Manitobans making mark in PWHL Huge crowds on hand to witness hockey history By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 5:33 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024

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This article was published 03/01/2024 (810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not quite three years ago that Kati Tabin, having put the finishing touches on her college days at Quinnipiac University, said goodbye to her career as a hockey player.

A lot has changed since then.

On Tuesday night, the 26-year-old blue-liner from Winnipeg joined her Montreal teammates at Ottawa’s TD Place to open their Professional Women’s Hockey League season. A sellout crowd of 8,318 — the largest ever to attend a professional women’s hockey game — would see the host Ottawa squad drop a 3-2 decision to Montreal with Tabin drawing a primary assist on Ann-Sophie Bettez’s overtime winning goal.

“It was absolutely electric — it was so cool,” said Tabin by phone from Montreal Wednesday. “Honestly, it was like being at an NHL game. Probably the most fans I’ve played in front of is between maybe 3,000 and 5,000, so when we went out for starting lineups and you just look up and there wasn’t a single seat empty, that was so cool…

“For the female game, unless you have played in the Olympics, not a lot of the girls were used to that many fans and the booing. It was awesome to get booed.”

Tabin’s return to the game is also a pretty good story.

In 2020, she opted to quit hockey in favour of a job as a marketing director for a resort in the Wisconsin Dells. Eighteen months later, she was compelled to start training again and soon got the urge to play again. Tabin then cold-called head coach Colton Orr, asking for a mid-season tryout with the Premier Hockey Federation’s Connecticut Whale and earned a roster spot.

“I didn’t really think I had a chance at the Olympics so I thought it might as well start my life and make some money with whatever career path I decided to go into and after that year and a half, I decided to pick the game back up,” said Tabin. “It was a great job but I missed hockey and it’s my true job, I guess you’d say.”

“It was a great job but I missed hockey and it’s my true job, I guess you’d say.”–Kati Tabin

Tabin finished the 2021-22 season with the Whale and moved to the Toronto Six where she was a major force in the last championship team in PHF history. In the off-season, the PHF was absorbed by the fledgling PWHL and Tabin was drafted by Montreal where she now forms the club’s No. 1 defensive pairing with Canadian national team veteran Erin Ambrose.

Tabin and her new teammates are on the road again in Minnesota and New York, on Saturday and Jan. 10, respectively, before playing their own home opener Jan. 13 against Boston at the newly refurbished Verdun Auditorium, which has a capacity of 4,114.

“Some girls have a family of 20 coming and I believe we’ve held off enough tickets so everyone can have their friends and family at that home opener,” said Tabin. “I believe it’s sold out.”

Another player soaking up the spectacular opening night vibe Tuesday was Ottawa rookie pro Ashton Bell.

“The crowd was incredible,” said Bell, a 24-year-old blue-liner from Deloraine. “I’ve never experienced something like that before. To have (the building) packed for our home opener game was definitely really special and just how much support we’ve gotten from the community has been insane. It definitely took a little bit to get settled in. They were loud the whole night and it was really hard to hear on the ice.”

“The crowd was incredible…I’ve never experienced something like that before.”–Ashton Bell

Bell said Ottawa’s second home game on Jan. 17 is already close to being sold out.

“Being the first ever professional women’s league and the first team in Ottawa I think everyone just wants to be a part of that and help grow this game and be a part of this excitement,” said Bell. “We’re definitely in a great location being right down in The Glebe (downtown Ottawa neighbourhood) and it’s very accessible for lots of fans to come to.”

The style of play during debut week could be signalling a change in the women’s game.

“The first two games at the start of this week have both been really physical,” said Bell, who tallied two assists against Montreal. “I think it’s exciting and we want we want that in our game. We want to be able to body check and not get penalized for it.”

Tabin and Bell are two of five Manitobans helping the PWHL launch pro hockey in a big way.

In Monday’s PWHL opener before 2,537 fans at a sold-out Mattamy Athletic Centre, Elm Creek’s Corinne Schroeder stole the show by stopping all 29 Toronto shots as New York posted a 4-0 triumph.

Brandon’s Kristen Campbell made 24 saves in the Toronto net.

Monday’s game was a culmination of the hopes of many veteran players who had waited years for the formation of a pro league that could employ most of the world’s top players.

“It was kind of everything that I hoped and dreamed that it would be and more,” said Toronto blue-liner Jocelyne Larocque. “The Toronto fans have been amazing and the city’s been amazing.”

It was the culmination of a dream for Larocque, a 35-year-old from Ste. Anne, who has been a member of Canada’s national team since 2010.

“It’s really hard to have that dream if there aren’t people doing it,” said Larocque. “I know for myself, I always dreamed of playing in the NHL, because that’s what I saw, right? And now young girls can dream to play professional hockey and not get made fun of.

“I think of myself as a young girl and I would have done anything to get to that first game and I’d be watching every single game with a close eye side because that’s essentially what I wanted to do with my life… I feel very grateful to be in the position that I’m at and to be able to inspire the youth.”

Full buildings are important, but Larocque said television broadcasts are key to making the PWHL a success.

“Not every young girl and boy that plays hockey lives in these six (PWHL) cities, right?” said Larocque. “So in order to have visibility it needs to be on TV. So it’s it’s huge that TSN, Sportsnet and CBC have all picked it up and have been eager to pick it up and not in a charity way (but) in a respectful way. They want to air it because they know that people want to watch it.”

Schroeder, who was the PHF’s rookie of the year and goaltender of the year as a member of the Boston Pride in 2022-23, is finally be receiving some well-deserved recognition and consideration for the national team.

“Corinne’s done phenomenal,” said Tabin. “Even last year, playing against her in Boston and I thought she was more more than deserving of getting a crack at that national team roster. So I hope she gets in there. She deserves it.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca