City again shows it's 'ripe and ready' for professional women's hockey

Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin said last month that Pittsburgh is "ripe and ready" for professional women's hockey, and Sunday's neutral-site game between Toronto and Montreal of the Professional Women's Hockey League was evidence of that. 

The Penguins have played host to women's hockey games in the past, including regular-season games, an All-Star weekend, and exhibition games between the U.S. and Canadian national teams. The 8,850 fans that packed PPG Paints Arena on Sunday afternoon is the largest crowd ever for a women's hockey game in Pittsburgh, shattering the previous record of 5,410 set last season for a U.S.-Canada exhibition game.

Toronto extended its winning streak to 10 games with the 2-1 win in Pittsburgh. Toronto's Hannah Miller opened the scoring in the first period, and Montreal got a tying goal shortly after from Kristin O'Neill. Kali Flanagan's second-period goal stood to be the game-winner for Toronto:

From the long lines for merchandise before the game to the loud and engaged fans during the game, Pittsburgh made its support known. One of the loudest ovations all afternoon came when the videoboard showed a fan's sign that turned the PWHL acronym into a plea -- "Pittsburgh Wants Hockey Ladies."

"We've always had the best hospitality coming to Pittsburgh," Toronto's Sarah Nurse said of the experience. "It's great coming back here."

It's well past time for Pittsburgh to get a professional women's hockey team of their own.

TAYLOR HAASE / DKPS

A stoppage during the second period of Sunday's PWHL Toronto-Montreal game at PPG Paints Arena.

The PWHL is in its inaugural season, with teams in Minnesota, Boston, New York, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. The PWHL's senior vice president of hockey operations (and five-time Olympic medalist as a player) Jayna Hefford spoke about the state of the league with Pittsburgh reporters earlier in the week, and called this season an "amazing launch" for the league.

"It's been amazing," Hefford said. "We've definitely outpaced all of our projections as it relates to attendance and merchandise sales, sponsorships, it goes on and on. We're obviously very excited and very happy with that. We still know there's a lot of work to do, and we've got to continue to work to keep that momentum going."

The league averages over 5,000 fans per game this season, a figure that's in part hampered by some teams playing in smaller buildings. Toronto, for instance, plays most of its games out of the 2,500 seat Mattamy Athletic Centre and sell out the building. But Toronto has also played one game out of the Maple Leafs' Scotiabank Arena, and sold out within an hour of tickets going on sale, setting the record for the most fans ever at a women's hockey game with 19,285 in attendance. The PWHL also boasts some major sponsors, including Air Canada, Tim Hortons, Molson, CCM, Bauer, and most recently Barbie. The games are often on TV as well as streamed for free on the PWHL's Youtube account, and draw good viewership. I checked into this Toronto-Montreal broadcast in the second period, and over 6,000 fans were watching online.

"Our six cities are obviously markets we're really happy with," Hefford said. "And again, people are responding. They're coming out in huge numbers. Toronto is a great example. Every game sold out in a smaller venue, but then we sell out the NHL venue in a matter of less than an hour. So I think the demand is so pent up, and there's an appetite for people to follow women's sports right now. There's a new generation of sports fans that really want this, and they want to be a part of it."

The Penguins want to be a part of it, too. Acklin told me in September after the initial cities were announced, they "didn't have an opportunity to be part of that conversation for the inaugural six teams." When the league eventually expands beyond six teams, the Penguins are hoping that Pittsburgh is at the top of the list.

Hefford says she is often asked about expansion, and they're "certainly thinking" of it already, but nothing is imminent. The league is only a few months old, and they don't want to rush into anything. But whenever they do ... they'll absolutely take a look at Pittsburgh.

"I think Pittsburgh is an incredible hockey market," Hefford said. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't think it was a great market for the game and for the women's game. They've been incredible partners. It would certainly be a market we would look at and consider strongly."

Something that could be a hangup is the lack of a good home arena. Toronto's 2,500-seat venue is the smallest in the league. An ideal setup would perhaps be something like what Boston has, playing in the 6,500-seat college rink of UMass Lowell. But there just isn't anything like that in the Pittsburgh area. The Penguins' practice rink at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex has been floated as a possible home rink, but it's simply too small. The main sheet of ice only has room for 1,500 fans, a good deal smaller than the smallest existing PWHL home arena.

Whether or not expansion is on the horizon, the Penguins are working to prepare to host an eventual team. They want to build a third sheet of ice out in Cranberry as part of the existing complex, one with enough seats to host a PWHL team.

