When Toronto Sceptres and the Ottawa fee meet on Sunday at a sold out Rogers site, it will feel like more than a one-time game.

It will feel like Edmonton is on trial.

Alberta Capital is the fifth city worthy of a neutral place Professional women’s hockey league Games this season as part of their nine-site takeover tour. For charging forward Danielle Serdachny And defender Stephanie Markowski, the game will see them return to their hometown to play in front of family and friends.

But Serdachny said that the bets are much higher than a game between the charge, which is last in the six-team PWHL with 17 points and a 5-0-2-8 (five regulatory winners, no overtime wins, two overtime losses and eight losses) notice and The Sceptrians, in the third with 21 points (5-1-4-6). It is a chance for Edmonton to show that it can be a city that is home to a PWHL team.

“It seems that the takeover tour is in the same way as a test for these cities, in a way,” said Serdachny, who has two world championship gold medals in his trophy cabinet and has posted two goals and three assists through 15 pwhl games this The season. “They can show the league as a whole what the city has to offer. I know that PWHL is super passionate for its fan bases and wants the continued growth of the game to occur.

“So I think that when you get to play in a city, especially with the Takeover Tour, it’s about what the city has to offer. And I know that Edmonton is such a passionate fan base with Oilers. They will definitely provide that energy and support. “

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Markowski said that the subject Westward -Expansion – the league’s westernmost team is the current Minnesota Frost – often comes up with family and friends in Edmonton. They want to see the league enter the mountain and Pacific.

“Many of our friends and family want us to play there (in the West), so they can look at us more often. They take it up pretty much. “

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Markowski, who won NCAA’s national championship last season with Ohio State Buckeyes, admitted that she was in reverence when she saw a big advertising poster by herself in West Edmonton Mall.

“It’s super cool and it just shows how far the league has gone and into it is people,” she said.

Toronto Sceptre’s captain Blayre Turnbull, who won Olympic silver 2018 and gold in 2022, spent a few years in Calgary and has played in Edmonton with the Canadian national team.

She said that moving the league in addition to the original six teams is important for women’s hockey.

“I think it is important that the league does it at the right time,” said Turnbull, who has five goals and two helpers so far this season. “Of course, we will leave it up to the business team to decide. But I think the more areas in North America that we can have teams in, the better exposure it is for our game – and that’s how our sport will continue to grow. “

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Toronto comes from a 3-2 victory on 3-2 Tuesday evening over Minnesota where the reigning league MVP Natalie Spooner came from the long-term injured list and noted his first assistant for the season.

Spooner led the league with 20 goals last season, so her return will increase a Sceptres team that finds its form and earns points in each of the previous five matches.

“Starting the season without her, and the presence she brought each game with her, was a bit of a hole in our range,” Turnbull said. “So that we have her back is huge. She adds so much value, not just how she plays on the ice, but to what she takes with her in our dressing room and to our practice. “

Ticketmaster shows that only resale tickets are available for the game, with some seats offered for more than $ 500 each.

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