Montreal’s pro women’s hockey team, now called the Montreal Victoire, didn’t win the championship in their first season but they sure did win over the hearts of Montreal hockey fans. In a page torn from the history of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal faced Boston in the first round of the inaugural playoffs of the newly created Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and bowed out after losing three straight games in overtime.
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The six teams only received names after the season ended. Now, with a name and an eye-catching jersey, the team is looking forward to capitalizing on that fan momentum, starting Saturday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. with its season opener against the Ottawa Charge at the Place Bell in Laval, their new home arena.
Laura Stacey, an assistant captain and winger with the team, said it’s going to be fun to try to take their team to a new level.
“I think we’re excited for that craziness, those new records, those packed arenas to be the norm,” said Stacey, after a team practice during their training camp. “We pushed the limits last year, we got a new fan base, and so how much further can we push that this year? But we want to push to be better, to continue to get new fans and see how big we can get this league. Because clearly a lot of people want to watch women’s hockey.”
The team played their first-ever game Jan. 2 this year at Ottawa’s TD Place Arena, setting a record for the biggest attendance ever for a professional women’s hockey game, with 8,318 fans there. That record was broken the following month when Montreal played Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena, with an attendance of 19,285; and then the record was broken yet again when they played their first game at the Bell Centre, pulling in 21,105 fans.
Last season, their home rink was the recently renovated Verdun Auditorium but with a capacity of just over 3,000, it was simply too small for the fan base. That’s why they have migrated north to Place Bell in Laval, the home rink of the Canadiens farm team, the Laval Rocket. It can fit a little more than 10,000 fans.
Victoire general manager Danièle Sauvageau underlines that the team has two homes. Verdun remains their practice facility and they’ll play 13 games at Place Bell. Some have grumbled about the team leaving the island of Montreal for the suburbs but Sauvageau said they simply couldn’t stay in Verdun for the games.
“The fans are there and they wanted to have more tickets available,” said Sauvageau. “People were stopping me on the street, saying ‘I’m trying to buy tickets and it’s sold out.’ So we needed to put a plan together. It’s a bigger building and we know we’re going to sell more tickets that way and that’s the goal.”
The PWHL is on much more solid financial footing than any previous professional women’s hockey league. The six-team league is owned by the Mark Walter Group and let’s just say it helps to have the backing of Mark Walter, CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a financial services company with over $325 billion in assets. He’s also the principal owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the first time, the female players are making decent salaries. In the previous leagues, almost all the players had to hold down part-time jobs off-ice.
And the league arrives at a time when clearly there’s a thirst for women’s hockey, particularly here in Montreal. The city is often described as a one-team sports town because of the obsession with the Canadiens but the women’s team proved last season that Montrealers are open to going to games featuring a hockey team not called the Habs.
Partly it’s about affordability. You can get a good seat for $37, which is a fraction of the cost of a Canadiens ticket. And accessibility. Sure the team is popular but with a capacity of 10,172 at Place Bell, you’ll be able to go whenever you want, again something you can’t say about snaring good seats to see the big team at the Bell Centre.
There was some mixed reaction to the team’s name, with some wondering if it was wise to call a team La Victoire when they’ll inevitably be losing as well as winning. But the new jersey — with its bright mix of burgundy and blue and a fleur-de-lis right in the centre, underlining the team’s Québécois roots — was an immediate hit with fans.
The league was very aware with the launch of the Montreal team that they were dealing with a unique market given it’s a fan base that is a mix of French and English speakers.
“The best example of that is the name of the team,” said Kanan Bhatt-Shah, vice-president of brand and marketing at the PWHL. “We really wanted to ensure that it was a name that had resonance both in French and in English … but also we talk about fan sentiment and just this idea of cultural pride, this idea of what kind of energy and presence did they bring to our games, tapping into to that as well.”
The name of the team is “really about a mindset of continually striving to greater heights, this winning mindset. This idea of celebration and triumph,” Bhatt-Shah said. “These were all things … that our fans brought to the stands every single game. So to be able to bottle up that energy and have it translate into a team identity.”
Montreal fans are particularly intense, for better or worse, and so far it’s just been positive for the women’s team.
“It was unbelievable, honestly,” said Marie-Philip Poulin, the team captain and one of Canada’s most celebrated female hockey players. “We had expectations but it exceeded every expectation we had. It was above and beyond. Our fans supported us through wins, through losses.”
So why was it so intense?
“I think it was a long time coming,” said Poulin. “We had a league but it was nowhere compared to where we are now. And we have a good product on the ice.”
And it’s also about inspiration.
“It’s parents coming and realizing it’s a possibility for their little girl,” said Poulin. “Boys coming with their sisters who have signs saying: ‘Thank you for making us believe it’s possible.’”
Stacey said the fan reaction has been off the charts and she’s loving life in Montreal.
“It feels like home for me now,” said Stacey. “Coming from Toronto, you never know how the fans are going to accept you here. Being a Leafs fan … you never know what to expect and I’ve been absolutely blown away by their support. They’ve welcomed me as if I’m from here, as if I’m a Québécois player. I hope they’re proud of what I’ve been able to bring to this team and I’m only hoping I can do more for this city, this logo and this organization.”
But they’re also all kind of glad to now be part of the sports landscape of Montreal and are ready to get to work and play some hockey.
“I’m excited to be able to start talking about hockey systems and not about how everything is new,” said goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens. “We’re excited about how things went last year but now it’s the new normal and we don’t need to think it’s a special moment every day. It’s special. I have the best job in the world. But like last year, every day was a first. First game of the year. First game at home. First game at the Bell Centre. First game at Laval. First game of the playoffs.”
She’s excited to be moving the games to the Place Bell but … she’s going to have to do a lot more driving.
“It’s a little further of a commute for me,” said Desbiens. “I live on the South Shore. So I guess I’ll need a plan on game days. We loved playing here in Verdun but we just had too many fans. It’s a great problem to have.”
AT A GLANCE:
The Montreal Victoire jerseys are available to purchase on the team’s website and prices range from $120 for youth size to $160 for adults and $250 for named player jerseys. Tickets and other merchandise are also available online.
