats, can playing at home really make that big of a difference? HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE MEANS MORE THAN JUST PLAYING IN FRONT OF FANS There’s more to playing at home than just facing an opposing crowd. For away teams, playing away from home-base usually means travel is required. Other than the Seattle Torrent, no other PWHL [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl] team can come to Vancouver without having to deal with a pretty substantial time change. Think of it this way — if you take an eastern-time team like the Ottawa Charge and have them play in Vancouver at a start time of what feels like 10:00 pm to them, chances are, they aren’t going to find their footing until a period or two after puck drop. Two other things to consider are the fact that this game would have ended around 1:00 am eastern time, and that Ottawa played against Seattle the day after. Another thing to consider regarding time change is the fact that, prior to Vancouver and Seattle’s expansion, the farthest west any PWHL team would have had to travel to on a regular basis is to Minnesota. The New York Sirens were the first PWHL team to complete the double-pronged Vancouver–Seattle gauntlet this season, in some ways serving as the league’s beta test of this particular road trip. Ottawa was next to test the trip, dropping both games, just like the Sirens did before them. As teams begin to adjust to the western time change, Vancouver may find themselves in trickier situations while playing at the Coliseum. VANCOUVER’S CROWD ISN’T INVISIBLE As much as time zones and travel fatigue can give a team a better home-ice advantage, the roar of an upbeat crowd can make a difference as well. Many opposing players and coaches have spoken at length about Vancouver’s crowd, which has yet to record an attendance rate of below 9,000 despite other sporting events occurring in BC at the same times. “Vancouver has a great, great hockey history, rich hockey history [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/hockey-at-the-pacific-coliseum-the-history-of-the-pwhl-s-newest-home]. I got to play an event here one time too [and] I quite enjoyed it. To be able to have a home rink like this — and then it’s loud, the music’s loud, but that’s maybe because I’m over 40,” Charge Head Coach Carla McLeod said after Ottawa’s game on December 16 [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/goldeneyes-hold-strong-as-campbell-shines-in-2-1-win-over-ottawa-charge]. “Great energy here, you can see it’s going to be a great market, and excited that it’s part of the PWHL.” McLeod isn’t wrong. The Pacific Coliseum is loud. From gasping at a shot thrown wide to booing the referees when a call goes against the Goldeneyes, there’s always something echoing throughout the stands. “There's definitely, you could tell, a ton of energy and support in this building, especially being local here. The crowd came out tonight. It was really fun to play in front of a home crowd,” Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart explained after New York visited the Coliseum [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/goldeneyes-dominate-sirens-for-franchise-s-first-regulation-win] for the first time this season. “I’m expecting 15,000 people every single night we come up here now,” Torrent captain Hilary Knight added after Vancouver’s 4–3 home-opener win [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/vancouver-goldeneyes-defeat-seattle-torrent-4-3-in-ot-on-historic-opening-night] on November 21. From the home side, the organization hasn’t been shy about hyping up the energy in the building on game days. On December 6, Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski broke down how playing in front of Vancouver fans impacts how the team plays. “It’s special. We’ve talked about the ability of us to feed off of that [energy] and just what it means for us as a player’s staff to have that kind of support in Vancouver.” Goldeneyes' goaltender Kristen Campbell also elaborated on the energy of the crowd after Vancouver’s 2–1 win against the Charge. “It feels amazing. Honestly, playing in front of that crowd tonight was incredible, and they gave us a lot of energy. Just honestly, it was so much fun.” Credit @ PWHL [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/78715079-3e89-45a7-a476-13e555022fb6.jpeg] Credit @ PWHL VANCOUVER’S OPPONENTS HAVEN’T HAD MUCH SUCCESS ON THE ROAD Vancouver’s home-ice advantage may be less of an advantage to the Goldeneyes and more a reflection of teams’ issues scoring on the road. Of the four teams that have played at the Pacific Coliseum, only Ottawa and Montréal have reached double digits in goals scored on the road. With that being said, they’re still only averaging two goals per road game. Seattle (9) and New York (7) have all faced their own issues when it comes to scoring goals during away games. These two teams also have yet to score a power play goal while on the road. As great as the Goldeneyes have performed at home, they’ve also only taken on four different teams while playing out of the Pacific Coliseum. As it stands, the only PWHL team that has played at the Coliseum and is currently in a playoff spot is the Sirens. Their home game against the Minnesota Frost was hosted at Rogers Place in Edmonton, while the Boston Fleet won’t make their appearance in Vancouver until after the 2026 Winter Olympics [https://thehockeynews.com/womens/international/canada-takes-positives-and-turns-attention-forward-to-olympics]. The Toronto Sceptres will be the next team to take on the Goldeneyes at home, but even that won’t take place until January 22. Minnesota, Boston, and Toronto — the three teams that have yet to play at the Pacific Coliseum — are currently the PWHL’s top road teams, each having nabbed three regulation wins while away from home ice. Of these three, only the Sceptres have yet to score 10 goals on the road, though they’ve also played in fewer games. Toronto (8) and Boston (10) have surrendered the least goals-against on the road, joined by New York (10) and Seattle (10) within the top four in the league in this stat. Keep in mind that the the Torrent took the Goldeneyes to overtime and arguably deserved to win with their regulation effort. IS VANCOUVER’S HOME SUCCESS MAINTAINABLE? There are many moving parts that have given the Goldeneyes home-ice success compared to what fans have seen on the road. Time-zone changes, a lively crowd, and the opposition’s road-game issues have all contributed to Vancouver’s 2–1–0–1 record at the Pacific Coliseum. Having said that, the Goldeneyes have yet to face their biggest challenges yet, as the PWHL’s top three teams have yet to visit the Rink on Renfrew. Vancouver’s next home showdown against the Sceptres will provide a good indicator of whether the Goldeneyes’ home-advantage is based on circumstance or sheer luck.
