On Tuesday, Stan Kasten and Jayna Hefford took turns answering questions from journalists regarding the absence of a nickname and logo among the six teams of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF). Less than an hour later, the reaction of spectators at TD Place for the duel between the Montreal and Ottawa teams had already validated their responses.
In other words, the vast majority of the 8,318 spectators – a record for a professional women’s hockey game – probably went home disappointed after Montreal’s 3-2 overtime victory on Tuesday evening.
But for more than two hours, these spectators were exuberant, noisy and energetic, to the point where they contributed to the quality of the show, which also proved to be very strong on the ice.
Some even heckled Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin, the one who has so often united the country from coast to coast through her exploits during major international competitions. Probably never seen before in Canada.
However, no one within the Montreal team held it against them. Even head coach Kori Cheverie paid tribute to the spectators and the rival organization before giving her answer to the first question asked to her during her post-match press conference.
“Congratulations on the wonderful show Ottawa put on here. It’s been phenomenal to be a part of it. We made jokes about booing at some of the players and laughed about it too. This is perhaps the first time this has happened to them,” Cheverie stressed.
Ann-Sophie Bettez, scorer of the winning goal in overtime, and goalkeeper Ann-Renée Desbiens, the other architect of Montreal’s victory, also paid tribute to the spectators.
“It’s a great moment for women’s hockey, there’s no lie about that. To see so many spectators come to support us,” Desbiens said after the match.
“It was loud, the atmosphere was great. Ottawa did a great job selling the game. »
Bettez had noticed the excitement in the stands before the start of the match.
“The stands were already almost full before we even arrived for the warm-up. I think it shows how much women’s hockey has developed over the last 10 years. The fans are there to support us. Now, we’re here to put on a show on the ice and today (Tuesday), I think it’s a great example of that. »
Kasten and Hefford, two of the main leaders of the new circuit, do not deny the fact that a nickname and a logo are important to a team. And they will come one day, they assured.
When ? Kasten and Hefford gave no indication of this.
“We’ve done everything we can do in six months to get a professional league up and running, to create a place where these women can be treated professionally every day,” Hefford said during a scrimmage. press release before the match.
“People in Ottawa want to cheer for their home team, and they have a home team. It doesn’t matter if there’s no nickname or logo right now; the name Ottawa is written on the players’ chests. And I can say, from a players’ perspective, they want to play for their city. They want to represent their city. Right now we are not concerned about a logo. »
When Kasten spoke about the questions surrounding the teams’ identity, he felt emotional.
“The key thing we knew was that we had to ‘get hockey right,’ and we did that,” Kasten said.
“It comes to me when I have to talk about it because these players have waited so long for this. We went to find the best players in the world, and we gave them the best possible conditions. »
Kasten later explained what he meant by “making it in hockey.”
“We wanted the best players in the world to play together in the best conditions to train and play matches, with people who made them feel like professionals. Like elite athletes everywhere, they deserve to be treated. And I think we provide that for them. »