Minnesota Hosts 2018 NWHL All-Star Game

On January 12^th the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) announced that the 2018 All-Star Game will be held in St. Paul. Specifically, at TRIA Rink, which is the Minnesota Wild’s new practice facility, which is located in the old Dayton building in downtown St. Paul. The NWHL Skills Challenge occurs on February 10^th and the All-Star Game itself on February 11^th. This is the second time the NWHL has visited Minnesota, the first being back in their inaugural season when the Boston Whitecaps played the Minnesota Whitecaps in a December 2015 series at Ridder Arena, home of Gopher Women’s Hockey.

Excitingly, the Whitecaps will also have two players participating in the All-Star games. Likely one will play on each of the two teams for the event, which are captained this year by Brittany Ott and Amanda Leveille—the latter of which is a three-time NCAA national champion with the Gophers. Minnesota fans everywhere will be thrilled to see Leveille in the flesh and on the ice, especially as tickets to the entire All-Star Weekend Package are simply $35 (plus ticket and handling fees). More information about the event and tickets can be found at http://www.nwhl.zone/.

The NWHL All-Star Game joins a jam-packed schedule for hockey fans in the Twin Cities. After all, Ridder Arena is hosting the 2018 WCHA Final Faceoff March 3^rd & 4^th before hosting the 2018 Women’s NCAA Frozen Four on March 16^th & 18^th. The 2018 Men’s NCAA Frozen Four also occurs in Minnesota, which will be hosted at the Xcel Energy Center April 5^th & 7^th. Excitedly, the February 10^th & 11^th dates for the All-Star Game means that there’s no conflict with Gopher Women’s Hockey games, as Minnesota doesn’t play that weekend, though they play road games the week before and after. Be sure to put everything on your calendar!