2019–20 PWHPA season

2019–20 PWHPA season
League	PWHPA
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	Scheduled for: September 2019 - March 2020

The 2019–20 PWHPA season was the first season of the ongoing strike by the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). The organisation had been established after the collapse of the CWHL in May 2019, and organised a number of exhibition games and events throughout the season until the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business

Budweiser was among the companies entering into partnerships with the PWHPA during the season, stating that "Budweiser is committed to sponsor the women’s game."

After having spent most of the season with the PWHPA, Jordan Juron left the organisation in January 2020 to sign with the Boston Pride, the first PWHPA player to rejoin the NWHL.

Dream Gap Tour

Due to their boycott, the members of the PWHPA decided to compete against one another on a tour to various North American cities, creating a series of exhibitions called the Dream Gap Tour. Prior to the launch of the Dream Gap Tour, the NHLPA announced a partnership with the PWHPA in January 2019.

During the autumn of 2019, showcases were held in Toronto (September 21–22); Hudson, New Hampshire (October 5–6); and Chicago (October 18–20). Each showcase had players divided into four teams with each team named after a particular player. In 2020, showcases were held in Toronto (January 11–12), Philadelphia (February 29–March 1), and Arizona (March 6–8).

Toronto

All games took place at Toronto's Westwood Arena, and were sponsored by Unifor. Team captains were Rebecca Johnston, Brianne Jenner, Liz Knox, and Marie-Philip Poulin.

Date	Game	Teams	Final score
September 21	1	Team Johnston vs. Team Jenner	Team Jenner 4, Team Johnston 3
September 21	2	Team Poulin vs. Team Knox	Team Poulin 2, Team Knox 1
September 22	3	Team Johnston vs. Team Knox	Team Johnston 6, Team Knox 5
September 22	4	Team Poulin vs. Team Jenner	Team Poulin 5, Team Jenner 1

Hudson

The second series of showcases took place in Hudson, New Hampshire, from October 5 to 6, 2019, sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts. All games were contested at Cyclones Arena. Team captains were Kali Flanagan, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux, and Lee Stecklein. The Hudson event series had two games on the first day and two on the second and adopted a playoff-style format. The second day's games have the losers from the previous day face each other in a consolation game and the winners play each other in a championship game.

Date	Game	Teams	Final score
October 5	1	Team Flanagan vs. Team Stecklein	Team Stecklein 6, Team Flanagan 3
October 5	2	Team Knight vs. Team Lamoureux	Team Knight 3, Team Lamoureux 1
October 6	3	Team Lamoureux vs. Team Flanagan	Team Lamoureux 5, Team Flanagan 2
October 6	4	Team Stecklein vs. Team Knight	Team Stecklein 5, Team Knight 4

Chicago

Sponsored by Magellan Corporation, all games took place at Chicago's Fifth Third Arena. Team captains were former Olympic players Lori Dupuis and Jayna Hefford from Canada, and Hockey Hall of Fame players Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero, both part of the United States gold-medal winning team in 1998 Olympic team. The playoff-style format from the Hudson event was retained.

Date	Game	Teams	Final score
October 19	1	Team Hefford vs. Team Dupuis	Team Hefford 5, Team Dupuis 4
October 19	2	Team Granato vs. Team Ruggiero	Team Granato 4, Team Ruggiero 2
October 20	3	Team Ruggiero vs. Team Dupuis	Team Ruggiero 6, Team Dupuis 4
October 20	4	Team Granato vs. Team Hefford	Team Granato 4, Team Hefford 1

Tokyo

The PWHPA was due to play a one-week tour in Japan, in a three-game series against the Japanese national team. On the 24th of February 2020, the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

2020 NHL All-Star Game

Several PWHPA players were invited to participate in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, featuring in the Elite Women's 3-on-3 Game held on the night of the Skills Competition.

2020 ECHL All-Star Classic

Four PWHPA members were invited to participate in the 2020 ECHL All-Star Classic in Wichita, Kansas in January 2020. The four players, all members of the American national team, were Annie Pankowski, Gigi Marvin, Dani Cameranesi, and Kali Flanagan. They participated in both the skills competitions and the 3-on-3 tournament.

During the skills competitions, Cameranesi and Flanagan demonstrated the fastest skater competition, and were estimated to have finished with times between 12 and 14 seconds, despite the ECHL not officially recording their times. Marvin and Pankowski demonstrated the shot accuracy competition, with times that would have placed both of them in the top 3. No PWHPA players demonstrated the hardest shot competition.

During the 3-on-3 tournament, Marvin played for Team West, Panowski for Team Bolts, Flanagan for Team East, and Cameranesi for Team Hammers. Marvin notched the first point by any female player in an ECHL All-Star Classic with an assist on Taylor Richart's goal in the first game. In the third game of the tournament, Panowski became the first female player to score a goal, scoring 37 seconds into the first period. Flanagan scored the game-winning goal in the tournament's championship game.

See also

• 2019–20 NWHL season

External links

• PWHPA website