The Fearless, Frozen Females of Hockey

For all the speculation about a supposed animosity between the CWHL and the NWHL, both leagues participated in a spectacular showcase of elite women’s ice hockey. The weekend of January 23-24, 2016, shall be remembered as a time that featured two women’s hockey All-Star Games. Hosted at Toronto ’s Air Canada Centre, the second CWHL All-Star Game was played on January 23 and broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet, a prominent Canadian sports network. The following day, the NWHL staged their midseason classic at Harbor Centre, home of the Buffalo Beauts. Taking into account that Buffalo is merely a two-hour drive from Toronto , hardcore women’s hockey fans could easily catch both games live over an unforgettable weekend. Although the NWHL’s All-Star Game was its first, making it a historic event, the reality was that history was a key theme for both games. Toronto Furies blueliner Sena Suzuki, whose experience also involves competing with the Japanese national women’s team, became the...

While the concept of voting for All-Star Captains and the subsequent team drafts has become a recent novelty in all sport, there is no question that the selections for the 2016 CWHL All-Star Game highly deserve such honor. Natalie Spooner, the league’s Player of the Month Award winner for December 2015, and Julie Chu are more than just ambassadors for the CWHL; they are a pair of hockey icons, adding another milestone to their exceptional careers. Chu led all skaters with a whopping 34% of the vote, resulting in 11,319 votes, subsequently becoming the first visible minority to serve as a captain in the CWHL All-Star Game. Spooner would garner an impressive 7,661 votes, culminating in 23% of all votes tallied. As the elected captains, the next task is to draft the rosters for Team Black, led by Chu, and Team White, represented by Spooner, on January 22, one day before the second All-Star Game takes place at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. As a side note, the inaugura...