Tickets to the Professional Women's Hockey League's Feb. 16 game between Toronto and Montreal at 19,800-seat Scotiabank Arena went on sale Thursday on Ticketmaster and "within two hours the entire ticket allotment was sold out." The game is expected to break the world attendance record for women’s professional hockey, with the previous attendance record set by PWHL Minnesota when it drew 13,316 to its home opener earlier this season (TORONTO SUN, 2/2). The GLOBE & MAIL went with, "PWHL players capitalizing on NHL all-star weekend, eager to share their hockey culture" (2/3).
Musician Justin Bieber appearing on Sportsnet said taking in the pregame skate before the NHL All-Star Game was a "dream come true.” Bieber: “I’m overwhelmed with joy. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a little boy growing up in Stratford.” Bieber wore a blue Team Matthews NHL jersey while skating around the Scotiabank Arena ice, "taking pictures with players before the games began in earnest." His fashion brand, Drew House, "helped collaborate with the league to make this year’s jerseys" (N.Y. POST, 2/3).
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Friday said that the league will "wait for the judicial process to play out before making any decisions about four players facing sexual assault charges in a 2018 case involving Canada’s world junior team that year." Bettman addressing the situation at All-Star Weekend called the allegations “abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable" (AP, 2/2). London, Ontario, police are "expected to hold a news conference Monday" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/2).
