EDMONTON — Edmonton will be the site of a Professional Women's Hockey League neutral site game between the Toronto Sceptres and the Ottawa Charge in February.
The PWHL announced eight of nine locations for this season's neutral-site games earlier this week and declared the Edmonton the final piece of that puzzle Wednesday. The game will be played Feb. 16 at Rogers Place.
Other games will be played in Seattle, Vancouver, Denver, Quebec City, Buffalo, Raleigh, N.C., Detroit and St. Louis. All will be played in arenas that house NHL teams with the exception of Quebec City's Videotron Centre.
“Bringing PWHL games to fans across both countries is a natural next step as we continue building our audience,” said PWHL senior vice-president of business operations Amy Scheer in a statement.
"When exploring potential locations for a PWHL game, the enthusiasm from cities eager to engage with our League was incredibly encouraging. The PWHL Takeover Tour lets us showcase our game and exceptional athletes across a wider North American footprint—an exciting moment for our players and an important move for our business as we consider expansion.”
The league intends to expand by up to two teams in 2025-26.
Charge forward Danielle Serdachny, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, looked forward to playing a pro game in her hometown during her rookie season.
"I haven't really played in Edmonton before on that type of stage, so I know a lot of family and friends will be able to make it, and maybe definitely my grandparents will be there too, which will be awesome because I don't really know if they'd ever get the opportunity to fly out to Ottawa or out east," said the 23-year-old.
Serdachny believes Edmonton would embrace a PWHL team in the city.
"Yeah, definitely. You see the market they have with the Edmonton Oilers and how passionate the fans are," she said. "This game here in February will be a good testament to see how interested they are in the women's game, and I have no doubts that they'll show up, so really looking forward to that."
The PWHL's second season starts Nov. 30, with the Sceptres hosting the Boston Fleet at Toronto's Coca-Cola Coliseum and the Montreal Victoire at home to the Charge at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
Detroit's Little Caesars Arena hosted a PWHL game March 16 that set a record in the United States for attendance at a professional women's game with 13,736 spectators.
The league high is 21,105 at Montreal's Bell Centre in an April 20 game between Toronto and Montreal.
The Sceptres, Victoire, Charge, Fleet, New York Sirens and defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost are currently playing pre-season games in both Toronto and Montreal ahead of the regular season.
— With files from Daniel Rainbird.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
The Canadian Press