PWHL sets all-time attendance record in women’s hockey with ‘Battle of Bay Street’ and former Penguins’ forward Jaromir Jagr joins team for morning skate

It was a historic Saturday night when the Professional Women’s Hockey League game between Toronto and Montreal was filled with 19,285 fans, breaking the all-time attendance record for a women’s hockey game.

It was no shock that the game dubbed the ‘Battle of Bay Street’ at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena broke the record after becoming a highly anticipated event throughout the past few weeks, and it left no one disappointed. Toronto goaltender Kristen Campbell earned a 30-save shutout to help contribute to Toronto’s 3-0 victory over Montreal.

“Once again, PWHL fans have made history,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations, in a release.

“With a record-setting performance on a national stage, our fans made the Battle on Bay Street an unforgettable, inspirational moment — and we couldn’t be more appreciative.”

It was announced in the third period that a whopping 19,285 people flooded into the area to watch the two teams battle it out, smashing the previous record of 18,013 set in 2013 during a World Championship preliminary game between Canada and Finland.

On average, the league sees just below 5,000 fans in attendance per game. Minnesota leads the numbers with an average of 7,743 fans per game.

However, the PWHL will continue to challenge the feat in a few other NHL areas throughout the season, including the “PWHL Takeover Weekend” on March 16th that will see Ottawa and Boston take centre stage at Little Caesars Arena, home of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto and Montreal meeting once again at PPG Paints Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The league has quietly been shattering women’s hockey records since its first game on January 1st when the game between Toronto and New York–televised on CBC, Sportsnet, and TSN–reached a combined average audience of 879,000 viewers. A day later, a game in Ottawa broke the attendance record at 8,318, with Minnesota upping the ante hosting 13,316 fans on January 4th. Additionally, 3,313 fans witnessed the Czechs game against Finland in Liberec during the Euro Hockey Tour.