PWHL ‘Duel at the Top’ sets women’s hockey attendance record with 21,105 at Bell Centre

Another game between PWHL Montreal and PWHL Toronto has broken a record.

The two teams faced off Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens, breaking the record for the largest attendance for a professional women’s hockey game with 21,105.

The previous attendance record was 19,285, set on Feb. 16 when Toronto hosted Montreal in the Battle on Bay Street at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Today, in a city where so many hockey milestones have been achieved, we celebrated the greatest gathering of PWHL fans in the brief history of our league,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. “Montreal’s hockey community has consistently shown up for our league, and today was our opportunity to celebrate their enthusiasm and showcase our players’ elite skill in front of the largest crowd women’s hockey has ever seen.”

This is the sixth time the PWHL set an attendance record since the league was launched on Jan. 1, with five of those games involving Montreal. In the team’s season opener against PWHL Ottawa on Jan. 2, a professional women’s hockey attendance record was set with a crowd of 8,318 at The Arena at TD Place.

That record was broken four days later when Montreal visited PWHL Minnesota on Jan. 6 at Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, and played before a crowd of 13,316.

The professional women’s hockey attendance record for a game in the United States is 13,736 on Mar. 16 between PWHL Boston and Ottawa at the Detroit Red Wings’ Little Caesars Arena.

Going into the game, Toronto was ranked No. 1 with a 13-7-3 record and 36 points, while Montreal was ranked No. 3 with a 11-5-4 record and 34 points.