Optimism rules as third season of women's hoops league opens Saturday

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The third year of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association features a new team, some new players and more of the league’s prevailing sense of optimism that has existed since its formation.

Action in the 2024 regular season starts Saturday for a quartet of New Brunswick teams, the first official steps toward the third annual Legacy Cup championship to be staged in mid-June in Nova Scotia.

The expansion Miramichi Her-icanes join the Fredericton Freeze, Port City Fog and Moncton Mystics as the N.B. teams in the league, which also sees a pair of franchises in Halifax – the Thunder and Hornets – and another squad in the Dartmouth, Cole Harbour and Preston, N.S., area known as the Lake City 56ers.

The Her-icanes travel to Saint John on Saturday for a 7 p.m. date with the Port City Fog, a finalist last year, to start the season at TD Station and then will return to Miramichi on Sunday, where a capacity crowd is projected for a date with the Freeze at 3 p.m. at Miramichi Valley High School.

“It is great timing for Miramichi to be entering the league,” said Her-icanes coach Brittany Sullivan. “It is fantastic that the league has been able to operate the last two years, but it is great timing for us.

“Caitlin Clark has been promoting NCAA basketball in the United States, women’s hockey has started in Canada and it is all bringing light to what is evolving around the world. I am glad we can be a part of it.”

The impact of Clark in the U.S. combined with the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s record setting attendance totals in its inaugural league is part of a surge of interest in women’s sport and those who were involved with the MWBA’s creation were well aware of that.

The league features many of the current and former university players in the region, with some players still teenagers and others in their 30s returning to the competitive environment, aiming for a championship title on June 23.

“If you’re not growing, then you start to worry,” said Brad Janes, general manager of the Freeze and one of the key builders of the loop. “We are now in Year 3 and we have expanded by one team. That creates a number of exciting challenges in scheduling and player availability and everything that comes with it. It is all part and parcel of what we are doing.

“This has come so far from its origins and that is a good thing. We are trying to stay ahead – you worry about this year but we are already thinking about 2025 and beyond. There are a lot of good people that are surrounding this league and that certainly helps. Nobody is scared to make an idea and a suggestion.”

The Freeze get underway Saturday as well with their season opener at the Richard J Currie Centre at 6 p.m. against the Moncton Mystics before travelling to Miramichi Sunday.

In Saint John, the Fog are looking to build on their success in the playoffs last year with the date against the Her-icanes.

But Paul Hickey, the team’s president, agrees the pre-season interest has everyone in a positive frame of mind entering the campaign.

“Each season as we progress, we’ve seen an increase in interest in our league,” he said. “Internationally, we have seen an increase in women’s sport with the PWHL, which has had an extreme amount of success. More with basketball, what’s happened with the NCAA the past two years, with Caitlin Clark leading the way, it has been extremely exciting and promising for the future of the sport.”

Prior to the game Saturday, both the Fog and Her-icanes junior teams will get a chance to meet each other on the floor at TD Station.

Last weekend at the pre-season Battle at the Border in St. Stephen, the Mystics came up on top with a 75-67 victory over Fredericton in the final of the event staged exclusively for the four N.B. teams in the MWBA.

The Fog downed the Her-icanes 80-65 in the consolation game.

In preliminary round action, Fredericton downed Miramachi 71-56 and Moncton got past Port City 85-80.