1st NWHL All-Star Game

1st NWHL All-Star Game
123 Total
Team Knight 01x 1
Team Pfalzer 63x 9
Date January 24, 2016
Arena HarborCenter
City Buffalo, New York, United States
MVP Kelley Steadman
 Incumbent 2017 

The 1st NWHL All-Star Game took place on January 24, 2016 at HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York. The event featured two 20-minute periods in a 4-on-4 format and a Skills Competition. Team Pfalzer entered the game with a 4-0 lead having won all events in the Skills Competition.

This edition of the All-Star Game featured a "fantasy draft" format in order to determine the rosters. The team captains were Hilary Knight from the Boston Pride, and forward Emily Pfalzer, also a team captain with the Buffalo Beauts. Team Knight had the first pick overall and selected Kacey Bellamy. The captains each chose 11 players for their team.

Draft

Each captain had to select at least one player from all four teams in the NWHL. In addition, each captain had to select two goalies among their 11 selections.[1] Two available spots on each team would be determined by fan balloting, which would take place from December 11–14, 2015, with winning players announced on December 15.

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

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

[2]

Fan voting

Over 62,000 votes were cast in order to select four more players to add to the All-Star Game rosters. Madison Packer and Hayley Williams were assigned to Team Knight, while Morgan Fritz-Ward and Devon Skeat shall suit up with Team Pfalzer.

Player NationalityTeam# of votes
Madison Packer  United StatesNew York Riveters 13,397
Morgan Fritz-Ward  United StatesNew York Riveters 6,948
Hayley Williams  United StatesBuffalo Beauts 6,384
Devon Skeats  CanadaBuffalo Beauts 4,726

[3]

Game summary

The starting goaltenders in the contest were Nana Fujimoto for Team Pfalzer and Jaimie Leonoff for Team Knight.

Kelley Steadman would score the first goal in All-Star Game history, providing Team Pfalzer with the lead, as Leonoff allowed said goal. Earning the assists on Steadman's historic goal was Meghan Duggan. Adding to Team Pfalzer's lead was Emily Field, who would also score on Leonoff in the first.

In the second period, Brianne McLaughlin would replace Leonoff for Team Knight, while Brittany Ott stood between the pipes for Team Pfalzer. Along with Blake Bolden, Field and Kaleigh Fratkin, Ott would become one of four women to have competed in the 2015 Women's Winter Classic and the inaugural NWHL All-Star Game.

Steadman would score on McLaughlin, generating the first multi-goal performance in All-Star Game history. Other Team Pfalzer skaters that would score included Shiann Darkangelo and Devon Skeats, who became the first Canadian to score a goal in the NWHL All-Star Game. During the second, Hayley Williams would score the only goal of the game for Team Knight.

Skills competition

Held prior to the game itself, there were four different skills events. Whichever team would prevail in each event would gain one point that would count towards the All-Star Game's final score. Of note, Team Pfalzer captured the win in all four events at the Skills Competition, gaining four points. In the hardest shot competition, Megan Bozek was the winner, with a shot of 88 mph.

References

  1. "2016 All-Star Game Draft and Fan Contest Announced". NWHL.co. 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  2. "NWHL All-Star Draft Recap". NWHL.co. 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  3. "Fan vote helps finalize NWHL All-Star Game rosters". NWHL.co. 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
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