PWHL Montreal to play at Place Bell during 2024-25 season

PWHL Montreal announced Wednesday that Place Bell will serve as the team's primary home next season.

The team played six times at the Laval, Que., venue last season with the majority of games held at the Verdun Auditorium in suburban Montreal.

PWHL Montreal said it will continue to train out of the Verdun Auditorium, which features Centre 21.02, the country's first and only recognized high-performance hockey centre for female athletes.

“We are extremely happy to be able to accommodate our growing number of fans and to give them even more opportunities to come support our players. This precious collaboration with the Groupe CH will allow us to create new magical moments with our fans,” PWHL Montreal general manager Daniele Sauvageau said in a release. “We are able to take advantage of the best of both worlds, as the team will continue to train in a high-performance sports centre at Centre 21.02 on a daily basis.”

Place Bell is the home of the Laval Rocket, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens.

Three of PWHL Montreal's games held at the arena last season reached a capacity crowd of 10,172.

“We are ecstatic to welcome the PWHL back to Place Bell for a full season following their immensely successful debut last year,” Groupe CH Sports and Entertainment president France Margaret Belanger added. “Over the course of hosting multiple record-setting PWHL Montreal games in our venues in 2024, we saw crowds create an electric atmosphere, once again demonstrating the strength of this hockey market. We are thrilled to have the PWHL call Place Bell ‘home.’”

The news comes a day after PWHL Toronto announced it was switching primary venues from the Mattamy Athletic Centre to the Coca-Cola Coliseum, home of the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

Teams will play 30 games during the 2024-25 regular season including neutral-site games.