Marie-Philip Poulin Makes Magic In Vancouver Again: Will PWHL Game Lead To Expansion?

The first date couldn't have gone better. Is it enough to set the stage for a more serious relationship?

As the PWHL entertains talk of potential expansion as soon as next season, Vancouver sports fans showed up in full voice and record-setting numbers to support the second stop of the PWHL's Takeover Tour on Wednesday.

The Montreal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres responded with a hard-fought, entertaining game headlined by yet another tremendous performance by a star whose legend was born in the same arena 15 years ago.

In 2010, Marie-Philip Poulin was an 18-year-old playing in just her second year with Canada's powerful national team when she memorably scored the only two goals in the deciding gold-medal game against the United States at the Olympics.

She has been serving up big moments ever since, earning the nickname 'Captain Clutch.' And when Poulin returned to Vancouver on Wednesday, she did it again — scoring a spectacular game-winner and adding an empty-net tally as Montreal retained top spot in the league standings with a 4-2 win over Toronto.

"For me, coming back here to Vancouver, there's special memories here for sure and there's another one tonight," Poulin said. "Being able to play in front of a sold-out crowd in this new league, representing Montreal. There's no better feeling."

Even before Poulin put on her show, the vibes at Rogers Arena were immaculate. The sellout crowd announced at 19,038 topped any Vancouver Canucks game this season. It was also the largest so far in the PWHL's sophomore campaign, their largest ever mid-week draw, and their biggest turnout yet for a neutral-site game.

The league's only two games with larger audiences came last year — also between Toronto and Montreal. On Feb. 16, 2024, 19,285 fans filled Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for what was then the largest crowd in history for a women's hockey game. That record was broken on April 20, 2024, at Montreal's Bell Centre, at 21,105.

"To see these crowds — it was once every four years, during the Olympic year," Poulin recalled. "Now it's every week — every day of the week is the potential to have sold-out crowds, to have a full house behind us. It's been unbelievable."

The PWHL and its players are committed to giving back at a grassroots level. Events like the after-school skills clinic and autograph session held for youth players in Vancouver on Tuesday are being mounted at all nine stops on the Takeover Tour.

There were plenty of young people on hand for Wednesday's game, but most of the seats were occupied by adults.

"We're proud that we have a wide scope when you look at our demographics," said Amy Scheer, the PWHL's senior vice-president of business operations. "We're happy that we've cut across not just gender but also age."

The list of special guests in the house included women's rugby sevens Olympic silver medallist Piper Logan and soccer star Shannon Woeller, the first signing of the Vancouver Rise FC franchise in the new Northern Super League. They took part in the ceremonial opening puck drop as representatives for their teams, which each had several players in attendance.

Hockey luminaries included PWHL senior vice-president of hockey operations and four-time Olympic gold medallist Jayna Hefford, Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury and former national team goaltender Charline Labonte — who all played with Poulin on that 2010 Olympic team. The Canucks were represented by Hockey Hall of Famer Cammi Granato and her fellow assistant GM, Emilie Castonguay.

Before the game, Granato was seated at a table in the concourse, taking photos with fans and autographing copies of her children's book, I Can Play Too, inspired by her own journey as a girl who wanted to play hockey.

The Canucks' players are currently on a road trip, but members of the AHL farm team showed up to represent.

Captain Ryan Gauld, goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer and alum Tosaint Ricketts also represented the Vancouver Whitecaps, while BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke and his wife Emily cranked the siren in the building ahead of the opening faceoff.

After an incredible night of good vibes and entertaining hockey, Vancouverites might be ready to start a PWHL season-ticket drive immediately. But that would be premature.

When speaking to the media on Tuesday, Scheer made it clear that the Takeover Tour is about more than just sizing up potential expansion markets.

"It's important for us for people to experience our product live," she said. "The hockey is amazing. The fan experience is amazing. We want people to see us live. So, not just about learning in terms of 'What could this be for expansion?' It's about growing our audience as well."

With Minnesota currently situated 1,800 miles away from Vancouver as the PWHL's westernmost franchise, geography makes western expansion challenging — especially when teams are flying commercial. But with the schedule currently at 30 games and including breaks for international play, the travel wouldn't be anywhere near as demanding as the NHL.

Adding one or two more teams in the Eastern Time Zone would make it even more difficult to balance the league's geography down the road. Maybe there's something to be said for tearing off the band-aid and beginning the process of broadening the permanent footprint?

Right now, the league has plenty of options. Seven more cities will be demonstrating their markets' levels of interest as the Takeover Tour runs through late March. Others expressed interest but did not make it onto this year's itinerary.

Even though the PWHL has ramped up many aspects of its operations at breakneck pace since its launch, the league's braintrust is willing to be as patient as necessary before taking these next steps.

"I think it's making a very educated decision based on everything that we'll learn during the RFP process," said Scheer. "I don't think it's 'strike while the iron is hot,' versus making sure we make the right decision, whether it's for next year or the year after, or the year after."

That being said, first impressions suggest that Vancouver and the PWHL look like a perfect match.

Related: PWHL Expansion: Eight Cities To Consider For The Next Two Teams

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