The third stop on the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association’s Dream Gap Tour will be Oct. 18-20 at Fifth Third Arena, the Blackhawks practice facility, in Chicago, the PWHPA announced Tuesday.
There will be four-team tournament Oct. 19-20 as part of the Dream Gap Tour, which is part of an effort to support female hockey players in developing a sustainable professional league for the future.
There will be two games Oct. 19 followed by a championship and consolation game the next day. It’s a United States vs. the World format, with teams being coached and named after U.S. and Canada legends: Team (Cammi) Granato, Team (Angela) Ruggiero, Team (Lori) Dupuis and Team (Jayna) Hefford. Finnish goaltender Noora Räty is the lone non-North American player among the more than 35 Olympians.
Chicago area products Megan Bozek (Buffalo Grove), Alex Rigsby Cavallini (Delafield, Wisc.), Hilary Knight (Chicago) will be on Team Ruggiero, while Kendall Coyne Schofield (Palos Heights) is on Team Granato. Cavallini is from Wisconsin, but grew up playing for the Chicago Mission and was the first female drafted in the USHL by the Chicago Steel.
Savannah Harmon (Buffalo Grove) and Bailey Larson (Belvidere/Sycamore) will also skate for Team Granato with Schofield. Granato — who is from Buffalo Grove — is a 1998 Olympic champion and member of the International Hockey Hall of Fame (2008), US Hockey Hall of Fame (2009) and Hockey Hall of Fame (2010).
Individual day passes for both days are $25 and weekend passes to attend both days are $40.
The timing of the games do not conflict with the Blackhawks schedule as they host Columbus at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 and Washington at 6 p.m. Oct. 20. The Bears’ Oct. 20 home game against the Saints also doesn’t start until 3:25 p.m.
The stop will also include a youth clinch called “Meet Your Sheros.” The PWHPA will work with the Blackhawks for one of the NHL’s team “First Stride” session, a program that introduces Chicago Public Schools to skating and STEM eduction.
The three-day event is sponsored by Deerfield-based Megellan Corporation and the Billie Jean King Foundation.
“Billie Jean King is a sports, social justice and equality icon,” noted Bob Arthur, CEO of Magellan Corporation in the PWHPA’s press release. “When she and Ilana Kloss approached us to support women’s hockey, the fit was natural. We are already proud partners of NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. Let’s level the playing field for women and girls in sports.”
Saturday, Oct. 19 – Doors open at 2:30 p.m.
Team Hefford vs. Team Dupuis — 4 p.m. (Hyundai rink)
Team Granato vs. Team Ruggiero — 7 p.m. (Hyundai rink)
Sunday, Oct. 20 — Doors open at 11:10 a.m.
Consolation game — noon (Mission rink)
Championship — noon (Hyundai rink)