Avs star Cale Makar and wife Tracy among record-setting 14,018 crowd at PWHL game in Denver's Ball Arena

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and his wife Tracy Evans were in attendance at the PWHL Takeover Tour game between the Minnesota Frost and the Montreal Victoire on Sunday. The game, held at Ball Arena in Denver, drew a record-setting crowd of 14,018, the largest-ever attendance for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States.

Earlier on Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche promoted the PWHL game on their X account, with the tweet.

“Everybody watches women’s sports. All geared up for the PWHL takeover tomorrow!”

Later, during the game, the Avalanche posted a clip of Cale Makar and Tracy Evans enjoying the game from the audience as the Avs defenseman waved to the crowd.

“It's Cale Makar!” the Colorado Avalanche tweeted.

The Frost eked out a 4-2 victory on the night over their Montreal counterparts. Minnesota now leads the Victoire by two points in the standings, with a rematch scheduled for Friday night in Montreal.

---

Minnesota head coach Ken Klee calls PWHL crowd in Denver ‘incredible’

Following the game, Frost head coach Ken Klee couldn’t contain his excitement over the record-setting crowd. The Denver crowd had broken into "we want a team" chants when the US attendance record was announced during the game.

Ken Klee heaped praise on the crowd at Ball Arena on the night. He said the atmosphere in Denver was amazing and it was a great chance to showcase how talented the players are.

“It was awesome, it was incredible,” he said. “To showcase these ladies and their talent, that's what it’s all about. Growing the game - the women's hockey game and how far it’s come even since I first got involved in 2014, it’s remarkable.”

“People were asking yesterday at the practice ‘how’s it going to be to see it live?’ and I said you wait, you’re going to see something and say, ‘that’s incredible’...and they are incredible.”

Montreal opened the scoring on the night in the first period with Catherine Dubois’ first goal of the season. The Frost then responded with Britta Curl-Salemme’s fifth goal, tying the game 1-1 before the intermission.

In the second period, Minnesota’s Sophie Jaques scored a power-play goal giving the Frost a 2-1 lead. Soon after Montreal equalized with another power-play goal of their own, this time from rookie Jennifer Gardiner.

Midway through the final frame, Maggie Flaherty broke the tie with her first goal of the season. Michela Cava sealed the Minnesota Frost’s victory with an empty-net goal in the final 99 seconds.