The Blues鈥 announcement of a women鈥檚 professional hockey game to be played at Enterprise Center next spring is more than just a one-off event.
It marks the continuation of the team鈥檚 commitment to growing women鈥檚 hockey in 最新杏吧原创.
The Ottawa Charge will face the Boston Fleet on March 29 at Enterprise Center in a regular-season Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey League game, the last of a nine-game barnstorming tour the league has planned for early 2025.
Tickets for the event go on sale to the public on Friday at .
The work to land this event began when Blues President and CEO Chris Zimmerman watched a PWHL showcase game at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto and expressed the organization鈥檚 interest in hosting a game to league executives.
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It鈥檚 a league he thinks highly of.
The PWHL 鈥減ut the best players in the world onto those six teams,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淎nd I think their first year of play last season certainly met or exceeded most people鈥檚 expectations in terms of fan engagement, interest, crowds 鈥 pick your metric.鈥
One of the players who will take part in the game grew up in the 最新杏吧原创 area. Ottawa Charge defender Jincy Roese (formerly Jincy Dunne) is an O鈥橣allon, Missouri, native who played for the 最新杏吧原创 Lady Blues as a teen. She won silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Plus, Boston forward Taylor Girard played at Lindenwood before transferring to Quinnipiac.
Jincy Dunne, now Jincy Roese, is shown in 2013
The larger push to grow women鈥檚 hockey in 最新杏吧原创 began in 2015, when the Blues announced their 鈥淗ockey STL 2020鈥 campaign, which was highlighted by the creation of two girls hockey clubs, the youth program and the girls program.
When the Blues hosted the All-Star Game in 2020, that provided another catalyst to grow the women鈥檚 game. The Blues prioritized women鈥檚 hockey development as the legacy project for the event and began their which provides low-cost opportunities for girls of all ages to begin their youth hockey playing careers.
Participation has more than doubled in four years. The developmental programs don鈥檛 stop with players. They also foster female referees and include all-female coaching clinics.
The Blues organization is also finalizing plans to launch and host an all-girls ages 12-and-under tournament beginning next year.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on a consistent objective of continuing to build girls and women鈥檚 hockey in St Louis,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淲hether it was having USA play Canada (in 2021) or some of the other professional women鈥檚 games we鈥檝e had, they鈥檝e been well received.鈥
鈥淔undamentally, one of our primary objectives is to grow the game,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淭he opportunity to get more girls and women playing has been really clear to us for some time, and so we are.鈥
Jincy Dunne of O'Fallon, Mo. drops a ceremonial first puck between 最新杏吧原创 Blues captain David Backes (42) and Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg before a game between the 最新杏吧原创 Blues and the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, at the Scottrade Center in 最新杏吧原创. Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com
The PWHL is entering its second season after a and is owned by Los Angeles Dodgers chairman and native Midwesterner Mark Walter. The league runs all of the six teams: Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres.
The professional women鈥檚 game at Enterprise Center is just one of many major hockey events in 最新杏吧原创 in recent years, including the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four, which will take place two weekends after the PWHL showcase.
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e established ourselves as one of the best hockey towns in America in terms of our fan base,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淲e are interested in being able to really host every major event and continue to show people what a great hockey town 最新杏吧原创 is, and I think the fact that we continue to win these types of events is a testament to what we鈥檙e accomplishing.鈥
Could it eventually lead to even more women鈥檚 professional hockey games here? The PWHL is set to as early as the 2025-26 season, and at least has mentioned 最新杏吧原创 as a candidate.
League executive Amy Scheer referenced the locations of neutral-site games as 鈥渁n exciting moment for our players and an important move for our business as we consider expansion,鈥 according to a news release.
Zimmerman remained largely quiet on the subject, saying there had been no discussions on the expansion topic.
Regardless of what the PWHL鈥檚 expansion future holds, 最新杏吧原创 is continuing to build itself into a hotbed of women鈥檚 hockey.
鈥淭he Blues and, quite honestly, all the people connected to our local hockey market to continue to develop the girls and women鈥檚 game, and this is another nice step in that direction,鈥 Zimmerman said.
Students at Kipp Elementary in North 最新杏吧原创 were given the opportunity to try hockey this winter. A new program titled North City Blues aimed to increase diversity in the sport. Kids in the program started out in the "learn to skate" portion, then transitioned into "learn to play" if they had an interest in the sport. The "learn to play" participants were given a full set of hockey gear and taught the fundamentals of the sport. Blues alumni and Community Youth Hockey Advisor Jamal Mayers acted as the head coach for the program. Video by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
