Minnesota's new pro women's hockey team ready for its home opener
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After winning its first game on the road earlier this week, Minnesota’s newest professional hockey team returns to the Twin Cities for its home opener Saturday afternoon.
The game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul will be another milestone in the start of a new era for women’s hockey in the state. The debut of Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey League team will be the culmination of a long-held dream for players, coaches and fans.
“I like supporting women’s sports of all kinds. We have Lynx season tickets. We went to some Aurora games last year. We’re really excited about this inaugural season,” said Jackie Douda, who attended a watch party in Minneapolis earlier this week for Minnesota’s first game, a victory over Boston. “We have season tickets. So we’re excited to not just do the home opener, but all the games.”
The league has six teams — three in the U.S., three in Canada. The Minnesota team, like others in the new league, does not have an official name yet. The team jerseys all have a relatively similar design with the city or state name diagonally down the front. The biggest difference is the uniform colors. Minnesota’s is purple.
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And as much as fans are excited for Saturday’s game, it’s even more momentous for players. At a Minnesota practice earlier this week, Lee Stecklein — who played defense for the Gophers and also for three different U.S. women’s Olympic hockey teams — reflected on what the league means to her.
“We wanted, for a league, something that everyone could do full-time and that little girls could see and dream and know that it would be there,” she said. “And I think that’s great for this team. I love being able to see everyone continue to just keep playing and getting better at hockey.”
For longtime hockey players and fans, just watching women take the ice for this new professional league is a moment to cherish.
“This is something — when I was growing up, like there were some Olympians that we could look up to, but there was no professional future for women’s sports,” said Carolyn Ross, a coach with the University of Minnesota women’s club hockey team, who was attending the watch party in Minneapolis on Wednesday night. “It’s crazy. Like, I’ve watched these people on TV. They’re like my heroes, even though they’re younger than me. And so it’s just really cool to be part of this.”
Puck drop for the home opener against Montreal is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Some tickets were still available online Friday morning. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports North and streamed live on YouTube.
The team said it’s hoping to break the record for biggest crowd at a women’s professional hockey game.