Big games call for big plans and the Toronto Sceptres weren’t about to let another sellout game at Scotiabank Arena slip by without giving it some special treatment.
The Sceptres host the New York Sirens and likely Rookie of the Year and Canadian National team standout Sarah Fillier on Saturday at 2 p.m. at SBA.
A year ago, Toronto’s lone game at the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs set what turned out to be a short-lived record for most fans at a professional women’s hockey game when 19,285 showed up for a 3-0 Toronto win over Montreal.
The same two teams would break the record a couple of months later when Toronto would eke out a 3-2 win in overtime at the Bell Centre before 21,105 in attendance.
Saturday’s game is already an official sellout with only the number of fans in the suites, which are controlled by MLSE and not the Sceptres, still to be counted for the final tally.
The game comes towards the end of a busy January that has seen the Sceptres on the road all month.
The Sceptres leadership group went to management earlier in the season and said their intention for the game was to treat it like a Game 5 in a Walter Cup Championship Final.
Head coach Troy Ryan was thrilled with the idea.
“I’m optimistic that it could be that little jolt or that little lift that helps our group through what we are going through right now,” he said.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Initially the idea for this approach was to kind of experiment and see what this group was capable of when they put the kind of must-win pressure on themselves.
But now that the team has slipped in the standings and find themselves a full five points out of the final playoff spot currently owned by the Sirens, who also have a game in hand, the must win no longer has to be staged.
“I think based where we are in the standings, we have to approach every game like that for the next little while,” Sceptres’ team captain Blayre Turnbull said. “It’s a big game and we are expecting a really big crowd and it will be a lot of fun for us, but it’s a must-win game and that will be our approach.”
Kali Flanagan, coming off one of her best games of the season and a member of Toronto’s leadership group, said the focus will of course be first and foremost to win the game.
But to get there, the Sceptres have decided they have to get back to some of their core principals.
“Preparation-wise, we have just talked about going back to our foundations and simplifying a little bit,” she said. “Communicating and going back to be being hard to play against and physical, things like that. Just things that will help us be successful.”
The Sirens, who have already defeated Toronto twice this season, including that controversial outcome almost two weeks ago in New Jersey when a rather obvious offside was missed by the on-ice officials that allowed the Sirens to score the overtime winner in a 1-0 New York victory, will come looking for the season-series clinching win.
A FRESH FACE FOR THE SCEPTRES
Expect to see defender Megan Carter, the Sceptres second round pick (12th overall), make her PWHL debut on Saturday.
While the team was holding back confirmation of the news, Carter was practising Friday alongside Flanagan.
“If we get to a situation where Carter plays,” Sceptres bench boss Ryan said, “it would probably be we would dress seven defenders. Instead of sitting a defender we might have to sit a forward.”
Ryan cautioned, though, if Carter’s debut does occur, her minutes will be monitored closely and not just because she’s coming off injury.
“Ultimately it’s a first-year player getting her first taste of professional women’s hockey,” Ryan said. “I think we got to kind of manage her and protect her as much as we can, but once she gets going, she’ll be a big, solid steady presence and when she gets used to the pace and the speed of this game she’s going to help our depth for sure.”
Carter is a two-time Hockey East Best Defender from her college days at Northeastern. Flanagan has no doubt she’ll have an impact.
“She’s a really solid defender and like I said she had a really great college career,” Flanagan said. “She’s a little bit of everything really. She’s got a great shot, obviously she is big and strong and I know she will be physical out there. Just a really solid, great defenceman.”