SAN JOSE, Calif. — Six months ago, if you asked Rory Guilday to name great hockey cities, she might not have mentioned San Jose.
“San Jose is not really a spot where you think women’s hockey or women’s sports,” Guilday told collection of Bay Area media on Saturday. “It’s a bit warm for hockey.”
Now, thanks to an outpouring of fan support, Guilday’s thinking has changed.
“It’s been overwhelming and surpassed all of my expectations for the team and a lot of other [players’] as well.”
At San Jose Sharks x PWHL San Jose Day at SAP Center, the home of the Sharks and the future home of PWHL San Jose, the region’s enthusiasm about having a PWHL team was on full display.
“I already love hockey. I love women’s sports. And now I get both of them in my hometown,” said Kali Gavler, a fan donning an “Everybody Watches Women’s Sports” shirt. “It’s just so exciting to be able to watch women play sports because I didn’t have that growing up.”
Her friend Shaina Winger, one of a few attendees sporting a violet Valkyries jersey, is new to hockey, but just as excited.
“Women’s sports in the Bay Area is so big, like the Valkyries making it to the finals in their second year. I’m excited to see where PWHL San Jose is going to go,” she said.
Fans stood in long lines for a first chance to buy PWHL San Jose shirts, hats, and pucks, and cheered loudly whenever PWHL San Jose players were shown on the jumbotron. PWHL San Jose represents the first foray into women’s hockey fandom for many of the fans The Ice Garden spoke to, like Winger.
“I think it’s really cool to see women playing this sport,” added fan Haley Jones as she waited for the Sharks to skate onto the ice before the game. “I’m really excited to come to the games and just see how it’s different and how it’s the same.”
For Lillian Delp, who talked to The Ice Garden moments after purchasing a Laila Edwards PWHL San Jose t-shirt, the timing of getting a PWHL team in San Jose was perfect.
“I really got into hockey during the Olympics… and then right after the Olympics, we’re like: ‘Oh, we’re going to get a team,’” Delp said. “It’s just really great timing to go off that hype and get to see some fun, really amazing players.”
When asked what they were excited about most, two words were repeated again and again.
“I think it was really cool how in the Olympics she was like: ‘Can I play defense?’” Delp said. “She played forward in college and she’s like I want to go back to playing defense and we’re now going to see her also play defense for San Jose.”
Standing along the glass with her friends Aubrey, Autumn, Abby, and Lori — who held a sign reading “The Bay Loves PWHL” — another fan, Becca, brought up Edwards unprompted.
“She’s just an amazing player, and her energy on and off the ice is just so good,” she said. “I feel like in San Jose in general, even with the Sharks, we just have a lot of great personalities, so to see that on the women’s side is going to be really exciting for the fans and the community.”
The excitement over Edwards was evident when she dropped the ceremonial pregame puck to a roaring standing ovation.
“It was crazy, I didn’t even know what to do.” Edwards said on the Sharks’ NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast when asked about her reception. “This was the loudest I’ve ever heard a building.”
“It’s really cool to see how loud they were cheering for us and they’re so excited to have us here. We’re so excited to be here,” Edwards’ teammate, Sloane Matthews, said. “I’ve heard that just the fan base in general in San Jose is phenomenal.”
In a region that has quickly come to pride itself on its women’s sports fandom, the support is not surprising. San Jose hockey fans, many of whom have never seen professional women’s hockey or women’s hockey at any level, are eager to support their new team.
Plus, as one fan said to The Ice Garden: “San Jose is a hockey city, so to get even more hockey is never a bad thing.”
