Exactly one year ago, the Professional Women’s Hockey League announced its first expansion – it was headed west. The league inked a deal with the Pacific National Exhibition, which owns and operates the Pacific Coliseum, to use the rink as home ice for the new team. A few months later, after a tumultuous expansion draft, the Vancouver Goldeneyes were officially a team. “This is where I grew up,” said Hannah Miller, a North Vancouver native and forward for the Goldeneyes. “This is where, you know, I fell in love with the game. I started playing hockey here.” Vancouver has proven itself to have a large appetite for women’s hockey. The team recorded an average attendance of more than 12,000 in its first season, including a sold-out home opener crowd of 15,000 that topped the list of PWHL attendance records. “I think Vancouver truly has the best fans,” captain Ashton Bell raved. “I knew that the support was going to be incredible right off the bat, and then this season they just showed up every single night, every single game.” Not everything was smooth sailing for the Goldeneyes girls, though. As the league’s first expansion team, they faced some expected growing pains. “I definitely think this was a learning year for all of us, just with it being an expansion and a new group and a new city.” Miller explained. Teammate and fellow forward Sarah Nurse echoed similar sentiments. “Coming into a space where there’s really no structure, infrastructure, systems, anything in place, no standards, you kind of have to create and cultivate that yourself,” she said. “I feel like things came at us really fast this year. And we’ve been trying our best to, you know, manage it and do the best we can on and off the ice.” The team remains grateful for the unwavering support from the thriving fanbase as it works out the kinks. “I’ve heard stories from so many different people, about, you know, some way the Goldeneyes have touched their lives. And so I think that’s been a huge thing,” Nurse shared. “I think what we’ve tried to do this year is just being able to create connections with this community. And I think that we’ve been able to do that with, you know, young girls and boys, but also adults as well, people my age. I think that’s been a really cool piece.” The Goldeneyes will finish their inaugural season seventh overall in the eight-team league. They’ll play their last game this Saturday against Minnesota, hoping for one final win before heading into the offseason.
