By Pepper Parr
January 1st, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
New York scored the first goal against Toronto – then added three more in the first game for the new PWHL
It was history in the making as the first game of the Professional Woman’s Hockey League, (PWHL) faced off at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in the Maple Leaf Gardens that used to be home to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto, one of the six teams in the PWHL, was playing against New York. The other teams are Ottawa, Boston, Montreal and Minnesota.
First goal scored was against Toronto, same with the first penalty.
Billie Jean King dropped the ceremonial puck.
The play-by-play is different, the talent on the ice is professional.
It has been a long time coming.
It was 1-0 against Toronto – here in the second half Toronto misses a chance to even up the game.
There is a Burlington angle to this story. Two of the women who play in the league are Burlington natives. But more importantly, sitting in the stands were a number of current and former Barracudas watching this monumental moment for women’s hockey.
Will Short, president of the Burlington Girls Hockey Club said: “It is incredibly important for girls to see women playing hockey at the professional level and to be able to aspire to one day do the same.” He added that he is looking forward to “working with the City of Burlington to balance the ice allocation between the boys and girls hockey associations and to improve existing facilities and build new state of the art multi use facilities to give all Burlington kids a better recreational experience.”
Ingersoll, Ont.’s Ella Shelton scored the first goal in the first Professional Women’s Hockey League game, en route to shutting out Toronto 4-0 on Monday afternoon.
So, Toronto -0, Ingersoll -1 as history goes the puck willl be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Go Canada
Thanks for that Joe, great to know.
Two players are from Burlington. Glued to our TV routing for Toronto to pull a win for this great historic moment with input from two Burlington families.