More roster spots, fan interest, logistics and travel on players' minds with talk of further PWHL expansion

VANCOUVER, BC -​​ The Olympic break offers a good opportunity to check on how things have gone off the ice for one of the PWHL's two expansion teams this season.

The PWHL has seen some large numbers as Takeover Tour games across North America. The leaugie has had a total attendance of 440,338 through 50 games this season with an average of 8,807 fans per game. A crowd of 17,228 was on hand in Washington, DC on Sunday for a game between the New York Sirens and Montreal Victoire. The Capital One Arena attendance set a record for the highest numbers of fans at a PWHL Takeover Tour game in the U.S. 

Expanding from six to eight teams was a calculated risk for the PWHL that has seems to be successful so far. The Goldeneyes have averaged 11,459 fans through four games played at the Pacific Coliseum this season.  Now the league is looking to expand again. 

With PWHL Senior Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer telling CNBC Sport in November that the league will be looking to add two or four teams next season, it seemed like a good time to ask the league's players how they feel about further expansion.

Vancouver rookie but international veteran Michelle Karvinen believes adding more teams could open the door for more international players. 

“There’s a lot of European talent that hasn’t come over here yet.It would be interesting to see if [the league goes] for two to four. I think it depends on how everything has gone this year, but there’s a lot of talent in Europe for sure,” she said.

Montréal Victoire forward Laura Stacey thinks the way things have gone over the first three months of the season show that expansion was needed.

“Seeing how well Vancouver and Seattle are doing and the fans that are showing up on a consistent basis, I think it’s amazing. Obviously it’s a really great sign for our league and women’s hockey. People want to see it. People want a team in their city,” said Stacey. 

There’s a lot that goes into building an entire franchise from scratch in less than 12 months. There needs to be a balance between meeting the moment for women’s hockey and the demands of fans and not rushing the process at the expense of player safety and comfort. Victoire forward Abby Roque addressed some of the challenges associated with expansion and the process of constructing a team. 

“The league should put first and foremost the thought of trying to announce teams earlier,” Roque exclusively told The Victory Press in Vancouver. 

“[They should be] trying to get [General Managers] the ideas of what the expansion process is going to look like, things like that way earlier. I know some of the teams haven’t quite had their facilities exactly ready to go to start the season.I think that’s something important to look at to make sure that if we’re expanding, when teams get to camp in the fall that everything should be set.”

Whether it’s practice ice time availability, a team name, logo or jerseys, Roque wants to see all of the fine details sorted beforehand so expansion teams aren’t scrambling on the fly. 

“Making sure the weight rooms are done. That teams have the right locker room spaces completed and that everybody has what they need when t[players] show up to camp on day one. It’s one of the most important things, so we’re not rushing the process. It’s really important to make sure the players have what they deserve when they get to market,” she said. 

It remains to be seen if there are four viable markets that can fully jump in and put a franchise together with a limited time frame. The 28-year-old Roque isn’t completely sold on adding four teams. 

“We want to keep expanding at the right time,” Roque said. “Four teams seems like a lot to me personally. I also think you want to keep growing the league appropriately to the amount of players who are coming out of college, players that want to come from Europe. Figuring out the right balance is really important and something the league should take very seriously.”

But Goldeneyes defender Mellissa Channell-Watkins thinks that’s not a problem the league will face. 

“I totally think there’s enough talent. You look at the growth of the game, USA Hockey just posted that there’s been a record number of girls who joined hockey. I think a bunch of girls who expected their careers to be over after college, they now can pursue the PWHL and I think that’s awesome,” she said. 

But while the two former teammates at Wisconsin disagree on whether there’s enough talent to fill the league, there’s no denying that both Michigan natives agree on wanting to see a PWHL Detroit franchise. 

“I’m a Michigan girl. I would love to see a team in Detroit, especially because there’s no Division 1 college women’s team there. I think adding a team there would be really special. There’s so much youth girls hockey there; it could be really great,” said Roque.

Channell-Watkins agrees. Growing up in nearby Plymouth, Channell-Watkins knows how fans show up and show out to support the game. Little Caesars Arena (LCA) has hosted three Takeover Tour games with a total attendance of 37,648 and a per game average of 12,549. The LCA is scheduled to host a fourth game on Saturday, March 28 when Montreal hosts New York.

“If [Detroit] is where the league picks, that would be great,” Channell-Watkins told The Victory Press. “I know the league puts a lot of thought into where the expansion teams go. Take a look at Vancouver and Seattle, we’re both doing great with ticket sales, merchandise sales. I selfishly want it to be Detroit because it would be close to home and I know the youth hockey there is great. I think if they get a women’s hockey team there, whether it’s the PWHL or NCAA, I think that would be huge for the growth of the sport.”

Goldeneyes head coach Brian Idalski would be absolutely thrilled if Detroit was awarded an expansion team and that’s not just because he “probably” put on 10 pounds when he was in his native Michigan eating comfort food during Vancouver’s Takeover Tour stop at the LCA. 

In terms of the rink, practice facility, and fans, Detroit has that ‘It’ factor, he said. Geographically, adding a team in a midwest city that’s across from Canada, and in the eastern time zone, seems like a strong candidate. An expansion team in the 313 has the full support of Idalski. 

“I think that would be a wonderful spot for them to expand into,” Idalski said. “That’s all I got, I don’t make those decisions.” 

Travel is one of the biggest factors to take into consideration when determining expansion. Long distance travel tends to take a toll on athletes, especially when PWHL teams aren’t flying on charter planes.  

Montreal had an 11 hour travel day when the Victoire travelled from Halifax to Vancouver on December 18. That’s something that Poulin does not wish to experience again. 

“Obviously flying out from Halifax is something that is not easy,” Poulin told The Victory Press.

“It’s the first time here that’s happening. I’m sure people part of the league want to make sure players are ready to go when the games happen, but that’s something we’ve got to change. If ever we have to travel again that far, something’s got to be changed for sure.” 

Chartered flights would help in situations like that, but they don’t appear to be coming to the PWHL anytime soon.

“Charter is not anything close to being put on the table,” Scheer said in November ahead of the Goldeneyes inaugural game. 

“It took the WNBA 29 years to get charter flights. We’re just slightly behind them and so I think when the time is right, it's something that ownership would consider, but it’s not a priority for us today in terms of things we need. The players are very well taken care of and it’s not something to even contemplate for us today.” 

That’s probably not the answer fans or players want to hear, but it is honest. Stacey said players are expecting expansion again this offseason, but that they and the fans have to trust that the league is making smart decisions for the future of women’s hockey.

“In terms of growth and expansion and all of those things, it’s tough to say… Expansion opens up so many more opportunities for people to play and be a part of this league, for kids to watch it, for little girls to dream about being it… The players are just excited to start settling in and see how great this league can become, once we’ve got to that max capacity. There are a lot of mixed emotions, but at the end of the day we have to have some trust in this league and women’s hockey that our brand and our league is growing and growing at a great rate.”

(Photo: Courtesy PWHL)