The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Erin Ambrose Discusses the Victoire's Win in Front of a Record-Setting Crowd in Vancouver

Starting point is 00:00:00 Mayday, mayday, we've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna be fun. January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and yours? You're gonna die. Don't shoot him, we need him! Y'all need a pilot?

Starting point is 00:00:13 Flight Risk. I know she has a flight to catch, so let's get to her right away. But wanna park some time and talk about the PWHL's takeover tour at 19,000 at Rogers Arena yesterday in Vancouver, watching the Victoire beat the Toronto Scepter. She is Erin Ambrose, who joins us from the airport in Vancouver on her way to Denver. Good afternoon, Erin Ambrose, how are you?

Starting point is 00:00:39 I'm doing well, sir, how are you? I'm doing great. How cool was it last night in Vancouver, 19,000, which was spectacular. I want to get to the Marie-Philippe Poulain goal, which you have seen many times, I'm sure, but it still boggles our mind how she does things. First of all, how is the takeover tour been?

Starting point is 00:00:57 Like give us a snapshot. I saw you catching fish in Seattle, watching you guys dominate Toronto last night. Give us a snap, you're on to Denver. Give us a snapshot of how it's been so far. I think it's been a little bit crazy. Like for us, this is a long trip. We've also been fortunate enough to have carry-on only luggage

Starting point is 00:01:17 for a 10 day road trip, which I don't know if you've seen our walk-in photos, but it makes it a little bit difficult for us. So it's been pretty interesting, but Seattle was great. Great city. Really nice to come home to Vancouver. I had to play in front of those fans. Is that PooLan behind you trying to... That was Poo, yeah. Tell her nice goal.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Join in and... Tell her nice goal. Merrick says nice goal. She said thank you. She's going to run away now. No, I know. She's very shy that one. No, it's pretty, pretty special. Um, I think Poo kind of mentioned it, like she's getting emotional with kind of the crowds that we get and it's starting to become the norm, but I still feel like we're, we're not quite used to it.

Starting point is 00:02:00 Well, I remember talking to you last year after the, uh, the bell center game, right. And the ovations for the teams and the celebration of everything happening. And that ovation that number 29 got was spectacular. That was tear the roof off, like how loved she is. And I remember you and I talked about like one day this will be the norm and there won't be any like it won't feel special. It'll just feel like this is the way that it is. Now you feel that that's it's still kind of special and new. What about your teammates?

Starting point is 00:02:37 Like are you getting used are they getting used to this yet? I don't think any of us are. I think a special shout out to Jen Gardner last night who really got to come home and play in BC for her. I know that her family had like a party bus going to the game so that's something that she had talked about before. She was ready for the best day of her life to be able to play in front of friends and family and it's something that I wouldn't say disappointed in any sort of way because obviously coming away with three points was huge but you said 19,000 fans 19,000 plus actually. Yes. I think it was 19,600 I believe something in that range. I don't know something around that.

Starting point is 00:03:19 It was definitely over 19,000 so it's pretty cool. I think it's awesome. The games themselves and you're off to Denver to face off against Minnesota. Take us through last night specifically and you know, I mean everybody wants to know like thoughts on, because you're right there for it, that Marie-Philippe Poulain goal. On all the highlights, everything and you've seen her do so many things. Like I've told you the story before when I saw her, you know, her first team candidate orientation camp, I'm standing with Craig Button and Steve Coolius and Vincent LeCavalier comes by and says, you know, who's that? And I say, oh, it's Marie-Philippe Palin.

Starting point is 00:03:57 I think she's like 20 years old, maybe 19 years old at that point. She's going to be the next big star. And he watches her for a bit and he goes, that's a fucking good player. Like greatness understands it, right? You've seen so much as her teammate for so long. What did you think of last night's goal? Like seriously, Erin. I, I'm still in awe. I think that that's the thing that continuously happens with Poole is you just,

Starting point is 00:04:27 you see things that happen and it's just like, I don't know how she does it, but at the same time, like it's because she plays the game and this is so cheesy, but the right way. Like her goal was a highlight real goal, but let's talk about her empty net. Sorry, Air Canada. Let's talk about her empty net goal. Like she's in the right place at the right time to intercept that path. And I don't love a lot of people shooting a puck from the other side of the red line, but with Poo, I'll take that every time.

Starting point is 00:04:53 Your team right now, hitting a stride, clearly. I always laugh when I hear people say, oh, they're peeking too soon. Like you're going to like deliberately stop winning or something. Oh, aren't you concerned your peak? It's the stupidest question that you hear in scrums. Are you concerned that you're peaking too soon? But this looks like a team right now that's hitting its stride. Does it feel that way for Montreal? I think yes and no.

Starting point is 00:05:19 I think we were a little bit unhappy with our ups and downs in our Boston game in Seattle. We came out in the first period and played fantastic and then had a huge letdown in the second and that's something that we're trying to figure out how to play a little bit better of 60 minutes because right now, even yesterday, again, the second period was just a little bit of a lull for us. I thought the third we started to play well enough to hold on to that league, but it's just about kind of putting it all

Starting point is 00:05:45 together. I think we've got a lot of great pieces and now it's about kind of finding a way to do it for the entirety of the game which honestly is the hardest part about hockey is making sure that you're doing things consistently every shift and it's not always the easiest thing especially when we're still trying to get a lot of our systems down. Like we've only played what? Eight games? Like that's what I think you kind of forget about is, um, we, we've only played eight games, but at the same time, like we're almost a third of the way through the season.

