PMC Hosts Second Women's Hockey Game in PWHPA Dream Gap Tour; Team Harvey's Defeats Team Scotiabank 5-2

The Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association (PWHPA) made their stop in Peterborough, showcasing the best of women’s hockey as the top-rated Team Harvey’s (Montréal) defeated Team Scotiabank (Calgary), 5-2 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC) on Friday afternoon.

The first PHWPA game hosted by the PMC was back on Feb. 19 last year. Photo courtesy of David Pickering and the Peterborough Petes.

The Dream Gap Tour is part of a PWHPA OHL Showcase that features top professional and Olympic women's hockey players, including Olympic and world champion Marie-Philip Poulin, Rebecca Johnston, Blayre Turnbull, Jessie Eldridge and more. It promotes and creates awareness for women’s hockey.

“I am a big believer in what we're doing,” said Poulin. "Having us to go to different communities and having a rink full of kids screaming at us and seeing all the little boys and girls coming to us, watching us and screaming our names, I think the awareness is there and I think having family bring their kids is step one.”

This was the first school game hosted by the Peterborough Petes where over 2,400 elementary school students were in attendance, as part of the 3,480 fans at the game. Players wanted to set an example for the young fans, particularly the girls to see that becoming a professional hockey player was achievable.

“We have respect and the eyes of all those young girls and for us to be able to put on a show for the young boys in the crowd today and get their push and all of them behind us is even bigger for us to move this forward,” said Eldridge.

Eldridge opened the scoring for Team Harvey’s, 12:13 into the game with assists from Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau. Eldridge barrelled in with a backhand shot, beating goaltender Amanda Makela for a 1-0 lead. Fortino followed up her assist with a goal with just under four minutes left to play, rifling the top corner for a 2-0 lead for Team Harvey’s. Sophia Shaver tacked on her first assist of the game with that goal. Blayre Turnbull responded in quick fashion for Team Scotiabank and she was able to snipe one past Ann-Renée Desbiens to cut the deficit in half. Under two minutes later, Scotiabank evened the game as Ella Shelton picked up the loose change on a juicy rebound and chipped it in for a 2-2 tie.

It would be difficult to have Canadian women’s hockey without mentioning the three-time Olympic gold medalist Poulin otherwise known as ‘Captain Clutch’ as she marked her stamp with a rebound goal late in the second period with help from Jacquie Greco and Emily Clark for a 3-2 Team Harvey’s lead. Eldridge extended the lead for Harvey’s. She chipped in a rebound from a Clark shot for her second goal of the game, making it 4-2 going into the third.

Team Harvey kept their momentum going as halfway through the period, Scotiabank turned over the puck in the neutral zone. Bailey Larson intercepted the pass and wristed it past Makela for a 5-2 lead. Poulin had a breakaway chance but was denied by Makela including a second rebound shot to prevent a second goal from the three-time world champion gold medalist. Scotiabank tried to make a push but Harvey’s was able to maintain offensive zone pressure and run out the clock for the 5-2 win.

Eldrige, Fortino and Shelton were the first, second and third starts of the game respectively.

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Limited Tickets Available For PWHPA Game For Feb. 10

A limited number of tickets are now available for sale for the Peterborough Petes’ first-ever school day game featuring the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Feb. 10.

File Photo.

Puck drop is at 11 a.m. for a regular season Secret® Dream Gap Tour game between Team Scotiabank and Team Harvey’s, the first of four games in the PWHPA Showcase.

“The Petes are excited to open up tickets to the general public, who have the opportunity to join thousands of local school children, educators, and Season Ticket Members on February 10 to cheer on some of the best hockey players in the world,” said Burton Lee, Petes executive director of business operations.

Tickets are available in Gibson’s Finest Club Sections C6, C8 and C21, as well as The Sandbar and start at $24.99 (plus tax and fees).

The game features the top professional and Olympic women's hockey players such as Olympic and World champions Marie-Philip Poulin, Rebecca Johnston, Blayre Turnbull, Jessie Eldridge and more.

To purchase tickets, visit the PMC Grant Thornton Box Office online, in person, or call (705) 743-3561. 

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Peterborough Petes Become First OHL Team To Host Pro Women's Hockey Game

The Peterborough Petes will be the first OHL team to host a Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association (PWHPA) game at the Peterborough Memorial Centre (PMC) announced Tuesday.

Kassidy Sauvé (left), Team Sonnet goaltender of PWHPA (left) and Molly Farace (right) of the PGHA U15 AA Ice Kats were the two active women’s hockey representatives at the Petes press conference on Tuesday morning. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Team Sonnet, PWHPA’s Toronto hub and Team Harvey’s, PWHPA’s Montreal hub, will compete against each other on Feb 19. The game will occur only days after the 2022 Olympic Women's Hockey Gold Medal Game in Beijing. 

“It’s an absolute honour to host these elite athletes at the PMC in the new year,” said Shelbi Kilcollins, Petes’ director of marketing and growth. “The opportunity to collaborate alongside the PWHPA is a long-time dream for the Peterborough Petes.”

“This is equivalent to an NHL game with the ladies. These are the best women hockey players in the world that are going to be here at the Memorial Centre,” said Dave Pogue, Petes president. “It's going to be a treat for certainly the young girl hockey players that are going to be able to get their teams in here to watch the game but really anybody that hasn't seen an event like this has to come down.”

Jayna Hefford, Hockey Hall of Inductee, Olympic gold medalist and PWHPA Chairperson virtually appeared at the conference. Attendees included David Branch, OHL Commissioner; Michael Oke, Petes general manager; Dave Pogue, Petes president; Diane Therrien, Peterborough Mayor; Kassidy Sauvé, Team Sonnet goaltender and Molly Farace, U15 AA Peterborough Ice Kats forward.

"The fact that the Petes have partnered with the PWHPA says a lot about their organization,” said Sauvé. “The fact that they are committed to not only growing the game on the men's side but also the women's side.”

“It's part of our mandate to grow the future of hockey and not just boys hockey but girls hockey and it's a tremendous honour to have it here in Peterborough,” said Pogue.

Pre-sale tickets are available on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. through the Grant Thornton Box Office.

Kilcollins is an assistant coach for Farace and the U15 AA Ice Kats. The team won its third tournament of the season at the Brampton Two Nations Cup on Dec. 5. Farace tallied the championship assist in a 1-0 victory over the North York Storm.

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