Passionate fanbase brings excitement, long lines to Goldeneyes' inaugural game

VANCOUVER, BC - The Vancouver Goldeneyes capped off a historic night at the Pacific Coliseum with a 4-3 overtime win over the Seattle Torrent. The anticipation and excitement leading up to the inaugural Goldeneyes game matched the moment. A sold-out crowd of 14,958 was on hand, the eighth largest attendance in PWHL history.  

There was a buzz well before the doors opened prior to puck drop. Fans braved the steady rain and waited in long lines outside the Rink on Renfrew. Once inside, there was a substantial queue that wrapped around a corridor to the Goldeneyes team store.

Merch was on the minds of fans of all ages. Goldeneyes jerseys, t-shirts, hats, beanies, pucks, teddy bears, and mini hockey sticks were flying off the shelves. 

“Fans love merch, thank god,” PWHL Senior Vice President of Business Operations, Amy Scheer told reporters at the Pacific Coliseum pregame. “I was so stressed when I saw the lineups upstairs, I just decided to leave. You have to work within the spaces that you're given. Four points of sale is not enough. There’s two satellite booths here as well but they’re in the back at each side of the concourse and no one is walking that far to get there.”

The concourse was packed with fans wearing Goldeneyes gear. Whether fans made purchases before coming to the game or once inside the rink, there was a sea of Goldeneyes merchandise throughout every corner of the Coliseum. 

Regular Vancouverites weren't the only one eager to get their hands on a Goldeneyes jersey. Canucks forward Aatu Räty was also eager to sport the Pacific Blue and Earthy Bronze. He was spotted Friday night in a suite, wearing the jersey and with a sign for fellow Finn Michele Karvinen.

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The amount of support from Vancouver fans and seeing all the Goldeneyes colors in the stands and in the arena was not lost on the first goal-scorer in Goldeneyes franchise history. 

“I had a chance to walk around this morning,” Sarah Nurse told reporters postgame. “I was walking around the concourse and seeing the team store. That’s like the Goldeneyes team store. I’ve never ever experienced that. It just feels so professional to know that when you walk into the Pacific Coliseum, you’re coming to see the Goldeneyes."

"I think that’s something that’s so special and I think it’s something that the fans have really really embraced. To see the amount of jerseys and merch in the stands, I took a second to just look around and it just seemed like everybody had a piece of Goldeneyes merch and we got a logo two weeks ago. It was so special, just seeing how we’re embraced, no words.” 

There’s been a quick rollout of merch since the Goldeneyes logo unveiling on November 6. 

A lot goes into making sure merchandise is available and at a cost that works with your fan base. Fans want to wear merch that represents their favorite PWHL team and finding something in a specific team shop that caters to them is music to their ears. There’s still a long way to go but Scheer and the PWHL are learning what works and what doesn’t. 

“We’ve learned variety,” Scheer said. “We’ve learned we need to be inclusive in our sizing. “We’ve got a price point for every fan. You’ve got the high, middle, and more affordable and everyone is just as good of quality. We try to cater everything for everyone, but we need to continue to be better."

"We did the name launch not late, but late into the production of how merch would want it. There’s going to be a lot of items that are added throughout the season because of long lead times for launching for getting new items in. What you see in the store today will be the least amount of what you see. The items will grow as the season grows.”

Goldeneyes head coach Brian Idalski is the first head coach to lead the home team to a PWHL inaugural victory on home ice. The Michigan native took some time out to ‘smell all the smells’, experience the decked out crowd in Goldeneyes gear and all the festivities. 

“I allowed myself a little bit of time when we were going through the ceremonial puck drop and the introduction of players,” Idalski said postgame. “The reality is once the puck drops I was doing my job. I just sunk back into routine, at that point, but it was very special at the beginning to allow myself to look around and see the impact that our players have had already in the community and how they’ve been embraced. It was super special.”

The Goldeneyes will look to carry some opening night momentum with them when they hit the road for a three game road trip that starts in Ottawa on Wednesday night at TD Place.

The Goldeneyes and staff at Pacific Coliseum have two weeks to try to find solutions to the long lines as Vancouver will return home to play the New York Sirens on Saturday, December 6.