Ice hockey-PWHL announces Vancouver expansion franchise for 2025-26 season
Mark Walter, Founder and CEO, TWG Global; Founder and CEO, Guggenheim Partners speaks at the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
The Professional Women's Hockey League on Wednesday announced Vancouver as its first expansion franchise, with the club set to launch in time for the 2025-26 season as its seventh team.
The team, which will be known as PWHL Vancouver until a permanent name is announced, will feature "pacific blue" as its primary colour and play out of the Pacific Coliseum that was once home to the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks.
"Expanding to Vancouver reflects the growing momentum behind the league and the incredible passion of our fanbase since launching in January 2024," said PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer.
Vancouver joins Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto in the PWHL, which is the latest bid to create a sustainable business model around women's ice hockey after previous leagues failed to deliver.
In its inaugural season, the PWHL set the highest attendance record globally for women's hockey when 21,105 people filled a sold-out Montreal arena in April 2024.
Earlier this year Vancouver hosted the second game of the PWHL Takeover Tour, a series of nine neutral-site regular-season games, and the sold-out crowd of 19,038 ranks as the fourth highest attendance for a PWHL game all-time.
The PWHL is a single entity ownership structure supported by Mark and Kimbra Walter, and its Board of Directors includes American tennis great Billie Jean King. REUTERS
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I think it's important for the team to know that the chef is not worried about getting his hands dirty if he has to and that he has everyone's back.' Chef Lee adds: 'He has been a great example for staff to calibrate their work ethic, organisational skills and commitment. But I feel his greatest impact is yet to come.' If chef Wong had not left Singapore, where would he be right now? 'Perhaps I might be the head chef of some restaurant,' he says. 'But I also think I most probably would have left Singapore in time to come.' So, does a Singaporean chef need to leave the country to come into his own? Chef Wong says: 'I think Singapore as a society needs to look inwards and realise the intrinsic value of the things we have. Things like our local hawker food should really be more appreciated and perceived the same way as a bowl of ramen or a plate of pasta. 'Why is it that we demand that our local food be dirt cheap when it is more labour-intensive to make, but we are willing to fork out more for a plate of pasta that comes from a plastic package? I think everyone should try cooking a bowl of laksa at home from scratch and see what it takes to make that humble bowl of noodles with broth and toppings. 'If Singapore society is able to change that mindset and be more like the Japanese, who value their own culture and heritage, then Singaporean chefs and food will be more valued and appreciated.' He cites restaurants such as Belimbing by chef Marcus Leow and Mustard Seed by chefs Gan Ming Kiat, Wu Shin Yin and Desmond Shen as those doing a 'good job of progressing what we have in Singapore'. Eventually, he might join them in taking Singapore food to a new level. He sees himself working at Benu for three to four years, and he would like to come back to Singapore. 'Singapore is home,' he says. 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