Four Ottawa PWHL players heading to NHL all-star showcase

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Not that they’ll mind, but the big boys taking part in NHL all-star weekend next month will have to share the spotlight with the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

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Twenty-four of the PWHL’s best are headed to Toronto to play a 20-minute, 3-on-3 Showcase exhibition at Scotiabank Arena that will close out NHL All-Star Thursday on Feb. 1.

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All six teams will be represented by players who have a combined 146 Olympic medals, while doing Ottawa proud will be first-round pick Savannah Harmon, assistant captain Emily Clark, captain Brianne Jenner and goalie Emerance Maschmayer.

Former Olympians Cassie Campbell Pascall and Meghan Dugan will serve as the two coaches.

“Such an incredible honour,” Harmon said in an interview on TSN1200 on Tuesday morning. “I’m really excited to be representing Ottawa and to go with my three teammates. I think it’s going to be a great event. A 3-on-3 game, it will be fun. I think it’ll show a lot of our skill, we’ll have some fun with it and I think it’s great that we’re able to go and just be a part of the event in Toronto.

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“I’ve never been to an NHL all-star event before, so I’m excited.”

Before that, Ottawa has four games on its schedule, including its second home date Wednesday night against undefeated Minnesota, which is led by first-overall pick and league scoring leader Taylor Heise, and tops the league with 10 points on three wins and an overtime loss in its four games.

Ottawa only has played two games and has four points from a win and an overtime loss.

Because Ottawa had its first road game (in Boston) postponed by inclement weather, there was an 11-day gap between the opener, a 3-2 OT defeat at the hands of Montreal, and it’s second game, a 5-1 victory in Toronto..

“We were itching to get to Toronto,” Harmon said. “With the postponement, we definitely had plenty of time to practice, dial in on certain things. I think we were just really itching to get on the road and to play a game, and I think it showed.

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“We were well-rested, ready to go and we’re definitely now excited to have our first win under our belt and be back home Wednesday night.”

Harmon, a 28-year old defender from Downers Grove, Ill., was the fifth player taken overall in the PWHL draft.

Deep down she might have wanted to go to one of the three American cities or a more glamorous Canadian destination like Toronto or Montreal, but it sure sounds like she was happy the way things turned out.

“I was excited,” she said about hearing her name called by Ottawa GM Mike Hirshfeld. “Going in, you’re kind of trying to see what’s going to happen in the draft, you don’t really know. But I was honoured to be picked by Ottawa in the first round. I was there with my mom at the draft, and the incredible draft experience … It was just amazing, from the second you walked in, the lights, the carpets, the media.

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“So the whole draft experience was incredible, but to hear my name, be the first called by Ottawa was definitely a feeling I’ll never forget.”

Equally as thrilling for Harmon was opening night at TD Place against Montreal.

That one at set a record for most fans (8,318) to ever attend a professional women’s hockey game.

To other home openers have been sold out — 3,245 showed up for Montreal’s first game at Verdun Auditorium, and 2,537 attended Toronto’s debut game at Mattamy Athletic Centre — while a new record of 13,316 showed up at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The next two games in Minnesota, at the home of the NHL’s Wild, produced crowds of 4,707 and 7,951, bringing the league’s total attendance through 10 games to 50,856.

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Harmon was moved by the turnout in Ottawa for Game 1.

“You get chills thinking about it,” she said. “Typically, we get (to the rink) two hours before the game, let’s say, and you know, pulling into TV Place, there’s already a line in the garage. We’re like, ‘OK, wow, this is going for our game.’ Parking was a bit of a challenge. We were like ‘what an incredible feeling that we have not experienced before.’  Then we get out there for warmups and we all came back to the room afterwards and we’re like ‘we’ve never had this many fans in the stands for warm ups. This is exciting.’

“And then just the home opener, to be able to announce everyone on the team, the lights are off, but then the fans all got those bracelets that were lighting up … It gives me chills thinking about it. It was just a surreal moment, but looking back it was incredible.”

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Below are the lineups for the PWHL 3-oin-3 Showcase, a 20-minute exhibition that will close out NHL All-Star Thursday at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 1.

Team King

Forwards

Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota)
Hilary Knight (Boston)
Alina Müller (Boston)
Kelly Pannek (Minnesota)
Marie-Phillip Poulin (Montreal)
Blayre Turnbull (Toronto)

Defense

Savannah Harmon (Ottawa)
Megan Keller (Boston)
Ella Shelton (New York)
Lee Stecklein (Minnesota)

Goaltenders

Ann-Renée Desbiens (Montreal)
Aerin Frankel (Boston)

Team Kloss

Forwards

Alex Carpenter (New York)
Emily Clark (Ottawa)
Taylor Heise (Minnesota)
Brianne Jenner (Ottawa)
Sarah Nurse (Toronto)
Abby Roque (New York)
Laura Stacey (Montreal)

Defense

Erin Ambrose (Montreal)
Renata Fast (Toronto)
Jocelyne Larocque (Toronto)

Goaltenders

Nicole Hensley (Minnesota)
Emerance Maschmeyer (Ottawa)

dbrennan@postmedia.com

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