FOXBOROUGH, MA— Women’s hockey history was made once again at 2:00PM ET today at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) took the ice for an exhibition game, continuing a long standing rivalry between the two cities. The Outdoor Women’s Classic, hosted by the NHL as a part of this year’s Winter Classic program, was presented by Scotiabank.
The format of the Outdoor Women’s Classic was unconventional, with two periods at 15 minutes per period. The Boston Pride’s roster were joined by three players from the Connecticut Whale and two players from the New York Riveters. Connecticut players included Kate Buesser (Wolfeboro, N.H.), Shannon Doyle (Baldwin, Ont.), Kaleigh Fratkin (Burnaby, B.C.) and New York players included Meghan Fardelmann (Lansing, Kans.) and Bray Ketchum (Greenwich, Conn.).
As the players prepared for puck drop, Boston Pride head coach Bobby Jay provided some words of encouragement for his players, “It’s a tremendous opportunity. Take a second to enjoy it and soak it in, but then you need to find a way to focus and play well. You’ll enjoy the memories a lot more if you play to the best of your ability.”
The entirety of the game involved back and forth play all over the ice. Three of five faceoffs in the first period were won by Montreal and the other two were won by Kate Buesser and Casey Pickett (Wilmington, Mass.) of the Pride. Eleven shots were fired for both teams in the first, seven for the Canadiennes and four from the Pride. Only one of the 11 shots found the back of the net, and it came from the stick of Montreal player number 9, Kim Deschênes (St-Quentin, NB).
Deschênes explained the goal that came with 3 minutes and six seconds left on the clock, “I was alone in front of the net, it was a great pass from Marin.” Deschênes was assisted on the goal by Noémie Marin (Acton-Vale, Qué.).
During the first half of the game, Boston Pride forward Denna Laing was injured after hitting the boards. She was transported from Gillette Stadium to Massachusetts General Hospital. The NWHL will issue an update on her condition as it is made available.
A hooking penalty was called with 11:33 left on the clock in the second period by Les Canadienne forward and Olympic gold medalist Marie Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Qué.). Eight face offs took place in the second period, five won by the Pride and three won by the Canadiennes. Once again, 11 shots were fired by both teams, six from Montreal and five from Boston.
With 3 minutes and 12 seconds showing on the clock, Blake Bolden (Cleveland, O.H.) tipped in the game-tying goal on a give-and-go pass from Rachel Llanes (San Jose, Calif.) and Jillian Dempsey (Winthrop, Mass.). Blake Bolden shared her excitement about playing in the first Outdoor Women’s Classic, “It’s a dream come true. It’s something that, when you’re a little kid, you’d never think you’d be able to do. It’s surreal. I don’t think there are words to describe everybody’s emotions.”
The first Outdoor Women’s Classic ended in a 1-1 tie between Les Canadiennes and the Boston Pride. Both teams return to Gillette Stadium tomorrow to make appearances at various events before and during the Winter Classic at Spectator Pavilion.
