As the PWHL comes out of its week-long international break, the Takeover Tour makes its first of 16 stops this season in Halifax, N.S., when the Toronto Sceptres duel against the Montreal Victoire.
There’ll be no shortage of Nova Scotia representation when these teams face off at Scotiabank Centre on Wednesday evening. The benches are led by head coaches Troy Ryan of the Sceptres (Spryfield, N.S.) and Kori Cheverie of the Victoire (New Glasgow)
Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull hails from Stellarton in the Atlantic province, while defender Allie Munroe is from Yarmouth.
“It’s been incredible just seeing the growth of women’s hockey all throughout the province, but especially down in my area of Yarmouth,” Munroe said via Zoom media availability last week. “There’s a lot of really good players coming out of all the Maritime provinces. Hopefully, the PWHL can inspire more young females to get into hockey and stay in hockey because it’s so much fun.”
Halifax – steeped in a rich hockey history, and host to a mid-to-high capacity arena – is a viable candidate for a PWHL expansion city. The Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League are the prime tenants of the 11,000-seat Scotiabank Centre. The venue hosted the Memorial Cup in 2019.
In 2004, the Women’s World Hockey Championship was co-hosted by Halifax and neighbouring city Dartmouth. The event was attended by 94,001 fans in 20 games, a record-setting figure at that time, including 10,506 for the gold medal game. The tournament was scheduled to return in 2020 before it was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.
“There’s so much room for women’s sports in the city,” Munroe said. “The women’s soccer team, the Halifax Tides, are doing so well. I know a women’s hockey team would do just as good, maybe even better, but there’s so much room for women’s sports in the city, and I just know that people would welcome us with open arms and really get behind the team.”
Sceptres forward Maggie Connors, a native of St. John’s, NL, concurs. “People back in Newfoundland are always sending their congratulations or commenting on things; you feel the support and passion, and they don’t even necessarily have a team there,” she said.
Wednesday’s game sold out within minutes of tickets becoming available. The PWHL will make its second of two stops in Halifax this year on January 11 when the Ottawa Charge face the Boston Fleet.
“(Halifax) is probably a city that hasn’t had a lot of women’s hockey come through,” Toronto forward Natalie Spooner said via Zoom on Tuesday. “Every mom and dad that has a little girl is probably trying to get tickets to see this game to bring their daughter out to see us play, which I think is pretty special.”
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