2nd NWHL All-Star Game facts for kids
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| Date | February 12, 2017 | |||||||||||||||
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| Arena | UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex | |||||||||||||||
| City | Pittsburgh, PA, United States | |||||||||||||||
| MVP | Amanda Kessel | |||||||||||||||
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The 2nd NWHL All-Star Game was a special ice hockey event. It happened on February 12, 2017, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The game was held at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. A fun skills competition took place the day before, on February 11, 2017.
For this All-Star Game, players were chosen in a "fantasy draft." This means two captains picked players for their teams, just like in a fantasy sports league. The captains were Amanda Kessel from the New York Riveters and Kelley Steadman from the Buffalo Beauts. Kelley Steadman was even the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the previous All-Star Game in 2016!
Contents
How Players Were Chosen
Players for the All-Star Game were selected in a few different ways. This made sure many talented players got to join.
Fan Voting and Media Picks
Fans had a big say in who played! Over 20,000 votes were cast online. These votes helped pick four more players to join the All-Star teams.
Here are the players chosen by the fans:
- Harrison Browne from the Buffalo Beauts
- Gigi Marvin from the Boston Pride
- Madison Packer from the New York Riveters
- Rebecca Russo from the New York Riveters
Also, a group of reporters who cover the NWHL got to choose two players. They picked these players on January 6, 2016.
- Ashley Johnston from the New York Riveters
- Kelly Babstock from the Connecticut Whale
Meet the Teams: Rosters
After the draft, two teams were formed: Team Kessel and Team Steadman. Here are the amazing players who played in the game.
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Game Highlights
The All-Star Game was super exciting! It started with Team Kessel already having a 3-2 lead. This was because they won the Skills Competition held on February 10, 2017. In the game, they played two 25-minute periods instead of the usual three 20-minute periods.
First Period Action
Team Steadman scored first in the game! Brianna Decker got a goal against Team Kessel's goalie, Brittany Ott. Alexandra Carpenter helped with the assist. This tied the score at 3-3.
Then, Amanda Kessel scored a goal by herself for her team, putting Team Kessel back in the lead. By the end of the first period, a total of 10 goals were scored! Team Kessel was ahead with a score of 8-7.
Goals for Team Kessel in this period came from Megan Bozek, Rebecca Russo, and Harrison Browne. Amanda Kessel scored another goal too. For Team Steadman, Madison Packer scored twice. Other scorers for Team Steadman were Emily Pfalzer and Kelly Babstock. Kelly Babstock was the first (and only) Canadian player to score in this game!
Second Period Excitement
In the second period, Katie Fitzgerald was the goalie for Team Steadman. Nicole Stock was in goal for Team Kessel. Harrison Browne scored another goal for Team Kessel, and Hilary Knight also added a goal.
Team Steadman's scorers in the second period included Haley Skarupa, Alexandra Carpenter, and Kelley Steadman. It was very close when Kelley Steadman scored to tie the game at 10-10! But then, Amanda Kessel scored an empty net goal, which means the goalie was not in the net. This won the game for her team! She scored three goals in total, which is called a "hat trick." This was the first hat trick in NWHL All-Star Game history! Because of her amazing play, Amanda Kessel was named the Most Valuable Player of the game.
Skills Competition Winners
The day before the game, players showed off their skills!
- Fastest Skater: Rebecca Russo
- Hardest Shot: Blake Bolden
- Shooting Accuracy: Kelley Steadman
