Hockey in the Hammer: Hamilton to get PWHL team

Sources confirmed to CHCH News on Tuesday that the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) will announce a team for Hamilton on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the PWHL posted a release announcing that not only Hamilton will be getting a team next season, Las Vegas will as well.

The release was shared with the chosen colours for the two teams.

Hamilton will be represented by gold, maroon and cream.

The league says gold is meant to be a “hat tip” to the colours worn by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and and the former NHL team, the Hamilton Tigers. It says maroon is meant to be symbolic of aged steel, a nod to the city’s steel-making roots.

Despite the league already having two teams in Ontario, the league says Hamilton is host to a unique market.

“Hamilton boasts one of the largest and most concentrated areas in the world for girls’ hockey participation,” the PWHL says in a release.

The league says the Jan. 3 game between the Toronto Scepters and the Seattle Torrent at TD Coliseum made Hamilton-area fans’ passion for women’s professional hockey evident.

The PWHL says the crowd of 16,000 people was the third largest in the Takeover Tour and one of the top 20 attendances in the leagues history.

“Of Hamilton Takeover Tour ticket buyers, more than 70 per cent were purchasing their first PWHL game ticket,” the league says in a statement.

Over 15 per cent of all PWHL players got their start in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, making the regions effort in advancing women’s hockey clear to the league.

WATCH MORE: PWHL Takeover Tour brings women’s pro hockey to Hamilton