Larocque ready for PWHL to ‘Takeover’ Manitoba

Professional women’s hockey is enjoying a historic run, and fans from Manitoba will get a chance to see it for themselves this weekend.

The Montréal Victoire and Ottawa Charge will battle in a Professional Women’s Hockey League regular season game inside the Canada Life Centre March 22. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.

For Ste Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque, it’s her first chance to play a competitive game in her home province since 2018, when the Canadian national team played a game in Winnipeg.

“I’m really excited for the young girls in the stands, and I know there’s gonna be a ton of them,” Larocque said during a media availability March 13.

“It definitely makes me think back when I was young, and I would have been insanely ecstatic if I could have watched this game. So, I think it’ll be pretty special for those young girls.

Larocque, who plays for the Charge, and Kati Tabin, who plays for the Victoire, spoke to the media a week before the game. Tabin grew up in Oakbank, where she was just one of three female players.

“Looking back to a place like Oakbank, where there’s so many, different levels of the female hockey there,” Tabin said.

“That’s just so cool that now they get to go watch us live. So I know a lot of different associations are gonna be at the game.”

Both were excited to play in front of friends and family. For Larocque, it’s a chance to show off in front of some of her biggest supporters throughout the years.

“I right away think of my grandparents, who would drive me almost as much as my parents did from rink to rink all around Manitoba and this is gonna be the first time that they get to see me play live as a professional athlete,” she said.

“There’s a lot of coaches that coached me growing up that are gonna be at the game. some young girls and boys that I’ve coached or visited, when I’ve been been back to Winnipeg, so it’s really special for me to be able to share that live with the people that have helped me throughout my career.”

The PWHL began play in 2024 with six teams and has now expanded to eight. The creation of a single league for women’s hockey in North America had long been a pipe dream for so many and the PWHL has shown those dreams were well-founded.

“This league is something that we fought so hard for, so to be able to show it live in the city that has given me so much, and that has helped shape me to the player and person I am today. It’s pretty special,” Larocque said.

“It’s gonna be a lot of fun. I’m very excited.”

Both players expressed their desire to eventually see Winnipeg ice a team in the PWHL.

“I think it would just be really cool for the city, I think they would embrace it well and there’s such a love for hockey in Winnipeg, so it’d be super cool,” Tabin said.

The PWHL went on pause for the Olympics, with both Tobin and Larocque playing on the silver medal-winning Team Canada. The league has transitioned back to regular season play, as the final push before playoffs begin in late April gets underway.

The Charge and Victoire are side by side in the standings, sitting in fourth and third place respectively, so there will be plenty on the line in Winnipeg.

“It’s gonna be a fast, competitive game,” Larocque said.

“We’ve played Montreal now twice, and both games were really close. They’ve won both, so maybe we’re looking for a little bit of revenge.”