Coyne Schofield<\/a>: \u201cI thought about it today what it would have meant if I had the opportunity to come here as a 10-year-old little girl to see this and dream about it. (It was) special today to see the arena filled with boys and girls knowing that they now will have that same dream to grow up and be a professional hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CTC-PWHL-1221-33.jpg\")
Minnesota Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley (29) scrambles as the puck is loose in front of the net in the second period during the PWHL Takeover Tour at Allstate Arena on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Sunday was the city\u2019s unofficial audition for a PWHL team in a possible future expansion. The announced crowd of 7,238 was smaller than expected, but the fans\u2019 energy may have made enough of a case.<\/p>\n
\u201cChicago is an excellent hockey city,\u201d said Josh Pitterle, wearing a Taylor Heise Frost jersey. \u201cChicago needs a team for the PWHL in the upcoming expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each fan had their own stories about how they began watching the PWHL. Some are seeing the league for the first time while other have been actively following their favorite teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m an American fan and I\u2019m from the Boston area,\u201d said Heather Darrah, wearing a Jocelyne Larocque Charge hoodie. \u201c(The Charge) stole my heart during last year\u2019s playoff run (with their) underdog story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, OK, come on. I love you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Die-hard Frost fans traveled from Minnesota to see their back-to-back Walter Cup champions in action. For them, the league is a breath of fresh air in the hockey world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t care about hockey until the women\u2019s league was founded,\u201d said Shannon Doty, wearing a Lee Stecklein Frost sweater, said. \u201c(I) found out there was a league, (so) of course I\u2019m going to support it because it\u2019s women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, I learned that I actually really like hockey. I tell everybody I can (that) there\u2019s a women\u2019s professional hockey league right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CTC-PWHL-1221-37.jpg\")
Minnesota Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield waves to fans as she warms up before the game against the Ottawa Charge during the PWHL Takeover Tour at Allstate Arena on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n
Though the crowd was smaller than previous Takeover Tour events, the love for hockey was evident in the Allstate Arena. Fans watched eagerly as the Frost and Charge went back and fourth for more than minutes.<\/p>\n
The Charge opened the scoring with a power-play breakaway from defender Ronja Savolainen, who launched a snipe that zoomed past Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley. Charge netminder Gwyneth Philips had 41 saves on the night, including a glove save that kept Ottawa\u2019s lead 1-0 after the first 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate to have her in our organization, she\u2019s just a hoot,\u201d Charge coach Carla MacLeod said of her goaltender. \u201cShe\u2019ll hold us within games and give us the opportunity to find her feet and get some points.<\/p>\n
Defender Mae Batherson tied the game at 2-2 for the Frost at the 3:56 mark in the third period. It was her first goal in the PWHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting a bit for that,\u201d Batherson said. \u201cWhen it finally went in, I was pretty relieved and it gave us a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an intense overtime period, right winger Sarah Wozniewicz sent a laser from the blue line to give the Charge the 3-2 win. It was a picture-perfect shot for the Wisconsin alum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe the puck went in,\u201d Wozniewicz said. \u201cIt\u2019s so awesome having Wisconsin fans here from being so close to the university.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PWHL game was fast-paced with a gold mine of scoring chances. The scuffles and hits were there, but so were the phenomenal saves and the aggressive shooting.<\/p>\n
Exactly what hockey fans are looking for. And it was precisely what the Rosemont crowd wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see the energy the whole game with the plays and how they react to (Kendall Coyne Schofield\u2019s) name,\u201d House said. \u201cChicago is excited for hockey and I think that really showed today.\u201d<\/p>\n
It differs from the NHL. The record system is different (0-0-0-0 system) and there are not as many substitutions, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt opens up a different avenue and it\u2019s a different type of hockey,\u201d fan Mike Collins said. \u201cHere, it\u2019s a lot more technical.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere really is a demand that we want to show up and we want to be pro fans,\u201d Darrah said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t gone to any hockey games until a year and a half ago, now I\u2019m all in.\u201d<\/p>\n
PWHL players don\u2019t have the power to create expansion teams, but they wouldn\u2019t say no to a team in Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a win for the sport (and) was a win for society,\u201d Coyne Schofield said. \u201c(I\u2019m) so proud to be able to be a part of bringing women\u2019s professional hockey here to Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added MacLeod: \u201cYou just saw what the PWHL is all about. These women are absolutely elite in what they do, they\u2019re the best in the world at being hockey players. It\u2019s so fun to come to new communities that maybe haven\u2019t been exposed to it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Frost and Charge posed on the ice for photos after the final horn before exiting the rink to sign autographs. There will be another PWHL game in Rosemont on March 25, but the league made a good first impression on Chicago, while the city did the same for the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the Ottawa Charge to everyone \u2026 thank you for investing in us and investing in this league and taking your time today,\u201d MacLeod said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One team was a crowd favorite in Rosemont on Sunday. It wasn\u2019t the Chicago Wolves, the normal home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[47668,521,37,96,5263,5,4263,1765,4,3105,1767,43429,47666,1581],"class_list":{"0":"post-368737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-allstate-arena","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-kendall-coyne-schofield","15":"tag-minnesota-frost","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-ottawa-charge","18":"tag-pwhl","19":"tag-takeover-tour","20":"tag-taylor-house","21":"tag-womens-hockey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115760635905158421","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}