PWHL Takeover Tour Stop in Vancouver Holds Significance For Players

When the PWHL Takeover Tour hits Vancouver next week, it will have special meaning for several of the players who will be playing professional hockey in their hometowns: the Toronto Sceptres’ Rylind MacKinnon and Hannah Miller, and the Montreal Victoire’s Jennifer Gardiner.

Playing at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, has definitely been on Gardiner’s mind.

“I had the game circled since I heard about it, it's been pretty exciting for a lot of friends and family back home,” she said.

The league’s foray into neutral-site markets starts out with a western swing, including Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, Vancouver, and Danever’s Ball Arena, all of which will feature the Victoire. Is the road trip out west a concern for the team?

“I think honestly, there's just a lot of excitement around it so far,” said Gardiner. “A lot of players are just talking about exploring these new cities and getting to tap into these new markets rather than the toll it's going to take on us. If I'm being honest, I feel like I haven't stopped smiling since I heard about these games out West rather than thinking about how they're going to be.

“I haven't thought about it too much, but I think it'll be just a lot of adrenaline and excitement throughout the whole trip. I mean, everyone's pretty pumped to get out west and we'll take it as a team bonding trip.”

The Sceptres’ Hannah Miller, who’s from north of Vancouver, said she is “super excited, haven’t got to play live in front of my family for a long time. So I have quite a few people coming out to that game and just really looking forward to it.”

She definitely has some seats set aside for friends and family. “I'd say 50 plus, maybe even 100. My mom's side of the family, she has seven siblings and I’ve got a lot of cousins. So I've got people flying in and a lot of support, so it means a lot to me.”

The Vancouver stop of the tour will include opportunities for fan interaction, youth clinics, and a press conference with PWHL executives.

On Tuesday, both teams will skate at Rogers Arena, followed by a Youth Hockey Clinic in the afternoon. Toronto Sceptres players will participate, and sign autographs for clinic participants from 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT.

Gardiner said she was excited to see how much the game means to the city and to girls’ hockey. “I know the Vancouver game sold out in just a couple of days and all of the girls’ organizations are basically all coming in their entirety with staff and teams, and there's a blackout on that day, so there's no games being played for those organizations so that all those players can attend.

“It goes to show how important it is to continue to expand this league and get these games all over North America because people want to watch it and people want to be part of it.”

MacKinnon, a rookie defender with the Sceptres, says the trip home will be a highlight.

“A lot of excitement, looking forward to bringing the game out West to Vancouver and playing in Rogers Arena. I was lucky enough to play university out there for six years (at the University of British Columbia), so I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of that hockey community come out to the game and some players I played with and coaches that I met along the way.

“In university, I think the most [fans] I’ve ever played in front of was maybe just over a thousand. So just the first few games here in the PWHL have already surpassed that, and then it'll be quite the atmosphere [in Vancouver]. I'm really excited to take it in and have some familiar faces in the crowd as well.”

When asked about possible PWHL expansion to the western cities, Gardiner said, “Would I love to see teams out west? Absolutely. I think it's a prime hockey market, especially in the States and obviously proven in Canada. So really there's no ceiling to to where this league could go. And I think that's what's super exciting is we're able to have these outreach games and sort of test markets and find out, will we be there in a few years?”

The Takeover Tour lands in Vancouver on January 8 at Rogers Arena at 7:00 PST and will be available on TSN in Canada and YouTube in the U.S.