Toronto is a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. They are one of the six charter franchises of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).

History

On August 29, 2023, it was announced that Toronto would be home to one of the PWHL's first six franchises. The league announced on September 1 that

Gina Kingsbury Gina Kingsbury (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former women's professional ice hockey player. She graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in psychology, and ranks second all-time in scoring among St. Lawrence Skating Saints w ...

, the former vice president of hockey operations at Hockey Canada and general manager of the Canadian women's national team, would be the team's general manager. On September 15, Troy Ryan, the head coach of the Canadian women's national team, was announced as the team's head coach. Toronto's first three players—Canadian national team members

Sarah Nurse Sarah Nurse (born January 4, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team. She made her debut with the national team at the 2015 4 Nations Cup. In 2018, she represented Canada at the 2018 Wi ...

Renata Fast Renata Fast (born October 6, 1994) is a women's ice hockey player for the Toronto Furies of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. She was a member of the Clarkson Golden Knights squad that captured the 2014 National Collegiate women's ice hockey ...

and

Blayre Turnbull Blayre Turnbull (born July 15, 1993) is a Canadian ice hockey player for the PWHPA. She made her debut with the Canada women's national ice hockey team at the 2014 4 Nations Cup. Career Turnbull attended Shattuck-St. Mary's, where she was a cl ...

—were signed to three-year deals on September 5, 2023. The team selected 15 players at the inaugural PWHL draft on September 18; the team's first pick, at second overall, was veteran Canadian national team member

Jocelyne Larocque Jocelyne Dawn Marie Larocque (born May 19, 1988) is a Canadian ice hockey player and current independent member of the PWHPA. She previously played with the Calgary Inferno and Markham Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL), the C ...

. Ahead of the start of the inaugural 2024 season, Turnbull was named team captain, with Fast and Larocque serving as assistant captains. In November 2023, it was announced that the team's colours would be blue, black, and white. The same month, it was announced that the

Mattamy Athletic Centre Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

in the old

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

would become the home of Toronto's PWHL team. On January 1, 2024, Toronto hosted the first ever PWHL game at Mattamy, with visiting New York posting a 4–0 victory over Toronto. The teams faced each other again on January 5, with Toronto securing its first win by a score of 3–2; Natalie Spooner scored the first goal in team history in the second period. On February 16, 2024, Toronto hosted its first game at the

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rapt ...

against

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

dubbed by the league as "The Battle on Bay Street". The game set a league and women’s hockey attendance record with a sellout crowd of 19,285, beating the previous record of 18,013 at the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship.

Team

Current roster

Reserves

Draft history

The

2023 PWHL Draft The 2023 PWHL Draft was the first draft in Professional Women's Hockey League history, and took place on September 18, 2023, at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Taylor Heise was the first pl ...

was held on September 18, 2023, using a "snake draft" format with the selection order reversing after each round; Toronto's first pick was second overall. Toronto made the following selections:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:PWHL Toronto PWHL Toronto Ice hockey clubs established in 2023 Professional Women's Hockey League teams Women's ice hockey teams in Canada 2023 establishments in Ontario Ice hockey teams in Toronto Women's sports in Ontario