Skating out West: PWHL Vancouver is already taking its shot

Nina Jobst-Smith sat surrounded by her girlfriend and parents, waiting to hear which team she would end up playing for in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). With emotions rising and her heart racing, a media coordinator stood behind her before Vancouver’s selection. At that moment, she knew her name was going to be called.

The announcement came: Vancouver selects Nina Jobst-Smith.

She stood up from her table at the draft, bursting into tears, and hugged her loved ones. She was going to play for her hometown team. 

The PWHL expansion brings professional women’s hockey to the West Coast, creating opportunities for both emerging and established athletes to compete at the highest level of the sport. The league saw a 27-per-cent increase in average attendance from its first to second season.

With Vancouver’s deep-rooted sports culture and a passionate female fan base, season three could set new records. Canadian Olympic gold medallist and PWHL analyst Tessa Bonhomme expects games at the Pacific Coliseum, home of the Goldeneyes, to be loud and full of energy. 

“I think the home-opener is going to be wild,” Bonhomme says.

Bonhomme’s excitement reflects how much the PWHL has grown since being founded in 2023.

Mark Walter Group is the owner of the league. For the first two seasons, the PWHL had six teams — three each from Canada and the United States: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Minnesota, Boston, and New York. In April 2025, the PWHL announced expansions to Vancouver and Seattle. Last season, the PWHL travelled to nine cities for its Takeover Tour, including Seattle and Vancouver.

The league has broken attendance records since its inaugural season. In its second season, the PWHL saw a nearly 125,000 increase in attendance compared to the previous season.  

While the league is breaking records in its second season, its new expansion teams are already creating a whirlwind of momentum — and they haven’t even taken to the ice yet.

Already, Vancouver and Seattle have sold more than 10,000 season-ticket deposits combined, presenting a clear sign the cities are ready for professional women’s hockey.

But it is not just about the numbers, it’s the fans who show up to the arena and watch at home. 

On Nov. 6, the league revealed the names of the two West Coast teams: the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent. The Goldeneyes’ fresh logo will be painted on centre ice inside the Pacific Coliseum.

The buzz on the West Coast has not gone unnoticed by the players, especially the hometown kids. 

Vancouver’s third-round pick Jobst-Smith grew up in North Vancouver. Her hockey career began at the age of six with the North Shore Avalanche organization. She played for the Avalanche until she was 15. Jobst-Smith went on to play college hockey for five years at the University of Minnesota Duluth, serving as captain in her final season.

With her time at Minnesota Duluth behind her, Jobst-Smith is ready to be an advocate on and off the ice in Vancouver.  

 “I think having that physical example of role models in your community is so big,” she says. “I’m really looking forward to getting out in the community and helping out with my hometown organization, interacting with everyone, and continuing to build women’s hockey.”

The opportunity to be a role model for young girls in hockey and contribute to the league’s growth is something Jobst-Smith is also looking forward to. 

“There are so many girls in the Vancouver area who are excited to have role models they can physically go watch and see — and not just on TV, but in person,” Jobst-Smith says.

She praises the hockey stars who worked hard to carve out a space for her to play professional women’s hockey.

“I have to give a ton of credit to all the trailblazers — all the people who had to play men’s hockey, who maybe didn’t get as many opportunities as they deserved,” Jobst-Smith says. “Now there’s a good handful of us who get to continue to build on what’s already been established [in Vancouver].”

Like Jobst-Smith, draftee Chanreet Bassi is also a hometown girl, eager to help grow and establish the Vancouver team as a presence on the West Coast.

Bassi grew up in Vancouver and was introduced to hockey by her father. She started playing at the age of four and went on to play hockey for the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbirds for six seasons. Bassi was drafted 48th overall by Vancouver, becoming the first Thunderbird and South Asian player to be drafted in the PWHL. 

“My culture is a big part of who I am,” Bassi says. “It’s a positive step in the right direction because for these girls, it’s another motivator for them to believe in themselves. Even when there aren’t many players like myself in the league, there’s someone they can look up to.”

Bassi coached a U11 girls spring hockey team this year and had a full-circle moment when the players she coached were included in unveiling the new team in Vancouver. The announcement connected her coaching experience to her professional hockey journey.

“That was pretty cool seeing [my players] announce [the team], and for me to get drafted is a bit of a storybook kind of story,” she says.

Bassi wants to be a part of growing the game on and off the ice in Vancouver. She is already seeing the league attract new fans who have never followed hockey before.

She also recognizes the league’s potential in increasing the visibility and accessibility of women’s hockey.

“In the past two years, the PWHL has grown so much that it’s so hard to predict where it will go,” Bassi says. “I can only imagine that it will just continue to gain traction. I feel like there are so many more girls playing hockey now that it’s going to get more and more competitive within the league.”

As a future leader for young girls in hockey, Bassi aims to show how sports can be a positive outlet — an environment to form friendships and develop healthy habits. She says her draft is proof that local talent is growing and staying in Canada can be the right choice for hockey development.

“It’s so fun playing sports and making new friends,” Bassi says. “It gives you something to do outside of school … and having a place to play sports takes your mind away from things that you can’t do when you’re at or outside of work. At the same time, it keeps you healthy and it’s good exercise.”

While Bassi hopes to inspire the next generation of girls, hockey fans are already making their mark on Vancouver before the puck even drops.  

Vancouver got an early taste of action when the Takeover Tour came to Rogers Arena in January. The Montréal Victoire beat the Toronto Sceptres 4-2 in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,038 fans. The attendance is the third-largest in PWHL history, and the match marked the arena’s highest-attended game of the season, including the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. 

“I do expect there to be a consistent appetite in Vancouver, where that rink is loud and you don’t see many empty seats,” says Bonhomme, who served as the master of ceremonies for the Vancouver expansion announcement event. 

Bonhomme says the expansion is an exciting opportunity for players coming out of college to further their professional hockey careers, emphasizing that the new teams on the West Coast represent rapid growth in women’s professional hockey.

For her, the league’s commitment to geographic diversity is a step in the right direction, as it signals the league’s long-term investment in professional women’s hockey. 

“Spreading that web across the country … is going to speak volumes to major sports networks,” Bonhomme says. 

She feels there is potential for more teams to enter the market, indicating a growing appetite for women’s sports that extends beyond traditional markets. Those potential markets could be in centralized areas, like Las Vegas, Chicago, Denver, and Detroit.

“I would like to see another team or two. I think there are enough players out there,” Bonhomme says.

In late September, PWHL sources said up to four more teams may be added as early as next season.

The future is bright for the PWHL, especially in a strong market like Vancouver.

“[Mark Walter] is not looking at it as a three-to-five-year investment. He knows it’s a long-term investment,” Bonhomme says. “It’s millions on millions of dollars out of his pocket that he is investing in these women, leagues, and fans.”

With that long-term investment from management, young players like Jobst-Smith and Bassi have the opportunity to play for their hometown team and inspire the next generation to believe they can do the same. 

The tears Jobst-Smith shed on draft day are more than just a big moment in her life — they reflect a new beginning. Jobst-Smith and Bassi, along with many more players, will carve out a space for themselves in the league in the future. A space where young girls watching the game at home or from the stands have someone to look up to and be inspired by. 

For those young girls, watching their favourite player play on home ice will be bigger than a television screen. The future belongs to them.