PWHLThe Goldeneyes’ home arena of Pacific Coliseum, which has been renovated to house the new PWHL team, will come back to life on Friday for the sold-out home opener against the Seattle Torrent. It’s been a decade since the arena had a major hockey tenant.Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum has a new lease on life, beginning with sold out game against Seattle TorrentKarissa Donkin · CBC Sports · Posted: Nov 20, 2025 7:32 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes will debut on Friday night against the Seattle Torrent. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)Inside Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum, things are whirring back to life.It’s been a decade since the rink had a major hockey tenant, and three decades since the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks vacated.Now, Pacific Coliseum is home to the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes, a transformation that’s been underway for the last few months. Vancouver is the first team to have its own arena, a major perk for players who can have their own space and get to spend extra time on the ice whenever they want.There’s a new logo at centre ice, a brand-new video board hanging from the rafters, and a fresh gym for players to use.On Thursday, staff draped rally towels over every seat, ready for the more than 15,000 people expected to come through the doors. The sold-out crowd will set a new attendance record in a PWHL team’s home arena.Others unpacked boxes of jerseys and sweaters for a new merchandise store near an entrance. Fans will be able to buy a jersey with their favourite player’s name on it from day one, something that’s always been a challenge in women’s pro sports.It all begins on Friday at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET, when the Goldeneyes host the Seattle Torrent to kick off the beginning of two new franchises, and most likely, the start of a new west coast rivalry.WATCH | Everything you need to know about Vancouver’s PWHL team:Here’s everything you need to know about Vancouver’s new PWHL teamThe PWHL’s newest expansion team, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, are about to embark on their inaugural season in the league. For the Goldeneyes’ head coach, Brian Idalski, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of game.“You only get a first chance to make an impression like that once,” Idalski told reporters at the rink this week. “Close your eyes, smell the smells. It’ll be a memory.”As arena staff prepared the building for its debut, Idalski has been doing his own kind of building.His roster was constructed from scratch starting with an expansion draft process earlier this year. Under his watch, the players are forming chemistry and systems and concepts all at once, with a sense of newness that will take a while to wear off.“I like our core group,” Idalski said on Wednesday. “I think that it’s just a matter of now putting together combinations that click and work, and hammering down on some of our structures and details in how we want to play. That’s going to take a little bit of time, but [with] two days, we’ll make it happen.”Building connectionsSarah Nurse was one of the first players to sign with the Goldeneyes, after she was left unprotected by the Toronto Sceptres.There’s some familiarity among this group, people who have played together here and there, and many who’ve played against each other. But you can’t replicate being together as one big group, something that’s happened over the last two weeks.Sarah Nurse was one of the Goldeneyes’ first signings during the expansion draft process. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)Nurse wasn’t sure what to expect, but has been impressed with how quickly players have connected.“There are a lot of players who I played against in the past, and I’m very happy we don’t have to play against right now and I’m happy they’re on my side,” she said. “It’s been a learning adjustment for everybody. But I think it’s going to make us stronger as we go through the season.”Nurse was a marquee signing for this team, but there’s lots of star power around her, from Walter Cup champion defenders Sophie Jaques and Claire Thompson, to Team Canada’s Emerance Maschmeyer in net, to Finnish national team stalwart Michelle Karvinen, who’s built some early chemistry on a line with Nurse.The team pulled off its first trade on Thursday, sending forward Denisa Křížová to Minnesota, the team that left her unprotected in the expansion draft. In return, the Goldeneyes got rookie forward Anna Segedi, who played on the Chinese national team at the 2022 Olympics alongside Vancouver’s Hannah Miller. Idalski was their coach.With depth throughout the lineup, and lots of young talent with higher ceilings to reach, Vancouver is expected to be among the league’s top teams in its inaugural season.’Everything feels real’Friday’s sold-out game will feature a special opening ceremony to welcome the team to Vancouver, including an autograph session from Olympic gold medalist Meghan Agosta, who lives in the area. The team is also expected to name its first captain ahead of that game.WATCH | Hockey North: Previewing the PWHL’s 8 teams:What to expect from PWHL expansion teams Vancouver, SeattleHost Karissa Donkin and The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian break down the rosters of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s two newest teams. While some of the team’s players are new to Vancouver, like Nurse, the Goldeneyes also have a couple of hometown players: Miller (North Vancouver), Nina Jobst-Smith (North Vancouver) and Jennifer Gardiner (Surrey).Growing up in North Vancouver, Miller came to this rink as a little girl to watch Vancouver Giants games or monster truck shows with her dad. She still has to pinch herself when she’s driving to Pacific Coliseum, knowing she gets to train and play here now.As she’s made the Coliseum her home over the past few days, she’s appreciated all the little details that have gone into transforming the arena. The walls painted in the locker room in Goldeneyes’ colours. The faces of the players plastered on columns in the concourse.“To see it all come together now and coming in here this morning, seeing the home opener towels on all the seats, everything feels real,” Miller said. “They’ve done an excellent job.”ABOUT THE AUTHORKarissa Donkin is a reporter with CBC Sports who covers the PWHL, women’s hockey and lots more. You can reach her at karissa.donkin@cbc.ca.
Vancouver Goldeneyes prepping for record-breaking PWHL debut
