Maritimers front and centre during first-ever PWHL game

Blayre Turnbull of Stellarton, N.S., and Jill Saulnier from Halifax were part of history Monday as they played the first-ever game in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

The inaugural game between New York and Toronto was played before a sellout crowd at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Ontario’s capital. New York won the game 4-0 with Saulnier scoring a goal in the third period.

"I had a hard time deciding who to cheer for. We had Nova Scotians on both teams”, said Christina Lamey, president of Cape Breton Blizzard female minor hockey, which, as the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2022, hosted an NHL preseason game at Centre 200 in Sydney last September between the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers.

Lamey says given the growth of girl’s hockey in Cape Breton and around the Maritimes, the PWHL means a bigger platform for their female role models.

"For the longest time, if you asked a young girl who her favourite hockey player was, she would just name an NHL player because that was really all that she ever saw”, Lamey said.

Brenda Andress, the former head of the Canadian Women's Hockey League -- which existed from 2007 to 2019 – said Monday must have been a big moment for the players themselves.

"I can't imagine how excited those players would have been to represent not only themselves on the ice to show their skills, but also to represent all the people from the past and all the people that will come as the possibility of what this league can mean and bring,”Andress said.

With all 72 regular season games being televised -- including some on TSN –- Lamey said it gives younger girls a chance to watch the pros all winter, and dream about one day playing there themselves.

"They follow these players on social media”, Lamey said. “They hero-worship them, and it's wonderful because they're great role models for them. Having this league now just gives them another idea of what they can aspire to in the sport."

There will be at least two more Maritimers in action during the PWHL’s second game Tuesday night between Montreal and Ottawa. Nova Scotia’s Kori Cheverie is head coach of the Montreal team, while Sara Bujold of Riverview, N.B., is also on the Montreal roster.