'Signals and signs are positive' for expansion PWHL Hamilton
· Toronto Sun
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This is the second part in a two-part series examining pro hockey in Hamilton.
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After more than a decade without professional puck, two pro franchises dropped onto the laps of Hamiltonians like a top-shelf sizzler into the back of the net.
Less than two months after the return of an American Hockey League team was made official, the expansion-minded Professional Women’s Hockey League granted Hamilton a franchise. The announcement was made on May 13.
More than 16,000 fans filled TD Coliseum in January to watch the Toronto Sceptres lose 3-2 to the Seattle Torrent in a PWHL takeover game. The takeover games are designed to build local interest in the league while testing potential new markets.
The PWHL hasn’t released its regular-season schedule as the franchise and its fans wait for an eventual nickname to rally behind.
This came after the New York Islanders and the Oak View Group announced in March the relocation of the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders to Hamilton, changing the team name to the Hammers in tribute to the city’s industrial past.
This will be the city’s fourth crack at making an AHL franchise successful in the city. The Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks all failed in their attempts at making a minor-league affiliate work long term in Steeltown.
The Hammers open the home portion of the schedule on Oct. 9 against the Toronto Marlies at TD Coliseum.
Hamilton a ‘wonderful market’ for PWHL
Even without a logo or a nickname to take pride in, the local reaction to the new PWHL Hamilton team is well worth noting.
“We have gotten great engagement across social media and through our website,” Amy Scheer, executive vice-president of business operations for the league, told the Toronto Sun. “All our signals and signs are positive that Hamilton will be a wonderful market for the PWHL and we certainly appreciate the fan interest in us and don’t take it for granted, for sure.”
Along with Detroit, San Jose and Las Vegas, the PWHL granted Hamilton one of four expansion franchises in May.
“The fans interest has peaked in this neck of the woods and because it is a Hamilton team, this is our team and we are starting from scratch and I think there is a groundswell of positive energy to support these girls on the ice,” Rick Zamperin added. “You can feel it. People are excited to get into the rink and cheer these girls on.”
Zamperin is the co-host of CHCH Morning Live and he brings lofty experience and opinions on the Hamilton sports scene. Zamperin was the play-by-play announcer for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2007-14 on CHML 900 radio. He has lived and worked in Hamilton since 2000.
As of Aug. 27, the Hamilton team had signed 13 players for the upcoming season. Five of them are from Southern Ontario, including the Golden Horseshoe area.
Kayla Vespa may be the focal point of the early signings, being the lone Hamiltonian. Alexa Vasko hails from St. Catharines. Both players played for the Stoney Creek Sabres in what is now the junior-level Ontario Women’s Hockey League.
Vespa and Vasko signed two-year deals through the completion of the 2027-28 season.
“I think that is important in building the relationships with the community and I think the PWHL has been good at that from the start with that intimate connection (to) their fans,” Zamperin said about having local players. “This is the top league on the planet and we are a part of it. That is cool.”
Zamperin said the team is important to young female hockey players in the area as is gives them something in which to strive toward.
“These players are role models they can look up to and continue on in the sport,” he said. “For a long time, young women and girls were dropping out of sport because there was nothing to advance to in terms of pro hockey. And now there is.”
‘Hotbed’ for hockey
By every account, Hamilton has an embarrassment of riches in the local marketplace.
“The Greater Hamilton Area is one of the largest cities in Canada, so from a sheer population standpoint it certainly fits the bill in what we are looking for,” Scheer said.
“It is a hotbed (for) girls and women’s hockey and then you look at the renovated building. It is beautiful and it has got everything we would want for our players in terms of a quality venue. There are a lot of things that point to Hamilton being a wonderful market for us.”
As part of an extensive renovation plan, the former Copps Coliseum received a seating upgrade, had its sightlines enhanced, added premium seats and a new-look concourse.
Zamperin senses a groundswell of support locally. In his wandering around town, he gets a sense the public is emotionally invested in a team that doesn’t yet have a nickname or a logo to call its own.
“There is a lot of excitement that the PWHL is coming to Hamilton,” Zamperin said. “It is almost like we won this team. This is an expansion team and they, meaning the league, chose Hamilton to put down some roots. I think there is a certain sense of pride that we are big enough – little old Hamilton sticking out its chest, big enough to host a PWHL team.”
There are many teams in Hamilton competing for the sports entertainment dollar either on the pro or amateur side.
The seasons of the Tiger-Cats and Forge FC will slightly overlap with the hockey season and there also are plenty of collegiate sports in the area, too, with McMaster University and Mohawk College both offering multiple sports, not to mention junior football with the Hamilton Hurricanes.
The National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock have also called TD Coliseum home of late.
The biggest roadblock will probably come from the AHL’s Hamilton Hammers, which begins its first season at the TD Coliseum this fall. The New York Islanders and the Hammers ownership group announced the move from Bridgeport, Conn., to Steeltown in March.
Scheer acknowledged that “competition is great and it helps you sort of sharpen your knife.”
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A unique fan
At the same time, she believes the PWHL is a standalone team in the sports landscape. Scheer said the end goal isn’t to sell out every home date. Last season, each team in the league had 15 home gates.
“The goal is to go into Hamilton and carve out our own little niche,” she said. “Our atmosphere, our entertainment, we are the only place you can see the best women’s hockey players in the world. We believe we have a unique fan, an engaged fan and we will build our brand. And once people come to our games and see how much fun our games are and the pure joy that is in our building, they will keep coming back for more.”
Last season, the league average for attendance was 9,304 per game, an increase of 28% compared against the 2024-25 season. TD Coliseum can host 18,000 for hockey. The PWHL takeover tour game in early January drew more than 16,000 into the building.
Zamperin doesn’t see the issue as so one-sided. The TV morning man thinks challenges will present themselves to the PWHL team. After all, there are only so many disposable dollars available per household these days. Hamilton is a valued and highly thought-of market for the league, but discretionary spending is not limitless.
“There is going to come a time, maybe more than a handful of times, where fans will have to make a decision because of the economy that we are in with (American) tariffs and the uncertainty,” he said. “People will have some hard decisions to make.”