Could a pro women's hockey team work in Vancouver?

Diane Nelson admits she was a little awestruck watching from the Rogers Arena stands on Wednesday night.

The Montreal Victoire edged the Toronto Sceptres 4-2 in a Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game, which is part of the six-team loop’s Takeover Tour. They are playing neutral-site regular season games in nine different cities, and it’s giving the two-year-old league a test run as they contemplate expansion for next season.

There were countless young girls sporting PWHL jerseys in the announced crowd of 19,038. That total was the third-largest single-game mark in the league’s two-year history, and also eclipsed the Vancouver Canucks’ season high of 18,940.

Nelson had envisioned something similar when she put together the Vancouver Griffins in 2000-01. They played in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), featured American star Cammi Granato, and had storied Queen’s Park Arena in New Westminster for a home rink.

The Griffins lasted three years. That was it. They quietly faded into obscurity.

“I actually had the opportunity to sit with my mother (Mary), who’s going to be 96, and say, ‘Mom, it actually happened,” Nelson explained Thursday morning. “Because she had always said, ‘Diane, stop. It’s never going to be a thing. I don’t want you to lose everything.’ She actually got a chance now to say, ‘Wow.’

“It was a bit emotional to be there. I sat there and thought that this is the vision that I had. One day my franchise could be at what was GM Place at the time and the stands would be full. These youth hockey organizations would come to watch the game and see these marquee players on the ice.

“The last time I talked to someone about this it was about shutting down the whole thing, saying, ‘Man, it was such a good run.’ I got the plane in the air, and then it totally nosedived into the ground.”

Nelson was an elementary school principal when she was in charge of the Griffins and trying to make the finances work. She retired from her education career this summer, finishing up as a district principal overseeing the various West Vancouver academies.

The landscape with women’s sports has certainly shifted since she had a team. The PWHL owns all its squads, and is headed up by Mark Walter, who is controlling owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and a co-owner of English soccer side Chelsea. There is now an ample appetite to follow women’s sport, and money to be made. WNBA star Caitlin Clark becoming such a mainstream celebrity is the evidence of that. Folks with financial clout are getting on board.

“When I went to find support, I was told in not so many words, ‘Get back in the kitchen. Go where you belong,’” Nelson recalled. “Just look at where we are now. It’s really quite something.”

As much as that buzz about women’s sports is getting louder, the PWHL feels like it’s trying not to do too much, too soon. They have had crowds like Wednesday, but the league published earlier this month that their 104 games played in the 2024 calendar year — spread over two PWHL seasons — had an attendance average of 5,844.?

They have played in NHL rinks, but they’ve also played in smaller venues, which keeps a cap on costs and enhances fan experience, with better atmospheres.

Finding a fit with a main arena might be the most difficult challenge when it comes to placing a PWHL team here. Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC (capacity 7,000), could work, as could Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena (3,500).

The Pacific Coliseum (15,713) might also make sense. The building’s centre ice scoreboard was relocated to a Sunshine Coast rink in 2023, so that would have be replaced. The WHL’s Vancouver Giants departed from the venue in favour of the Langley Events Centre after the 2015-16 season to cut costs, but their schedule is more than twice as long as PWHL’s current 30-game one, so there might be numbers that work for the women’s league and the Rink on Renfrew.

The PWHL has teams in Boston, New York, Minnesota and Ottawa, along with Montreal and Toronto, so coming west adds to travel costs, but getting a foothold on this side of North America seems like a logical next step. League officials such as Team Canada great Jayna Hefford have been open about adding a team or two as early as next year.

The Vancouver sports fans certainly announced their interest level with authority Wednesday. And the sport itself is flourishing at the youth level in this province. For instance, B.C. had one medal performance in the first 10 years of the Under-18 women’s hockey nationals. They have had three medals — all bronze — in the past four years of the tournament.?

As well, the UBC Thunderbirds, with a largely B.C. roster, were 2-24-0 in 2011-12. UBC, under coach Graham Thomas, has won six Canada West titles in the past 11 years, and they are currently three-time reigning Canada West champions. They carry a 19-2 season record into a Friday visit to Mount Royal.

Thomas and the entire roster were at Rogers Arena on Wednesday, showing their support for the game and specifically UBC alum Rylind MacKinnon, who is a defender with Toronto.

“How do I think a PWHL team would work in the Vancouver? I think the proof was in the pudding last night,” Thomas said Thursday. “I know there are logistics and pieces that would have to be put together. But I think it would be a great fit. Who wouldn’t want to live in Vancouver and play hockey?

“The game in this province has improved massively in the last decade. You look at how the provincial team has done at nationals. You’ve got the (school) academies. You’ve got B.C. Hockey continually doing more development. You look at all the great coaches. It’s a totally different game than it was 10 years ago.”

sewen@postmedia.com