Starting point is 00:06:14 So got to find a way to figure it all out and put it all together. But at the same time, I think we're pretty happy with where we're at and want to continue to push in the right direction. Does season two feel profoundly different than season one? I would say so. I think kind of this trip is making it feel a lot different in the sense of like, okay, we're on the road for a lengthy period of time. We never really had that last year. And then like you kind of look at our January, it's a little bit of a

Starting point is 00:06:47 a gauntlet, to be honest, like coming back from this trip, we've got a game and then we go to Quebec city. And then, um, you try not to look ahead, but I'm also somebody who likes to plan and make sure that I know my schedule ahead of time, especially for Henry. He's got to know where he's going. But, um, that's Aaron's dog, by the way, everybody. That's, that's Aaron's, he made his cameo not too long ago here on the program. But I think just kind of like the actual schedule of the ins and outs of day to day kind of things is the pro and that makes it more fun. That makes it, uh, being like a pro and that's something we've been wanting and, um, I think year one was a sprint. It was figure it all out on the move, on the fly.

Starting point is 00:07:22 Um, I think year one was a sprint. It was figure it all out on the move, on the fly. Um, had a little bit more time to kind of settle in, get the right training this summer, and now it's like, okay, this is what a season actually feels like. Okay. Aaron Ambrose, here I go. Now, Aaron, I'm just a very simple country lawyer. I don't know about you big city people and what you think and how you do your manager affairs but

Starting point is 00:07:50 If I was looking at the last two games here Seattle and Vancouver, I'd be saying to myself Hmm You know, the league has talked about expansion looking at 19,000 plus Rogers Arena. I'm looking at 12,000 plus in Seattle. I think that you're probably gonna have similar numbers in Denver as well Sunday for the Minnesota game. I'm sure the players are talking as well. I mean thoughts on again no one's saying like Aaron Ambrose breaking news

Starting point is 00:08:24 confirming anything because nothing to confirm right now but if Seattle Vancouver were the next two expansion markets what would you think? I wouldn't be surprised I think both cities both venues have shown up and honestly provided a very professional environment for us like it's one thing to go out there and have everybody in the stands and be super popular and have a lot of seats there or people in seats, but it's another thing to actually treat us

Starting point is 00:08:54 like professionals and make sure that we're going to a rink and going to a venue that's ready for us. And I think that both places have done that. I will say say I know that there's a lot of places that have put in a good amount of work, a lot of ways to make it sustainable in those in those cities and those venues. And I think it's something that I have no idea what's going to happen. But I love that the possibility of the expansion is there. And I think that that's something that us

Starting point is 00:09:25 as professional athletes really want. How much was the conversation? And I want to ask you personally, I know you're any second now, you're going to get a boarding call. So I'm ready for you to bounce. But Vancouver, when we think of hockey, listen, we're going to think about 2010 and double gold.

Starting point is 00:09:42 And we're going to think about the women and the cigars and the beers and the medals on the ice. I love the video of Tessa Bonhomme that she made with Julia doing all of her poses and the glasses and the whole deal. I thought that was great. How much of a conversation was that around the team and certainly Marie-Philippe Poulin who was at the center of all of it. And what are your memories of that one? Like to me that's one of those for both the the men's and the the Crosby game winner on the men's side the women and then Crosby on the men's side as well. Those are

Starting point is 00:10:17 moments where it's like where were you when? What do you remember from 2010 and how much of a conversation was it around the team? As for a conversation, it was cool. We went to the gondola at Grosse Mountain and on the drive, Poole was like, that's where the Olympic Village was and that was kind of the only bit that we actually talked about that. But I think for me, like, I was in grade 10 and that was, I had already been in the UA team program for a year and that was something I had already been in the UE team program for a year and that was something I was like,

Starting point is 00:10:46 this is what I want to get to. This is where I really wanna get to. And seeing 18 year old Marie Flouin out there score two goals and I will say one pass that was a beautiful pass from Jennifer Botterill, it's like those little things are things you don't forget. And then to be there on that stage with her 12 years later was something that I'm very thankful for.

Starting point is 00:11:08 But I think the best part about Poo is like, think about that, that's over a decade ago. But it doesn't matter what the stage is, she consistently plays the game and provides us opportunities to win games. I know I was talking to one of our first year players this year and she did something in practice in Seattle, Poo did, and I just turned to her and I go, Anna, isn't it sick? Like, isn't it just so cool? She goes, sometimes I watch

Starting point is 00:11:34 her and I'm just like, because it's just little things that she does. She really is the best in the world and there will never be another Marie Fuller plant. She's great, you're great and both of you have a plan to catch. Good luck in Denver. Have you been given any heads up about what to expect when you get there? I know the crowds, I was just texting with someone a couple of moments ago about the crowds there. It looks like it's going to be really healthy as well. Any idea what to expect when you get to Denver? I have never been to Denver. I'm expecting a little bit of coldness. I will say I'm really excited. Other than the altitude, I'm really excited for it all. I've given a shout out to the empty netterish guys to get them. They're in Vail this weekend,

Starting point is 00:12:21 so I'm trying to convince them to come over and watch the game on Sunday. They are great guys, so I'm really trying to make sure that they can come and honestly, I'm just excited to experience a new state, a new city and really take it all in. I love it. Best of luck against Minnesota. Enjoy Denver. It's a beautiful city. Wonderful people. Good luck getting the empty netters out as well. Great guys. We will catch up soon my friends. Safe travels. Thank you and sorry for all the announcements. Lost all ambitions day to day Guess I can call it a ride I went to the dark man

Starting point is 00:13:08 He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, no, man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself, and how this gonna be fixing my mind I turned on the record I turned on the music Now that's gonna be fixing my mind I do wanna break it I turned on the music I do wanna break it I turned on the music It's a meltdown battle that you sometimes lose it

Starting point is 00:13:40 Helping on the days that went wrong

The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Erin Ambrose Discusses the Victoire's Win in Front of a Record-Setting Crowd in Vancouver

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