{"id":61217,"date":"2025-12-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=61217"},"modified":"2025-12-20T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:00:00","slug":"were-ready-for-that-fillmore-sees-halifax-as-expansion-city-for-pwhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=61217","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re ready for that.\u201d Fillmore sees Halifax as expansion city for PWHL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HALIFAX:<\/strong> The electric atmosphere surrounding recent professional women\u2019s hockey league games at the Scotiabank Centre shows Halifax may be ready to support a permanent team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking with The Laker News<\/em> during an interview at Halifax City Hall on Dec. 19, Mayor Andy Fillmore said the crowd response and economic spin-offs from the game made a strong case for Halifax as a future expansion city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh my word \u2014 absolutely,\u201d Fillmore said when asked if he would support having a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crowd were on their feet. The energy was electric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fillmore said he was struck not only by the enthusiasm inside the arena, but also by the diversity of the crowd and the way players fed off the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe crowd was so diverse. The players had a ball. They were responding to the crowd,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe restaurants were full. It was an energy inside the Scotiabank Centre that I haven\u2019t seen in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said those factors point to strong community support and broader economic benefits, calling the possibility of a professional women\u2019s hockey team in Halifax \u201ca great dream\u201d worth working toward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the answer is yes. We\u2019re ready for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The mayor noted, however, that landing a permanent team would require meeting key infrastructure and logistical requirements, including adequate practice ice, hotel capacity, and transportation connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to be able to show that we\u2019ve got good practice ice for them practice ice where they can have access to it when they need it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to be able to show that there are enough hotel rooms, that there are flights in and out and all that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Halifax is well positioned on those fronts and believes the city would be a strong candidate if expansion opportunities arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we\u2019d be a great expansion city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fillmore also described the recent game as an important test, suggesting the league is closely watching Halifax\u2019s response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI think they put their toe in the water, and they will again in January,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think they found the water very warm and delightful, so that\u2019s a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Fillmore said continued public enthusiasm will be a key factor in determining what happens next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as residents continue to show their excitement and support, that bodes well,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HALIFAX: The electric atmosphere surrounding recent professional women\u2019s hockey league games at the Scotiabank Centre shows Halifax may be ready to support a permanent team. Speaking with The Laker News during an interview at Halifax City Hall on Dec. 19, Mayor Andy Fillmore said the crowd response and economic spin-offs from the game made a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21],"tags":[527,50,121,8542,6775,9964,1373],"class_list":["post-61217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","tag-andy-fillmore","tag-halifax","tag-hrm","tag-mayor-andy-fillmore","tag-pwhl","tag-pwhl-expansion","tag-scotiabank-centre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}