PWHL’s Charge to Play in Senators’ Arena Next Season

The Charge will continue their journey in Ottawa, as the Premier Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has reached an agreement to play at the Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL’s Senators, starting next season. Sources familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, indicated that the finalization of the deal is expected in the coming weeks.

This agreement was anticipated following productive talks between PWHL and Senators officials back in March. The Charge showcased their potential during the postseason, playing all four playoff games at the Senators’ facility, where they drew an impressive average of 13,416 fans per game. Notably, they attracted a remarkable crowd of 17,114 for a regular-season match at the arena, which holds a capacity of 18,655.

The decision to relocate from TD Place to the Senators’ arena was influenced by ongoing renovations at TD Place, which will reduce its seating capacity by approximately 2,000 seats. Without this new agreement, there were concerns that the team might have to leave Ottawa altogether.

As one of the PWHL’s original six franchises, the Charge spent their first three seasons at TD Place, which also serves as the home for the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67s. The facility, with an initial hockey capacity of around 8,500, will be left with approximately 5,700 seats after renovations, alongside 900 standing-only spots. The PWHL stated that the reduced capacity would not meet fan demand, making it financially unfeasible for the Charge to remain at the arena.

Last season, the Charge averaged 7,382 fans over 12 games at TD Place, with 10 of those matches surpassing 6,600 attendees. When factoring in their games at the Canadian Tire Centre, the overall average attendance increased to 8,131. The Charge are currently competing in the best-of-five Walter Cup Finals, having fallen short in each of the past two seasons, including a tough Game 4 loss to Montreal last month.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.