The PWHL has been constantly working on growing the girls and womens games with different events throughout the year. One of the main events this season has been the Takeover Tour, where different PWHL teams have been facing off against each other in cities that aren’t PWHL host cities already, such as Detroit, Denver, etc. The point of these games is to bring the game to fans that haven’t seen PWHL game in person yet and likely gauge the possibility of expanding in the future.
The PWHL is continuing to find ways to grow the game, and most recently, they announced on Tuesday, Jan. 21, that they will be hosting the PWHL Breakthrough Cup in partnership with PLAY Hockey. In this article, we’ll take a look at what the tournament is, how it will help grow the game, and what other events the PWHL could host in the future.
PWHL Breakthrough Cup
This tournament will take place in one of the biggest hockey hotbeds in the country for both mens and womens hockey; Minnesota. More specially, it will take place in Blaine, Minnesota, on April 4-6th at the National Sports Center Super Rink, which houses eight sheets of ice in one place, which makes it a prime place to hold a tournament like this.
This tournament is for girls and women of all ages and skills. Four games are guaranteed per team; the games will be three 15-minute periods with online scoring. There will also be Player of the Game awards and four divisions: the Female Force Series, Elite Division, AAA Division, and Open Division.
There will also be fun off-ice activities like balloon animals, shaved ice bars, face painters, and many other things. They are doing everything they can to ensure something for everyone at this tournament, not just the players who get to be on the ice.
PWHL Works to Grow Game
These events are meant to get more girls on the ice and involved in hockey. While this tournament may have a lot of girls who aren’t new to the game of hockey, it also gives girls who want to try it the ability to make a team and give it a shot. With it being sponsored by the PWHL, the game gets more eyes on it than a normal tournament.
Any time a professional league can get involved with youth events, it helps grow the sport, and hockey is no different. While girls hockey is quite popular in Minnesota, this shows that other states can do the same around the country and continue to grow the game. The PWHL will need more players, and tournaments like these will show some future talent that could be headed toward the PWHL in the coming years.
Having the PWHL name attached to this tournament and having the players come out and support will also help. Anytime kids can meet their heroes in person, it helps grow the game because they see it’s a real league, and they can dream to do the same.
PWHL Future Events
This kind of tournament can open the door for other events involving the PWHL in Minnesota and around the country. This tournament can give kids who haven’t been able to get to a PWHL game the chance to meet their idols and create even more fans than they had before. Any chance a league gets to build their fanbase, they should take it, and if they can help out the youth players, it’s even better.
Related: New York Sirens Trade Jill Saulnier for Boston Fleet’s Taylor Girard
A hockey tournament may seem small, but again, the more fans they create, the more events and things the league can do to continue to grow the game, which is the entire point of the tournament. Hopefully, they can get a big turnout and continue to have this tournament every year as a partnership between the PWHL and the local community and then they can create even more events.
Frost Players Can Have Fun
Many current Minnesota Frost players are from Minnesota and have likely played at the Super Rink through their youth careers, so this could be a great chance for them to relive their youth. As a kid playing hockey, I played at the Super Rink when it was new, and it was a great experience to see all of the rinks being used and so much hockey going on at once. It’ll be fun to see how this tournament brings kids and adults to the game of hockey.
