Sceptres Jesse Compher forward goes to the ice as Minnesota Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley makes a save during the second period of Wednesday’s Game 1.
Sceptres Jesse Compher forward goes to the ice as Minnesota Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley makes a save during the second period of Wednesday’s Game 1.
Damien Cox is a former Star sports reporter who is a current freelance contributing columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: .
The GO platform at Mimico was filled with impatient hockey fans waiting for the 6:28 p.m. train to Union Station, with a stop first at Exhibition Place. Many wore 海角社区官网Maple Leaf jerseys, but just as many on this evening wore the blue-and-gold colours of the 海角社区官网Sceptres. They got off at Exhibition, leaving the Leaf supporters headed for Union.
This was a hard ask for the two-year-old Sceptres on Wednesday night. Go head-to-head with the Leafs at playoff time, each team playing their league鈥檚 defending champion with a 7 p.m. start time. The Leafs, broadcast nationally, were taking on the hated Florida Panthers downtown at Scotiabank Arena. At Coca-Cola Coliseum in more of an off-Broadway setting, the Sceptres were facing the Minnesota Frost, the team that upset 海角社区官网in the PWHL playoffs last year.
Many an Ontario Hockey League junior franchise has found itself unable over the past 40 years to succeed or even exist in a market dominated by the Leafs. The Sceptres, however, did just fine in Game 1 against the Frost. They didn鈥檛 quite fill their 8,140-seat arena as the Leafs did in theirs, but a solid and engaged audience turned out in noisy and supportive fashion. They were also all in their seats, even the most expensive ones, at the start of every period.
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They weren鈥檛 disappointed. While the Sceptres looked a little leaky in squandering two-thirds of a 3-0 lead, superb goaltending from Kristen (Soupy) Campbell proved to be just enough to generate a 3-2 victory and a one-game-to-none lead in the best-of-five playoff series. Troy Ryan鈥檚 squad held the fort against a furious Frost push in the final moments, giving Sceptres fans enough time to hustle to the 9:55 p.m. westbound GO train while standing on the platform watching the final minute of the Leaf game on their phones.
Does this officially make it a shared two-team town? Well, not quite. Not yet. But be clear on this point; Sceptres fans, while fewer in number, are just as dedicated to their team, just as likely to shell out for merch and wear it with pride. The female-dominated audience included plenty of hand-holding same-sex couples and young daughters in Sceptres gear with their mothers or dads, enough to make it clear this PWHL team has already attracted a unique, strong and durable fan base. Its own fan base. This is not just a spillover from Leaf Nation.
The PWHL, about to expand from six to eight teams, is a tough enough league that last year鈥檚 finalists, the Boston Fleet, didn鈥檛 even make the playoffs this year. Montreal鈥檚 Victoire had held first place most of the season, and chose the third-place Ottawa Charge as their first-round opponent. That left the second-place Sceptres and fourth-place Frost to do battle again.
For the Sceptres, the task is straightforward. Keep Minny鈥檚 big guns, notably speedy Kendall Coyne-Schofield, 2024 playoff MVP Taylor Heise and power forward Grace Zumwinkel under control, while generating enough offence themselves after scoring only one goal in the final three games of their semifinal loss to the Frost last year.
In Game 1, Coyne-Schofield, Heise and Zumwinkel didn鈥檛 score. Toronto, meanwhile, got two big goals from Julia Gosling after captain Blayre Turnbull opened the scoring with a nifty move in tight on Frost goalie Nicole Hensley.
The game was impacted in the second period on two plays involving controversial Minnesota rookie forward Britta Curl-Salemme. The former standout forward for the powerhouse Wisconsin Badgers has attracted negative publicity in PWHL circles for a series of social media posts described by her critics as transphobic. She has apologized for those posts.
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Nonetheless, Curl-Salemme was booed every time she touched the puck on Wednesday night, just like Sam Bennett was being booed downtown. She infuriated Sceptres fans when she scored in the second period to make it 3-1. Soon thereafter, she brought even more local scorn upon her head with a nasty head shot on Toronto鈥檚 Renata Fast that ultimately drew a major and game misconduct.
With the five-minute power play, the Sceptres couldn鈥檛 increase their lead, partly because of one spectacular Hensley glove save on Jesse Compher. When Minny forward Katy Knoll scored in the third period, it brought back uncomfortable memories of how 海角社区官网squandered a 2-0 series lead to the Frost in last year鈥檚 playoffs.
But tireless blueline work by Fast and Kali Flanagan, in addition to some key saves from Campbell, were enough to earn the Sceptres the win despite a quiet night from star forwards Natalie Spooner, Darryl Watts and Sarah Nurse. Sceptres fans flooded out of the arena in a happy mood, with one male fan wearing an Auston Matthews Leaf jersey shouting 鈥淟et鈥檚 go Sceptres!鈥
The Sceptres, who鈥檒l go head-to-head with the Leafs again on Friday, are no more home-and-cooled-out in their series against Minnesota than the Leafs are against the defending Cup champs after holding serve at home. Beating the Frost in the series opener didn鈥檛 erase the bitter memories of last spring.
But it鈥檚 a promising start. Just like the Sceptres鈥 toehold in this giant, but often unwelcoming, hockey market.
Opinion articles are based on the author鈥檚 interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
Damien Cox is a former Star sports reporter who is a current
freelance contributing columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on
Twitter: .
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