'Absolutely incredible': PWHL Ottawa fans make inaugural season a success despite missing playoffs, team says
PWHL Ottawa held its season ending media availability on Tuesday, with players and management taking the opportunity to thank fans in the capital.
"I want to obviously thank the fans here in Ottawa," said Mike Hirshfeld, the team's general manager. "They've been absolutely incredible."
The PWHL's inaugural season ended in disappointment for Ottawa after narrowly missing the playoffs by 3 points. Despite the lack of success on the ice, games at TD Place were a hot commodity.
In 12 home games, PWHL Ottawa averaged 7,496 fans. The most attended game was on April 27, when 8,452 fans watched Ottawa take on Montreal.
The first game of the season on Jan. 2 set a North American attendance record for a women's hockey game, and though it has since been broken, players said they would never forget that night.
"I remember going out for warmups that first game and just having tears in my eyes," said forward Gabbie Hughes. "Trying to contain that excitement and the emotions of where women's hockey is at and having this league be so big and so many supporters. It was everything I could ever dream of."
The team is already looking forward to next season, and thinks the support from the fan base will help recruit players.
"I think that's part of the reason Ottawa is such an attractive place for players to want to come," continued Hirshfeld. "They want to be part of that. They want to be cheered on every night and have 8,000 people in the stands."
The franchise will now look forward to the draft, which is set to be held next month.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.