Takeover Tour games are the testing ground for the league\u2019s future expansion.<\/p>\n
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Published Mar 26, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 5 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Calgary\u2019s long wait is over.\u00a0The PWHL and women\u2019s hockey is finally coming back to town.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n A staple in women\u2019s hockey before the PWHL even came into existence and the long-time home of Canada\u2019s national women\u2019s team, this visit is long overdue, but Calgarians should have no problem getting comfortable with it rather quickly.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Many of the women who make the PWHL what it is today got their real starts in Calgary, and a number of them will be in uniform on Wednesday when the Toronto Sceptres take on the Ottawa Charge at the Scotiabank Saddledome (7:30 p.m. MT puck drop).<\/p>\n Edmonton will have hosted three PWHL regular-season games by the time the season ends, so it\u2019s only proper that Calgary gets in on the action.<\/p>\n The team captains of the two respective teams participating in this one have long histories in Calgary.<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Blayre Turnbull, the Stellerton, N.S., native who has worn the C in Toronto since the league began three seasons ago, spent more than eight years in Calgary, coming to join the CWHL\u2019s Inferno upon graduating from the NCAA.<\/p>\n Brianne Jenner, like Turnbull, has been the captain of the Ottawa Charge since Year 1 and played on that same Inferno team as Turnbull. Both were big reasons the Inferno were so successful in their time in Calgary, winning two Clarkson Cups.<\/p>\n Also on that team was Jenner\u2019s teammate in Ottawa, forward Rebecca Leslie, who is tied for the league lead in goals with 12 and is tied with Jenner at 19 points for the Ottawa lead.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s just the beginning of the ties to Calgary that will make their return next week.<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod was born in Edmonton but grew up in Calgary, while Sceptres GM Gina Kingsbury calls Calgary home today.<\/p>\n Jess Kondas, a Sceptres defender, grew up in Calgary and spends her off-seasons there working at a local gym. Ottawa forward Sarah Wozniewicz is a native of nearby Cochrane, Alta., and has the unique claim of having been coached by both MacLeod (first in Calgary and now in Ottawa) as well as Turnbull, when the latter took on a team while playing for the Inferno.<\/p>\n Wozniewicz remembers wanting to be just like Turnbull, who would bring the entire team to Inferno games and expose the girls to what was then the closest thing to professional women\u2019s hockey in North America.<\/p>\n \u201cI always looked up to Blayre when she coached my team,\u201d Wozniewicz said. \u201cI think that was the first dose of professional women\u2019s hockey I ever experienced (watching the Inferno). I always wanted to be her. I remember she let me use her stick when I was still in high school, so that was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Turnbull says Calgary was the perfect learning ground for her future in the PWHL, even if the league at that time was well short of the professional standards the one she now plays in offers, where hockey is her full-time job. Back in her Calgary days, the women playing in the CWHL were juggling 9-to-5 jobs with their hockey.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I think back to my years on the inferno and playing in Calgary, I think that\u2019s where I learned to be a professional athlete,\u201d Turnbull said. \u201cI was fortunate enough to move in with Jenner and her wife Haley as soon as I graduated from college and I learned so much from them and the all the other girls we played with and practised with.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenner said the immensely talented roster those Inferno teams had helped her become the internationally decorated player she would become.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI credit a lot of my development to those first years out of college playing for that team,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were really lucky to have really good hockey players on that team that made us better in practice and created kind of the best training environment.\u201d<\/p>\n WHAT\u2019S AT STAKE FOR THE CITY?<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret the PWHL is actively expanding, adding teams in Seattle and Vancouver last season to the original six squads. The league will expand again this summer by as many as four, but more likely two more teams.<\/p>\n The 16 neutral-site Takeover Tour games are the testing ground for the league\u2019s future expansion.<\/p>\n With Calgary new to the schedule, it\u2019s unlikely that Calgary would gain a PWHL expansion team this summer, but that certainly doesn\u2019t mean the city can\u2019t acquire one down the road.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Attendance at these events is one part of the puzzle, but just one. The league also looks at arena infrastructure, local youth hockey systems, economic opportunity, and travel logistics.<\/p>\n Calgary would appear to tick all those boxes. Suffice to say, the league is thinking well beyond the 10 or 12 teams that make up the league next season.<\/p>\n OTHER EVENTS BEFORE THE GAME<\/p>\n The festivities begin Monday with a community skills clinic for local U9-U11 and U13-U15 players at Father David Bauer Arena. Among those from the PWHL taking part in these clinics are Kondas, Sceptres defender and PWHL defender of the year Renata Fast, and their Sceptres teammates, Swedish national team standouts Sara Hjalmarsson and Anna Kjellbin.<\/p>\n Advertisement 8<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n On Tuesday, a day before the game, the teams will host open practices at WinSport,. with the Charge taking the ice at 11 a.m in Arena C while the Sceptres will get going at 12:30 in Arena B.<\/p>\n That night, a coaches panel featuring Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury and assistant coach Rachel Flanagan, along with Charge head coach coach Carla MacLeod and goalie coach Pierre Groulx, will be held at the WinSport Hall of Champions. The panel goes from 6 to 7 p.m., with former national team standout Cassie Campbell-Pascall hosting.<\/p>\n THREE POINTS ON THE LINE<\/p>\n The Charge and Sceptres, along with the New York Sirens, are separated by just four points with eight games remaining entering play Friday. This will be the first of three games in those final eight between Ottawa and Toronto. The Sceptres also have two more games remaining against the Sirens. All three teams are trying to secure the fourth and final playoff spot, with third place likely too far out of reach for any of them.<\/p>\n Toronto has a one-point edge over Ottawa, with New York four points back. With a regulation win worth three points, this is still anyone\u2019s spot to win.<\/p>\n mganter@postmedia.com<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsHockeyPWHL Takeover Tour games are the testing ground for the league\u2019s future expansion. 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PWHL captains Blayre Turnbull of the Toronto Sceptres (left) and Brianne Jenner of the Ottawa Charge will lead their teams into a PWHL Takeover Tour game in Calgary on April 1, 2026. Photo by PWHL \/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.8.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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