"I have drawings and plans for potential expansion in Cranberry," Acklin told me. "We've had conversations with everybody from the governor's office down to the authorities in Cranberry about a potential expansion, building out a third sheet of ice with sufficient stands. What we can control is what we're doing. That is getting ready for that opportunity, investing in infrastructure, proving out the business case for it."

Hefford noted that the lack of a good arena wouldn't necessarily be a barrier. Minnesota, for example, plays its games out of the Wild's Xcel Energy Center and does fairly well, drawing 13,316 at the home opener and averaging close to 8,000 fans per game.

"I'd say never say never," Hefford said. "If it's just an NHL building, we're doing it in Minnesota and we've been successful. But those are things we'll look at as we evaluate each market's projections."

A potential PWHL Pittsburgh team would have the full backing of the Penguins -- not just management, but the players themselves. Sidney Crosby said that he's watched "a lot" of the PWHL's early games, and said that it looked like they had some good crowds.

"With the new league and the attention that it's getting, it's great that they'll be coming here (for Sunday's game)," Crosby told me last week. "Maybe one day we'll have a team here, we'll see if things expand. But I think it's been a great experience for everyone."

Crosby's been to women's games Pittsburgh has hosted before -- the whole team came to last season's U.S.-Canada game. He thinks that Pittsburgh could absolutely support another hockey team in town.

"I think it's a great sports town," he said. "I mean, you see it with every team and even the college sports. I think there's a lot of support. From the turnout for the previous games here, I think it's definitely, definitely possible."

P.O Joseph said that he and his teammates would "definitely" do what they could to support a women's team if that day comes.

"The hockey community just supports each other so well," he said. "Having a women's team here will be great."

Some Penguins players have pretty good relationships with some of the women playing professionally. They of course know Amanda Kessel, who hasn't retired as a player yet but isn't playing in the PWHL this season as she works in the Penguins' front office as a special assistant to Kyle Dubas. A couple of players are also friends with Marie-Philip Poulin, the captain of Montreal and Team Canada and one of the best to ever play in the women's game.

"She's an incredible athlete and incredible woman," said Joseph, who skates with Poulin in the summers. "She's a person that helps that kind of league and has just changed women's hockey in general for as long as she's been playing. She's such a positive person, such a good person, and she's such a great hockey player as well."

Crosby said that he often crosses paths with Poulin, whether it's at Olympics or other events, like a Tim Hortons ad last summer, and they'll occasionally communicate with each other when one has a big moment, especially on the international stage.

PENGUINS

Sidney Crosby and Marie-Philip Poulin last season in Pittsburgh.

Dubas, Amanda Kessel, Jason Spezza and Vukie Mpofu watched the game from a suite. This game being the early afternoon after the Penguins game against the Rangers and nearly six hours before their own game against the Red Wings made it difficult for the Penguins players to come out for the full game. A number of players showed up for the third period and watched from the tunnel. Mike Sullivan sat in the stands and watched with members of the Pittsburgh Pennies, Pittsburgh's first women's hockey team that began playing in 1972.

PENGUINS

Members of the Pittsburgh Pennies at the PWHL game at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Sullivan wanted to see the game in part to support Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie, who worked with the Penguins in training camp as part of the NHL's guest coaching program.

"I thought it was great," Sullivan said. "It's real good hockey. The (women) that are participating in that are real trailblazers. There was a great crowd, they're inspiring the next generation of young girls that aspire to play the game. We certainly support that initiative. We had a vested interest in Montreal's team with Kori Cheverie behind the bench, who spent some time with our coaching staff in training camp. We just think the world of her, she's a great leader, and we wanted to be supportive of her also."

The Penguins see the PWHL as a good investment business-wise, after seeing the early returns on attendance, ratings and merchandise sales. Beyond that, they also see investing in a women's team and growing the game as just the right thing to do and a good use of their platform.

"There's no reason why women's sports, especially in hockey, shouldn't have all the privileges that a male sport does," Acklin told me in the offseason. "Men's hockey has had a head start on building the fan base and the economics and the structure that's led into the NHL. And I feel very strongly, as does our ownership, that we need to be supportive and use that privilege to advance the game for women's hockey. So we are constantly a supporter."

The PWHL is an early success and continues to build momentum. The Penguins want a team of their own, and the Pittsburgh fans have shown time and time again that they will show up for women's hockey. It's only a matter of time before a Pittsburgh PWHL team becomes reality.

"We were lucky enough to be able to come this year," Toronto's Natalie Spooner said. "Hopefully down the road they get a team here."

PWHL

Kali Flanagan celebrates her second-period goal for Toronto on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena