Flyers legend Eric Lindros among the fans of the new women’s pro hockey league

The Professional Women’s Hockey League debuted on New Year’s Day in Toronto in front of a sold-out crowd. And among the 2,537 fans gathered to see the inaugural game between Toronto and New York were Hall of Famer and Flyers legend Eric Lindros and his 8-year-old daughter, Sophie.

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New York, with a roster chock-full of Canadian and American national team members, shut out Toronto, 4-0. Ella Shelton scored the PWHL’s first goal. Her stick, the puck, and goaltender Corinne Schroeder’s stick from the league’s first shutout will be displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I thought it was a lot of fun,” Lindros told The Inquirer. “It was a nice celebration of how far women’s hockey has come. For it to work, there can only be one league, and that’s what they’ve got. All signals point to success.”

The formation of the PWHL established a single unified league for women’s hockey in North America and brings together players from the former Premier Hockey Federation and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association. In August, the PWHL unveiled its original six markets, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Minnesota, New York, and Boston. The league’s collective bargaining agreement is the first of its kind in women’s hockey.

Less than a week into its inaugural season, the PWHL is already garnering significant interest. Two days after they went on sale in early December, PWHL Toronto sold out its season ticket memberships. The game Tuesday between Ottawa and Montreal set an attendance record for women’s professional hockey with 8,318 fans, while Minnesota has already sold more than 7,000 tickets for its opener on Saturday. Games are also available to stream live on YouTube, with Tuesday’s game attracting more than 17,000 concurrent viewers.

Lindros, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016, lives in Toronto with his family. Sophie Lindros is a hockey player herself and plays left wing.

“I thought it was great. Like, they played really well, but it was intense,” Sophie told The Inquirer via phone while headed to a hockey game of her own.

Sophie said Blayre Turnbull was her favorite player on Monday. Turnbull, who is from Nova Scotia, is a two-time Olympic medalist and six-time medalist at the World Championships. Sophie also calls Hayley Wickenheiser, a longtime Team Canada captain who now serves as an assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs, a friend.

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Eric Lindros thinks the new unified league will help to grow the game by providing another avenue for women striving to make Olympic teams. During his playing career, he represented Canada at three Olympics, winning a silver and a gold medal.

“The New York team had a number of good players. [Alex Carpenter] was very, very good,” he said. “Sarah Nurse is excellent. Natalie Spooner played extremely well. ... The effort was certainly there, and there were a number of really good moments.

“There was more physicality out there than a Saturday night watching Hockey Night in Canada, at times.”

Philadelphia has never had a pro women’s hockey team, and was considered but ultimately left out of the PWHL’s original six. New York is the closest team to the Philadelphia area, although it plays its home games primarily out of Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn.

Previously, the PHF’s Metropolitan Riveters were based in East Rutherford, N.J., from 2015 to 2023. But the door is still open for the future in Philadelphia. There are several games on the PWHL’s calendar with venues yet to be announced, which likely will be held at neutral sites in other markets, possibly including Philadelphia. The PWHL’s board of directors also said in August that expansion is in the league’s long-term future.

“The way that it played out [Monday], I don’t think anyone would bet against what they’ve got going on,” Lindros said. “I think that Philadelphia is a wonderful market. I think that women’s hockey would be accepted, absolutely.”