Oilers home rink practically sold out for PWHL game in Edmonton

Edmonton hockey fans will be showing up in droves to support women’s hockey this February.

The PWHL will be bringing the Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres to the Alberta capital later this season for a regular season game at Rogers Place, the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.

Tickets for the game went on sale in mid-November and, according to Ticketmaster, fans have nearly sold out the 18,500 seats in the rink.

As of Wednesday, December 3, just 32 seats were available in the entire rink.

It’s no secret that Edmonton hockey fans are passionate about the sport, but this kind of support for the women’s game is unprecedented in the city. This crowd has the potential to reach NHL-level attendance records and could very well have an atmosphere that rivals that of a regular-season Oilers game.

The cheapest remaining tickets are currently $45, while the highest are going for $85, making this a much more affordable event than your average Oilers game.

Edmonton fans will have plenty to cheer about during the game. Ottawa boasts two hometown players: goaltender Emerance Maschmayer and 2024 second-overall pick Danielle Serdachny. Meanwhile, on the Toronto side, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse’s cousin Sarah Nurse will lead the Sceptres.

If the game does sell out, it will be among the highest-attended women’s hockey games ever. It won’t, however, be able to grab the top spot of 21,105 set at the Bell Centre last season during a PWHL game between Montreal and Toronto.

This could be an audition for Edmonton to eventually receive a potential PWHL expansion franchise in the future. The league has already announced that it will be looking to expand by two teams as early as next season.

The PWHL Takeover Tour was announced shortly after, with stops scheduled in NHL rinks in Vancouver, Seattle, Denver, Detroit, St. Louis, and North Carolina alongside Edmonton. Quebec City was the only non-NHL city to be included on the tour.

The game in Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, the home of the Canucks, has already sold out.

We’ll see if the Alberta capital can win over the PWHL with a sellout game of their own.

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