Daily Weather Report
Powered By:
A team photo of the Minnesota Frost (right) and Montreal Victoire during the the PWHL Takeover Tour on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. The professional women’s hockey game set an attendance record at Ball Arena with 14,018 people attending the game. (Courtesy PWHL)
Minnesota Frost defender Claire Thompson waits for the puck to drop during a game between the Minnesota Frost and Montreal Victoire on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. (Photo courtesy PWHL)
The score board at Ball Arena in downtown Denver shows the number of attendees at the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game between the Minnesota Frost and Montréal Victoire, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. The game’s attendance broke the record for most people attending a PWHL game with 14,018. (Evan Rawal, The Denver Gazette)
Minnesota Frost player’s celebrate a goal during a game against the Montreal Victoire on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Digital Producer for Denver Gazette
Minnesota Frost defender Claire Thompson waits for the puck to drop during a game between the Minnesota Frost and Montreal Victoire on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. (Photo courtesy PWHL)
A record-setting crowd almost filled Denver’s Ball Arena on Sunday, but it wasn’t to watch the Nuggets, Avalanche or Mammoth play a home game.
The crowd of 14,018 was there to watch the Minnesota Frost play the Montréal Victoire in the third game of the PWHL Takeover Tour.
Denver, you showed UP! 🤩
The PWHL set a new U.S. attendance record today in Denver with 14,018 fans, the highest-ever for a professional women’s hockey game in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/JVdIHFyaRa
The attendance was the highest for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States.
“We want a team.” pic.twitter.com/by18wsZUez
The score board at Ball Arena in downtown Denver shows the number of attendees at the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) game between the Minnesota Frost and Montréal Victoire, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. The game’s attendance broke the record for most people attending a PWHL game with 14,018. (Evan Rawal, The Denver Gazette)
The game surpassed the previous record of 13,736, set last season on March 16, 2024, at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena during a neutral-site game between the Boston Fleet and the Ottawa Charge.
“The product we put out on the ice is what fans love to see,” Montréal Victoire defender Cayla Barnes said of the chants in a statement posted about the game. “We put a lot of work day in and day out. We also wouldn’t be where we are without the fans. It’s incredible to see that in every building that we’ve gone to, we’re seeing signs and hearing chants that they want a team all over the country, and I think that’s truly amazing.”
Minnesota Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney said about the girls’ hockey players in the crowd: “That’s what it’s all about. When I was a kid I watched the NHL, but for those girls now to be able to watch the PWHL is really cool. To create and have those role models that we didn’t have as a kid (besides the national team), it’s super special and it’s great visibility for them to be in the stands.”
A team photo of the Minnesota Frost (right) and Montreal Victoire during the the PWHL Takeover Tour on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. The professional women’s hockey game set an attendance record at Ball Arena with 14,018 people attending the game. (Courtesy PWHL)
Minnesota Frost coach Ken Klee said the atmosphere in Denver was awesome.
“To showcase these ladies and their talent, that’s what it’s all about,” Klee said. “Growing the game, the women’s hockey game and how far it’s come even since I first got involved in 2014, it’s remarkable. People were asking yesterday at the practice ‘how’s it going to be to see it live?’ and I said you wait, you’re going to see something and say, ‘that’s incredible’, and they are incredible.”
Minnesota Frost player’s celebrate a goal during a game against the Montreal Victoire on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
The league has already announced it will expand from six to eight teams as early as the 2025-26 season. It has not said which cities will be next.
Denver recently was awarded a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League.
The PWHL was renamed in 2023 from its original name, the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), which was founded by former Metropolitan State University of Denver club hockey player and Northeastern University women’s hockey player Dani Rylan Kearney. The NWHL was founded in March 2015.
(Contact Denver Gazette Digital Strategist Jonathan Ingraham at jonathan.ingraham@denvergazette.com or on X at @Skingraham and Instagram at @Skingraham311.)
When the Colorado Avalanche return to practice on Monday, it appears they’ll have Scott Wedgewood tending one of the nets.
Digital Producer for Denver Gazette
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
Welcome to the Denver Gazette
Subscribe to stay up to date with all things Colorado.
Streak: 9 days i
Stories you’ve missed since your last login:
Stories you’ve saved for later:
Recommended stories based on your interests:
