1st NWHL All-Star Game facts for kids

The 1st NWHL All-Star Game was a special ice hockey event held on January 24, 2016. It took place at HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York. This game was different from regular matches because it featured the best players from the NWHL. The game had two 20-minute periods and was played with four players on each team (4-on-4). Before the main game, there was a fun Skills Competition where players showed off their hockey abilities. Team Pfalzer started the game with a 4-0 lead because they won all the events in the Skills Competition!

About the First NWHL All-Star Game

This first-ever All-Star Game used a "fantasy draft" system to pick the teams. This meant that two captains got to choose players for their teams, just like in a fantasy sports league. The captains were Hilary Knight from the Boston Pride and Emily Pfalzer from the Buffalo Beauts. Team Knight got to pick first and chose Kacey Bellamy. Each captain then picked 11 players for their team.

How Teams Were Chosen: The Fantasy Draft

During the draft, each captain had to pick at least one player from all four teams in the NWHL. They also had to choose two goalies among their 11 player selections. Two extra spots on each team were decided by fans voting online. This fan voting happened from December 11 to 14, 2015, and the winning players were announced on December 15.

Team Knight Num. Nat. Player Team Pos. 1 Kacey Bellamy Boston Pride Defense 3 Kelli Stack Connecticut Whale Forward 5 Kaleigh Fratkin Connecticut Whale Forward 7 Janine Weber New York Riveters Forward 9 Jaimie Leonoff Connecticut Whale Goaltender 11 Alyssa Gagliardi Boston Pride Defense 13 Jordan Smelker Boston Pride Forward 15 Brianne McLaughlin Buffalo Beauts Goaltender 17 Shelby Bram Buffalo Beauts Forward 19 Amanda Pelkey Boston Pride Forward 21 Jordan Brickner Connecticut Whale Defense

Team Pfalzer Round Nat. Player Team Pos. 2 Brianna Decker Boston Pride Forward 4 Meghan Duggan Buffalo Beauts Forward 6 Kelley Steadman Buffalo Beauts Forward 8 Nana Fujimoto New York Riveters Goaltender 10 Megan Bozek Buffalo Beauts Defense 12 Gisele Marvin Boston Pride Defence 14 Blake Bolden Boston Pride Defense 16 Brittany Ott Boston Pride Goaltender 18 Shiann Darkangelo Connecticut Whale Defense 20 Emily Field Boston Pride Defense 22 Zoe Hickel Boston Pride Defense

Fan Power: Voting for All-Stars

More than 62,000 votes were cast by fans to choose four more players for the All-Star Game. Madison Packer and Hayley Williams joined Team Knight. Morgan Fritz-Ward and Devon Skeats played for Team Pfalzer.

Player	Nationality	Team	# of votes
Madison Packer	United States	New York Riveters	13,397
Morgan Fritz-Ward	United States	New York Riveters	6,948
Hayley Williams	United States	Buffalo Beauts	6,384
Devon Skeats	Canada	Buffalo Beauts	4,726

Game Highlights: What Happened on the Ice

The game started with Nana Fujimoto as the goalie for Team Pfalzer and Jaimie Leonoff for Team Knight.

Kelley Steadman scored the very first goal in NWHL All-Star Game history, giving Team Pfalzer the lead. Meghan Duggan helped set up this historic goal. Soon after, Emily Field also scored for Team Pfalzer against Leonoff in the first period.

In the second period, Brianne McLaughlin took over as goalie for Team Knight. Brittany Ott became the goalie for Team Pfalzer. Ott, along with Blake Bolden, Emily Field, and Kaleigh Fratkin, were special because they had also played in the 2015 Women's Winter Classic.

Steadman scored again on McLaughlin, making her the first player to score two goals in an All-Star Game. Other players who scored for Team Pfalzer included Shiann Darkangelo and Devon Skeats. Skeats was the first Canadian player to score a goal in the NWHL All-Star Game. Team Knight's only goal in the game was scored by Hayley Williams during the second period.

Showing Off Skills: The Competition Before the Game

Before the main game, there was a Skills Competition with four different events. The team that won each event earned one point towards the All-Star Game's final score. Team Pfalzer won all four events in the Skills Competition, which is why they started the game with a 4-0 lead. In the hardest shot competition, Megan Bozek won with an amazing shot that went 88 miles per hour!