PWHL Considering Both Coca-Cola Coliseum And Return To Mattamy For Toronto

PWHL Toronto sold out all 12 home games this season before the puck officially dropped. When they played at Scotiabank Arena, they sold out all 19,285 seats there. When they moved to Coca-Cola Coliseum for playoffs, they sold over capacity averaging more than 8,500 fans per game. 

It’s a good problem to have, but few fans will want to see Toronto return to Mattamy for another season. Despite the intimate setting, it caused Toronto to sit near the bottom of the PWHL’s attendance standings this year.

“The ideal venue situation is to play in the biggest NHL venue in every city, and merit playing there,” said PWHL advisory board member Stan Kasten. “We’re not always there yet in every market.”

Kasten however added that the big venues are there because those markets have a lot of teams already, concerts, and other events. Being in a big venue isn’t a fix if the team can only play weeknights or day time games.

Due to these factors, the PWHL is considering both Coca-Cola Coliseum and Mattamy Athletic Centre for year two of PWHL Toronto.

“We’re at a place right now where we’re considering all the options,” said PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. “We saw great success in the playoffs at Coca-Cola Coliseum, but we also had a great successful season at Mattamy.”

That success in the playoffs was an average attendance of 8,518 fans, compared to an average of only 2,514 at Mattamy. In fact, in 11 games at Mattamy this season Toronto brought in only 27,664 fans. In three games at Coca-Cola Coliseum the team drew 25,555 fans. The advantage to the league is obvious, but Coca-Cola Coliseum also has a primary tenant already in the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, and will gain a second in 2026 in the new WNBA Toronto franchise.

“There’s a lot of things that come into play when you’re looking at venues including availability and tenants and nights of the week, so there’s lots to consider,” said Hefford. “We’re exploring all those options right now, so hopefully we’ll have a decision on that soon.”

PWHL announces playoff arenas for Toronto, Montreal to start their semifinal series

The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s first four playoff games will be played in Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum and Place Bell in Laval, Que.

With Toronto and Montreal having secured playoff berths and home-ice advantage, the PWHL announced Tuesday their best-of-five semifinals will start in those arenas.

Toronto’s first two playoff games are May 8 and 10, and Montreal’s are May 9 and 11.

The top four in the six-team league advance to the post-season.

Once the regular season concludes Sunday and the standings are final, the top team in the league has a 24-hour window to choose its semifinal opponent between the third and fourth seeds.

Toronto and Montreal were tied atop the standings with 41 points apiece Tuesday. Toronto had two games remaining and Montreal one.

Minnesota, Ottawa and Boston were still in the hunt for the two remaining playoff spots. New York was eliminated from contention.

Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum, with a capacity of about 8,000, is the home of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies.

Place Bell, which is the rink of the AHL’s Laval Rocket, holds just over 10,000.

PWHL Arenas: Locations Being Narrowed

The locations for each of the PWHL’s six franchises are either signed, or nearing complete.

The venues will vary in size, but one similarity is that PWHL franchises will not be inhabiting a venue with several tenants, rather they’re almost exclusively playing at arenas that currently have only a single main inhabitant.

News leaked this week of the long expected location for Minnesota’s PWHL franchise, which according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press will be Excel Energy Center. The rink, which seats roughly 18,000 fans is current home to the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

In Ottawa, the new home rink is confirmed as TD Place Arena, the 6,500 seat rink that is currently home to the OHL’s Ottawa 67s. In his introductory press conference, Ottawa general manager Michael Hirshfeld stated a new dressing room facility was under construction at the rink.

While those are the locations we know, two we believe to be all but certainties are Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, and Walter Brown Arena in Boston. Coca-Cola Coliseum seats 8,100 fans and plays host to the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. While this is home base, it would not be surprising to see PWHL Toronto play at least a game or two at Scotiabank Arena as well.

In Boston, the 3,806 seat Walter Brown Arena, which currently houses Boston University’s women’s hockey team seems like the finalized location. A suitable arena was always the concern in Boston, and Walter Brown is a bit older, and slightly under the 4,000 seat goal set by the league for venues, but it’s a character rink that will have the charm many new buildings lack.

New York has been rumored to be headed to Bridgeport, Connecticut at the 8,412 Total Mortgage Arena, although some games are likely to be played at UBS Arena, home to the NHL’s New York Islanders. There’s also been chatter recently that New York’s team could play games in Albany at the 14,236 seat MVP Arena.

Finally, Montreal remains a mystery. Playing out of Laval’s Place Bell, a 10,000 rink home to the AHL’s Laval Rocket would be a no brainer. It was the future home for the PHF’s Montreal Force prior to the league being acquired, but as many diehard Montreal fans will argue, Laval is not Montreal. The 4,114 seat Verdun Auditorium is another prime target for the league, as it was slated to become the home to the Montreal Canadiennes prior to the CWHL folding in 2019. Newly renovated, the Auditorium could be the place.

AEW Announces First-Ever Shows In Canada For October

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) will make its long-awaited debut in Canada later this year!

The company announced Wednesday that the 10/12 episode of “AEW Dynamite” will take place at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada. The next night, AEW will hold a taping for the 10/14 episode of “AEW Rampage” also at the same hockey arena.

The Coca-Cola Coliseum has a capacity of roughly 8,000 seats.

The news of AEW’s Canadian debut shouldn’t come as a surprise. Last month, AEW President Tony Khan revealed he was aggressively trying to secure dates for future shows in the country, citing AEW’s viewership success on Canadian station TSN.

“We’re all back on the road this past year and we’ve been all over America, but I do look forward to bringing an AEW live events to Canada soon,” Khan said at a tech conference in downtown Toronto. “I think we have a chance to really build a strong presence, not only what we’ve established on television with TSN, but also with live events for the fans.

“We have a lot of great Canadian wrestlers and I’m excited about the possibility of our live events here because we’ve had great success on TV here.”

Khan also revealed that AEW was originally slated to do live events in Canada in 2020, but was forced to postpone them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The most important thing is the quality of the arena for the fans and the wrestlers and the staff, and then followed by the size for the opportunity to create revenue,” Khan added.

The likes of Chris Jericho, Christian Cage, Kenny Omega, “All Ego” Ethan Page, Shawn Spears, Kyle O’Reilly, The Bunny and Evil Uno are some of the Canadians on the current AEW roster.