The NHL announced on Wednesday the Canadian and American players who will be taking part in the Elite Women’s 3-on-3 game during the All-Star Weekend.
A new addition to the 2020 All-Star, the 20-woman roster will go head-to-head during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on January 24th.
The Elite Women’s 3-on-3 rosters for the 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend!
Who ya got?! pic.twitter.com/UltgBrifdf
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 16, 2020
Showcasing their skills for America, as coached by Cammi Granato, are forwards Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson and Annie Pankowski, with Kacey Bellamy and Lee Stecklein on defense, and Alex Rigsby Cavallini in goal. For Canada, who will be coached by Hayley Wickenheiser, will be forwards Meghan Agosta, Mélodie Daoust, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner, and Blayre Turnbull, with Renata Fast and Laura Fortino on defense, and Ann-Renée Desbiens in goal.
The 20-minute, 3-on-3 tournament presented by adidas will be played as one of the six events during the All-Star Skills challenge, alongside the Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater, the Bud Light NHL Save Streak, Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting, the Enterprise NHL Hardest Shot, and another new event, the Gatorade NHL Shooting Stars.
Meet the newest skills competition.
The NHL Shooting Stars competition, where players will fire pucks from the stands. pic.twitter.com/imsIEVyT5o
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 16, 2020
Officiating the game will be referees Kelly Cooke and Katie Guay, as well as lineswomen Kendall Hanley and Kirsten Welsh.
“The intention here is to give these elite players the forum they’ve earned and they deserve,” Steve Mayer, NHL executive vice president and chief content officer, said as part of the announcement. “It’s thrilling for us to be able to give them this moment. This is a meaningful event — it’s on national television, not only are they going to be performing and playing in front of 20,000 people in the arena, but they are also playing in front of 40 of the greatest players in the NHL. We’re so confident that they will put on a great display.”
While this is not the first time that women have taken part in the All-Star Weekend, with Kendall Coyne Schofield participating in the Fastest Skater competition at the 2019 event in place of an injured Nathan MacKinnon, as well as Rebecca Johnston, Renata Fast and Brianna Decker demonstrating each skill, this is the first event that has been used to exclusively showcase women’s hockey and some of the elite players from both Canada and America.
“To be able to have the support of the NHL and having us out there last year, the four of us, and then being able to do this 3-on-3 shows that they care and that they want to support us,” Rebecca Johnston said to NHL.com. “We’re hoping that this will continue. We’re very appreciative of everything that they’ve done for us so far — the platform and having the attention that we’ve had so far. It’s really helping with the growth of women’s hockey.”
The 20 players across both teams were chosen by the NHL in consultation with a committee that included Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Granato, Angela Ruggiero and Hayley Wickenheiser.
Introducing the roster for the Elite Women's 3-on-3 presented by @adidas! American and Canadian All-Stars will face off during the #NHLAllStar Skills competition on Jan. 24.
🇺🇸: @NHLonNBCSports
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/Byo1rP06hY— NHL (@NHL) January 16, 2020
Headline photo: NHL
