Toronto’s Emma Maltais, left, celebrates after getting her game-winning goal past New York goalie Abbey Levy in Friday night’s PWHL game in Bridgeport. Toronto beat New York, 3-2.
BRIDGEPORT, Jan. 5, 2024 – For eight of the last nine years, there has been a women’s professional hockey team playing in the state with the Connecticut Whale. With the purchase and demise of the Premier Hockey Federation, the Whale was disbanded.
But women’s professional hockey is still being played in Connecticut.
The new Professional Women’s Hockey League and their New York franchise played their first game in Connecticut on Friday night at Bridgeport’s Total Mortgage Arena. It’s the first of five games scheduled to be played in Bridgeport this season. Four games will be played at UBS Arena in Elmont, Long Island, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders and three New York home games have yet to be scheduled.
An enthusiastic, loud crowd of 2,152 cheered on New York, which dropped a 3-2 decision to Toronto, who got a short-handed goal from Emma Maltais with 14:15 left in regulation. It was the first short-handed goal in PWHL history.
It might be the largest crowd to see a professional women’s hockey game in Connecticut but that is a hard number to verify since the Whale were never consistent in reporting attendance at their games at the various arenas they played at in their history.
It’s didn’t match the Canadian-record crowd of 8,318 in Ottawa to see the squad face Montreal or the larger-than-expected crowd of 4,012 that attended Boston’s opener against Minnesota at the Tsongas Center in Lowell on Wednesday.
“It was great,” New York coach Howie Draper said describing the crowd and atmosphere in the building. “We didn’t have the numbers that some of the other games had but we certainly had the emotion. I could feel it. It was exciting. We could see it because they were all behind us but it was a great crowd. They brought a lot of excitement to push our team.”
League officials had all of the fans sitting on the far side of the building and in the end zones behind each respective goal.
“It was a good atmosphere,” Maltais said. “It’s a beautiful building. It’s really cool to see little girls everywhere we go watching us and just as excited about the new league as we are. That is what it is all about.”
The league hasn’t been quiet about their goal to provide a professional atmosphere for the league’s players to train and perform. And that includes larger arenas for games and training. Stan Kasten, a member of the league’s Advisory Board, said an announcement is coming shortly about two PWHL games that will be played in National Hockey League arenas.
Plenty of young fans attended Friday night’s PWHL game in Bridgeport between New York and Toronto.
Kasten the league is thrilled to be in New York and the players are enthusiastic about promoting women’s hockey and the New York franchise. He said the players have been making numerous appearances throughout New York City.
Yet, the team is training in Stamford at Chelsea Pier where the Whale played for two seasons and splitting homes between Bridgeport and Long Island.
“Our sweet spot before the season began was a venue between 4,000 and 6,000 seats,” Kasten said. “New York doesn’t come that way. Everything in New York is bigger so it was difficult to find the right venue for us, especially since we didn’t start our search (for venues) until August and everything is booked by then.”
Is this a chance for Connecticut to show their support for a PWHL team, perhaps for one of their own someday?
“Everything is a tryout for us (this year),” Kasten said. “It’s not specific to Connecticut. Let’s see how we do. Let’s see what we learn.
“We need to take the season to evaluate what works,” he said. “We know we got the hockey right. But are the cities right? Are the venues right? We think they are but give us some time. We’ll study all of that.”
New York (1-1) shutout Toronto, 4-0, in the first game in league history on January 1 before a sellout crowd and New York took a 1-0 lead on Friday on a goal from Abby Roque just 3:58 into the game off an assist from Chloe Aurard.
But Toronto scored their first goal in team history when Natalie Spooner scored on the power play just 38 seconds into the second period, popping in a blocked Sarah Nurse shot into the tie to game at 1-1.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead on a hard shot by Alexa Vasko that deflected off New York goalie Abigail Levy with 15:03 left in the second period.
New York’s Madison Packer (23) and Toronto’s Allie Munroe (12) get a little physical after play is stopped in Friday’s PWHF game in Bridgeport.
Alex Carpenter tied the game at 2-2 for New York with 2:32 remaining in the second period from the top of the circle over the shoulder of Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell.
Maltais’s short-handed goal with 6:34 remaining came off the stick of teammate Jesse Compher. “I went hard to the net and she made a perfect play,” Maltais said
The goal also ended the New York power play. The PWHL’s new penalty kill rule dictates that shorthanded goal ends a minor penalty for the shorthanded team.
Campbell came up with a flurry of third period saves (14) to secure the win.
New York returns to action on Wednesday, January 10 when they host Montreal at UBS Arena. The next home game in Bridgeport for New York is Minnesota on Sunday, January 14 at 4 p.m.
NOTE: It was the first professional women’s hockey game in the Bridgeport arena since 2020 when the Connecticut Whale lost to the Boston Pride, 3-0, in a PHF contest on Feb. 22. … Thirteen months ago, Spooner gave birth to her son Rory. She is the first parent to record a point in league history. … Toronto’s first goal came on their 40th shot of the season …. New York goalie Abbey Levy made her first professional start. She made 34 saves.
Toronto 3, New York 2
At Bridgeport
Toronto (1-1) 0 2 1 — 3
New York (1-1) 1 1 0 — 2
Goals: Abby Rouque (NY), Alex Carpener (NY), Natalie Spooner (T), Alexa Vasko (T), Emma Maltais (T); Saves: Kristen Campbell 29, Abbey Levy (NY) 34
