Amazing Start to PWHPA’s Opening Weekend

The PWHPA’s Dream Gap Tour kicked off this weekend and it was a banger.

The PWHPA’s New Hampshire Hub team (Team Women’s Sports Foundation) played the Minnesota Hub team (Team Adidas) in the associations’ first two games in the Dream Gap Tour.

Game 1 was a Saturday night stunner. Team Adidas beat Team WSF 5-2 and you can see how ready these teams were to play. It’s been almost a year since they got to play and they brought all that energy on the ice. From the start, the competitiveness was electric — Kendall Coyne Schofield and Brianna Decker got into each other’s faces during the first period. These teams are building a deep rivalry headed into a long stretch of games against one another, it’s just going to make this series better and better. Another big point for me in this game was the star, Abby Roque. Roque blew me away at the Rivalry Series back in December of 2019 so it should be no surprise she showed up big here. Roque had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in her PWHPA debut.

You can read the full breakdown of Game 1 here.

What a Roque-t! 🚀@abby_roque puts Team @adidashockey up 4-1 with a breakaway blast! 🚨🚨🚨🚨@nyrangers | #SDGT pic.twitter.com/PNOsSANlYy
— PWHPA (@PWHPA) February 28, 2021

Next onto a historic Game 2 that ended not too long ago. The first women’s pro game on the ice of Madison Square Garden did not disappoint. This game was high scoring and high energy. It ended in a Team WSF victory, 4-3 over Team Adidas. (Big sad for me, I wanted my Minnesota team to win). I think it’s safe to say that this was Decker’s night. She had 4 points (2G 2A), she had the first goal of the game, all over the ice just flat out killing it. Not to mention she was being a pest with Coyne again. That same animosity between Decker and Coyne kept going, they were on each other’s tails a bit. Honestly, I love that. Build the rivalry, build the emotion and people will latch onto that. I for sure have. Hilary Knight had a rocket, Abby Roque had another one of her own. Great night across the board for both teams.

Team @WomensSportsFdn's @bdecker14 opens the scoring with an unbelievable shot! 🚨@nyrangers | #SDGT pic.twitter.com/QrbIkbGuCI
— PWHPA (@PWHPA) March 1, 2021

This is not the last time Minnesota will play New Hampshire. This time next weekend they’ll be playing in my home city of Chicago. It will be another back to back series but the big game will be Saturday afternoon (2PM CT on NBCSN) at the United Center. Some women’s hockey will finally be on NBC so LFG, it’s gonna be awesome. Their second game will be on Sunday morning at 10:30AM CT and you can watch that on CBC. I wish more than anything that I could be there for this series. I was at the first Dream Gap Tour in Chicago and that was the best two days of my life. This organization looks great, my Minnesota team looks stellar, and it’s just going to get better from here. Be sure to tune in and follow along because you’re not gonna wanna miss this.