Sarah Nurse knew Vancouver was primed for professional women's hockey well before the massively successful Take Over Tour hit the ice at Rogers Arena this past January.

"The love of the sport was pretty loud," she said, speaking to a gaggle of media assembled at Jack Poole Plaza on Friday.

"It really struck me how many people on the street stopped us to say hello, said they were coming to the game, said we can't wait for you guys to be here, we love women's hockey."