The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s (PWHL) Takeover Tour makes its second stop in Denver this season.
The New York Sirens (8-0-3-8) play the two-time defending league champion Minnesota Frost at Ball Arena Sunday. In the wake of Olympic gold in Milano-Cortina, there's sure to be a huge crowd. The Frost (7-3-3-4) will feature the league’s two homegrown talents from Colorado: goaltender Nicole Hensley and forward Peyton Anderson.
Both hope the league’s third overall trip to the Mile High City can help the women’s game grow and eventually bring a PWHL team to Colorado.
“I think Denver has done a really good job with the two games it's had so far,” Hensley said. “And based on the ticket sales I'm seeing for this Sunday's game, it seems like they're making a very strong case for how they would support a women's hockey team there.”
When the PWHL Takeover Tour came to Ball Arena last season, 14,018 people showed up to watch Hensley. The Frost beat the Montreal Victoire, 4-2. At the time, it was the league’s highest attendance at a U.S. game. That record has since been broken when the Seattle Torrent drew a sellout crowd of 17,335 fans at Climate Pledge Arena against the visiting Toronto Sceptres.
Earlier this season, the Vancouver Goldeneyes beat the Seattle Torrent, 3-1, in Denver. Despite playing at the same time as the Denver Broncos’ AFC Championship game at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, 11,612 fans came out to watch the battle between the two expansion teams.
“I think Denver sports fans are some of the best,” said Anderson, who is in her first season with the Frost and will play her first professional game in Denver. “I think (having a team in Denver) would be absolutely incredible for not only the state but as well as young girls in Colorado."
Hensley is in her third season with the Frost. This will be the Lakewood product’s second game in front of her hometown crowd. Hensley played for the Foothill Flyers Association and Colorado Select before earning an NCAA Division I scholarship to play at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.
For Colorado’s most decorated player, it’s always special to come back and play in front of family and friends. Hensley said she didn’t actually get to play in Colorado very often growing up because her team went on the road most of the time.
“To have the opportunity to play at an arena where I grew up watching the Avalanche, there's a dream come true for me,” Hensley said. “The chance for us to provide role models for young girls in Colorado that are playing hockey is extremely special. It's not something that I really had the opportunity to see live when I was a kid.”
Hensley graduated from Lindenwood University as the school’s all-time leader in saves (4,094), wins (30), save percentage (.921), minutes played (7117:44), and shutouts (4). But it was during her freshman year that her life changed when Hensley stopped 90 of 92 shots she faced in a triple overtime loss to Robert Morris University in the College Hockey America Tournament during the 2012-2013 season. That's when one of the opposing team’s assistant coaches, two-time Olympic silver medalist and former USA goaltender Brianne McLaughlin, took notice.
“It just ended up kind of being a perfect scenario for me. I didn't know she was in the building,” Hensley said. “I didn't know she would make that phone call. And I just think that it goes to show if the opportunity comes and you seize that opportunity, you just never know what can happen.”
Hensley was invited to the USA Hockey Goalie Camps. Then, she worked her way up the ranks and onto the senior national team for the 2016 World Championships. She represented Team USA at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, where she won gold and silver medals, respectively.
“As a kid, we watched pretty much every Olympics — summer, winter — it didn't matter. I remember sitting on the couch watching all of those opening ceremonies,” Hensley said. “So to be a part of it was incredibly humbling and obviously very special to win a gold medal as well and to just be part of that team.”
So far this season, Hensley has a 5-1-2 record, 1.85 goals against average, and a .937 save percentage for the Frost.
Meanwhile, Anderson would see Hensley's photo at Edge Ice Arena when she played for the Colorado Select while in high school. The two have bonded over their Colorado connection since becoming teammates this season.
“It's incredible to see a player coming out of Colorado and just seeing how far and how successful her career has been,” Anderson said. “It's been cool this year having that connection of coming from the same place and kind of being the only two girls from Colorado is super cool.”
The Arvada product was invited to the USA Hockey National Development Camp in 2016 and 2017 and the USA Hockey U-18 Select Camp in 2018 while attending Ralston Valley High School.
She went on to play five seasons at Northeastern University in Boston, where she helped the Huskies to four Hockey East titles, three Frozen Four appearances, and an NCAA National Tournament runner-up finish.
Anderson was signed as a training camp invitee of the Frost and eventually made the roster for the season. She returns to Colorado for training every summer. Now that she’s with the Frost, Anderson said her family, friends, and coaches are excited to see her play this weekend.
“I've got a lot of people going, and it's going to be super, super exciting for them to get to see me in person,” Anderson said. “Most of them have only seen me on TV, so it'll be cool to be able to play in front of them live and know I have all the support from all of them. They're the reason I'm able to live out this dream.”
The Sirens and Frost will play Sunday at 2 p.m. MT at Ball Arena.
