After stops in Oakville, Ontario, Arizona, New Jersey and more, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) announced on Tuesday February 18th that a group of players would be headed overseas for the inaugural Dream Gap Tour in Tokyo, Japan.
The series, a first for the PA, will feature a roster of 18 players, all carefully selected from North America to take on the Japanese National Women’s Team. As part of the three-game series, this tour stop comes for both sides respectively in preparation for the Women’s World Championships. The IIHF-based tournament is set to take place in Nova Scotia in March.
With the rosters all set in motion, the coaches named for the PWHPA are PJ Michael, Lauren Jukes and Waterloo native Laura McIntosh. As for the rosters themselves, Team North America is fashionably led by American forward Amanda Kessel. Kessel, 28-years-old, is a former member of the Metropolitan Riveters.
Joining the Wisconsin native are 12 select players who hail from the U.S. while six of the players taking part in the series are those who hail from Canadian provinces.
In a statement from Jayna Hefford, operations consultant for the PWHPA, she said, “The PWHPA is excited to be able to help grow the women’s game in Japan, and be a part of the preparation plan for the Japanese national team, leading into the world championships. This is a great opportunity for hockey fans in Japan to see some of the top players in the world. We are very proud of this partnership and look forward to working with Japanese federation to continue to build the game for women worldwide.”
As for the tournament itself, the games will be hosted on March 4th, 5th and 7th at the Shin-Yokohama Skate Centre in Tokyo. Game times for the three-game series are Wednesday, March 4th from 7:00pm-9:30pm Japan Standard Time. Game two, in similarity to game one, is from 7:00pm-9:30pm Japan Standard Time. Last, but not least, the third and final game of the visit is Saturday March 7th from 2:00pm-4:30pm Japan Standard Time.
UPDATE: After careful consideration due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) announced on Monday February 24th the postponement of the tour visit scheduled for March, a three-game series overseas in Tokyo.
As cited by the PA in a press release, the stop against the Japanese National Women’s Team was part of the spring schedule for the 2019-2020 inaugural “Dream Gap Tour.” In partnership with the event organizers, the Japan Ice Hockey Federation (JIHF) felt compelled to cancel the event in light of the worsening of the coronavirus outbreak in the region.
The PWHPA also states that while both organizations were excited for the games, the health and safety of the players and supporters is their primary concern at this time. As such, the organizations will be working to reschedule the tournament in the 2020-2021 regular season.
While the PWHPA is no longer scheduled to compete overseas, there are plenty of chances to go watch them live as they stop in New Jersey for a four-game series. This gets going on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday March 1st.
Following this, they head to Arizona for a two-game series from March 6th to March 8th. The series, taking place in Tempe, will feature a handful of marquee players such as Kendall Coyne Schofield, Rebecca Johnston, Brianna Decker and Sarah Nurse. As well, it will feature two players who hail from the region, Katie McGovern and Makenna Newkirk.
After the two games conclude, both being played at Oceanside Ice Arena, the two will join forces on Sunday as they take on the Arizona Coyotes Alumni. As well, prior to the two games, being played on Friday and Saturday respectively, an all-girls hockey clinic will be run by the Arizona Kachinas staff, this also held at Oceanside Ice Arena. As cited by the Arizona Coyotes, any girl with a USA Hockey number can participate and there will be special guest coaches from the PWHPA.
Game times for the three-game series are Friday, March 6th at 7:30pmMT, Saturday March 7th at 3:00pmMT and last, but not least, Sunday March 8th at 12:30pmMT to close out the series.
For those of you unaware of what exactly it is they are doing, the PWHPA Dream Gap Tour, as cited in the Tokyo press release, was created to draw attention to the fact that there currently is not a league that consistently showcases the best product of women’s hockey in the world, pays its players a living wage and has the infrastructure to set the game up to succeed. Such a league would represent an important step in closing the dream gap between young boys and girls. A young boy can lace up his skates and imagine himself circling the ice in his favourite professional team’s jersey as the crowd chants his name.
He dreams it, because he’s seen it countless times. There is no realistic equivalent for aspiring female hockey players to imagine their futures. That has led the PA to booking tournaments across North America with stops in Toronto, Chicago and Montreal as well as New Hampshire, Minnesota and Boston. Through these many visits with more to come to showcase their talents, these players look to prove their skillset and value and that this game is worth turning attention to. That is what drives this mission and the passion that lies between them and pro hockey.
With two tour stops coming up, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) announced on Thursday the addition of ESPN as the national streaming partner and Monumental Sports Network as the digital home of the PWHPA.
As cited by the PA in a press release, fans will now be able to watch both showcase weekends in Philadelphia, PA (February 29-March 1) and Tempe, AZ (March 6-8) by streaming LIVE on the ESPN App, ESPN.com as well as the Monumental Sports App and MonumentalSportsNetwork.com. However, it is important to note that ESPN customers will need to log in to their account for authentication. As well, all games will be available On Demand exclusively to each of these networks.
In addition to that, the PWHPA and CBC Sports continue their partnership, allowing fans in Canada to watch the games on the CBC Gem App. The PWHPA forms these agreements while knowing the importance of visibility and is very excited to have three different media partners supporting their mission as they close out the season.
In a statement from Jayna Hefford, operations consultant for the PA, she said, “This is a big step for women’s hockey and we are excited to be able to reach so many new fans with ESPN who streams NHL and NCAA Hockey and Monumental Sports who have been innovators in the digital space for the fans of their NHL, NBA, WNBA, NBA G-League and E-Sports teams in the District.”
In a statement from Carol Stiff, ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions, she said, “We are thrilled to work with the PWHPA to bring these marquee, hockey showcase events to a national audience. ESPN is constantly striving to bring fans the best and most expansive lineup of women’s sports programming and this is another exciting addition to our platforms.”
As for the thoughts of Grant Hastings, Vice President of Monumental Sports Network, he said, “We are proud to provide coverage of a multitude of women’s sports on Monumental Sports Network and we were quick to raise our hand when given the opportunity to stream the Dream Gap Tour featuring our very own Haley Skarupa. The PWHPA’s mission of inspiring girls and boys to shoot for the stars aligns perfectly with our platform.”
As mentioned, all games being carried can be found exclusively with On Demand Access with ESPN streaming all four online while also accessible on the ESPN App. To find them, just click on the Watch tab or by searching for PWHPA and selecting an event from the results.
As for Monumental Sports Network and the video on demand feature they will be offering, it can be found on the network’s app and is accessible by going to the upper right corner and clicking on the magnifying glass and again typing PWHPA or by scrolling in the LIVE tab on the bottom left of the screen and seeing PWHPA On Demand. Additionally, as cited by the PA, fans can head to Monumental Sports Network online for their video on demand PWHPA action. The PWHPA games will be available in video on demand for 30 days after their original air date on the ESPN App and ESPN.com. On the other hand, the games will be available on Monumental Sports Network through June 2020.