Late Saturday evening, reports surfaced that the NWHL and the CWHL will play an inter-team match before the Alumni Game of the Winter Classic on Dec. 31. The teams in question are the Les Canadiennes de Montréal of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League.
Report: NWHL, CWHL teams to play televised game at the Winter Classic
A historic day for women’s hockey.
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The first mention of the game came from SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman during one of his segments, quite buried until the very end of the video below at the 2:32 mark.
Here’s a transcript of Friedman’s report:
"As part of the outdoor game festivities in Boston, the Canadiens and the Bruins, two of the women's teams will play the day before outdoors. Les Canadiennes from the Canadian Women's Hockey League and the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League. The two leagues will have each a representative playing head to head before the alumni game."
While neither the NWHL or CWHL have confirmed, this is groundbreaking news for professional women’s hockey. An outdoor game to be televised on what will probably NBCSN between the two professional women’s leagues is a huge step forward in growing the game. It’s the first outdoor game for either league and the first time the leagues will play against each other, mirroring the Winter Classic with a representative from Boston and a representative from Montreal.
The Winter Classic, the Alumni Game, and the recently announced women’s game will be held at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Mass.
UPDATE: Boston Pride co-captain Hilary Knight told media after the Pride’s game Saturday that no Team USA players will be present due to a commitment with the national team.
Knight says she and Team USA players will not be at the Winter Classic due to commitment w/ nat. Team
— Kate Cimini (@k_cimini) December 6, 2015 See More:
