For the Albertans holding out hope for a PWHL Calgary expansion team, it’s going to be a while.
As more cities have been revealed and rumours have swirled, the discussion around PWHL teams in Alberta has gone quiet. In the case of a potential Calgary team, the reason is simply that there isn’t any space.
“We did not put out a claim in or a bid for a PWHL team, and there’s really only one reason,” Sean Kelso, Vice President of Communications at Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), told The Ice Garden in a phone interview Friday. “We just don’t have the capacity to house another team.”
The Scotiabank Saddledome, soon to be replaced by Scotia Place, is the third busiest arena in North America. The rink is home to the Calgary Flames (NHL), Calgary Wranglers (AHL), Calgary Hitmen (WHL), and Calgary Roughnecks (NLL), as well as being the main venue for large concerts in the city.
“It’s not that we don’t have interest,” he added, “It’s not that we don’t think the league is fantastic and growing and doing all of the right things. We’d love to be a part of that, but unfortunately, it’s just a space issue.”
Even when Scotia Place comes into play in 2027, it won’t create any more space in the city for another professional team. Scotia Place will have a practice rink alongside it, but that rink doesn’t have the capacity to house any of the existing Calgary teams, much less a brand-new franchise.
PWHL board member Stan Kasten told reporters at the sold-out Madison Square Garden game in April that the league is looking for arenas with over 10,000 seats for expansion franchises. The smallest takeover tour turnout was over 7,000 fans in attendance, while the Calgary takeover tour game in April saw over 16,000 fans.
There simply isn’t a rink in Calgary that can hold 10,000 fans outside of the Saddledome/Scotia Place. The Saddledome is being torn down when Scotia Place opens, removing that option. The Markin MacPhail Centre, which used to be home to the Canadian women’s hockey team and the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno, only seats a maximum of 4,000 people. Even the rink where the Calgary Oval X-Treme of the WWHL played only seats 2,000 people, despite being a world-class Speed Skating facility.
With space being the main concern, the likelihood of a PWHL team in Calgary seems as far away as ever. Getting Scotia Place built took years of negotiation between the city and Flames ownership, along with a lot of money from taxpayers, all of which was controversial. Finding the space for a new rink, along with the funds and a desire for it to be built, could be quite difficult. With a single-ownership style league like the PWHL, there isn’t much incentive for CSEC to build a new place to play for a team they won’t own.
All of the expansion franchises, except the Vancouver Goldeneyes and PWHL Hamilton, are all playing in the NHL arenas in their cities. The Pacific Coliseum, home to the Vancouver Goldeneyes, used to house the Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Giants, and seats over 17,000 fans. The Goldeneyes are the primary tenant at the arena. Hamilton recently renovated its 18,000-seat arena (just over 16,000 when the ice is installed), and is now only home to the Toronto Rock (NLL), and a new AHL franchise for 2026.
Madison Square Garden (New York City) and Crypto Arena (Los Angeles) are the only busier arenas in North America, neither of which is home to PWHL teams.
Barring a new rink or a tenant leaving Scotia Place, PWHL fans in Calgary will be waiting a while to see women’s professional hockey permanently back in Calgary.