PWHL Takeover Tour Cements Dallas as a Thriving ‘Non-Traditional’ Market for Girls’ Hockey

The PWHL expanded this season to include teams in Seattle and Vancouver, making it an eight-team league with four in the United States. 

Much like the NHL’s early American teams, the PWHL’s U.S. teams are in northern hockey markets, with New York being the furthest south.

The league has held Takeover Tour games at neutral sites, going to Denver, Detroit, Chicago and Raleigh, North Carolina, just to name a few. The latest installment of the Takeover Tour took the PWHL to its southernmost destination: Dallas — where girls hockey is on the rise.

“We’re a non-traditional market,” said Al Montoya, vice president of cultural growth & strategy for the Dallas Stars. “But that excites us.

“We know girls hockey is one of the fastest-growing areas in our game. And the momentum we’re seeing with the initiatives that we’ve started and created here, just here in Dallas, it’s truly special.”

On Dec. 28, American Airlines Center in Dallas welcomed the Seattle Torrent and New York Sirens for the Takeover Tour game in front of 8,514 fans. The Sirens won 4-3 behind a Casey O’Brien hat trick, with her last tally breaking a tie late in the game.

The game was special for many reasons, but especially for the only two PWHL players from Texas: Seattle Torrent forward Hannah Bilka (Coppell, Texas) and New York Sirens defender Allyson Simpson (Frisco, Texas). The two players also participated in a ceremonial puck drop before the Dec. 27 game at the arena between the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars. They also met with fans during that afternoon’s open practice and autograph sessions.

Between Bilka and Simpson, they expected more than 160 family and friends at their Takeover Tour game.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing in my home state,” Simpson said. “I am filled with so much gratitude that I get to play the sport I love in front of the people I love.

“I am excited for Dallas to see all the PWHL has to offer. If we can inspire just one more girl from this area to pick up a stick or another to keep playing that extra season, then I will be so proud of our efforts here.”

Getting a game in the area was already “huge” for Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas in general, where girls hockey is growing rapidly, said Allysen Weidner, assistant director of youth hockey development for the Dallas Stars. 

For many girls, it’s the first time they’ll watch a professional hockey game. But having a pair of local women playing in the game is the icing on the cake. Bilka and Simpson started their hockey careers in the area, left to play hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota, were both selected in the 2024 PWHL Draft and now they’re the professional players young girls are looking up to.

“It just goes to show that these younger girls that are playing, they now have that professional All-Star that they can look up to that started in the same spot that they’re in,” Weidner said. “For girls in this area to see Hannah and Ally, it doesn’t get any better. That’s their Jamie Benn. That’s their Jason Robertson, when it comes to girls hockey.”

Before the Takeover Tour game was announced, Weidner reached out to the PWHL hoping to partner in some way with the youth hockey players in the area. The Takeover Tour game in Dallas turned out to be an “added bonus” to what they wanted to do to grow the game, Weidner said.

Exposing local girls in the non-traditional hockey market to as much professional hockey as possible is the goal for the Dallas Stars, according to Weidner. The hockey community is grateful for the opportunity to see the PWHL and keep growing the sport, Weidner added. Four or five years ago, something like this with the PWHL wasn’t even possible. Now, parents can get their daughter into playing hockey and see that there’s professional teams out there, which opens up a whole new world to them, Weidner said.

The Takeover Tour game was the second large-scale event related to girls/women’s hockey in Texas. On Dec. 7, the Stars held the PWHL and Dallas Stars Girls Hockey Day at the StarCenter in Plano, Texas. Four PWHL ambassadors — Victoria Bach, Kacey Bellamy, Erica Howe and Haley Skarupa — came to town as part of the event. The day included an autograph session as the ambassadors signed commemorative posters. Each youth participant also received either a Seattle Torrent or New York Sirens jersey.

The jamboree of cross-ice, four-on-four games with PWHL-ambassador-coached teams was split into two age groups of girls, ages 4-10 and ages 11-16, with about 140 girls attending the event. They would have been happy with about 100 girls participating, Weidner said, but registration filled up within the first 24 hours, so they ordered more jerseys and opened more slots.

“It was a home run,” Weidner said. “But our focus, and the reason we did that event, was just really to showcase growth.”

The Stars have seen growth with girls hockey USA Hockey registrations. Just from last season, they’ve seen a 13-14% growth in girls hockey players under age 18. Each year, they’re “making exponential strides” with more girls trying and playing hockey, Weidner said.

The organization is also mindful of keeping away barriers to playing the sport, whether it’s related to cost or lack of equipment. The recent Girls Hockey Day is just one example of their sustainable efforts to maintain growth within the sport and to help keep girls on the ice. 

Girls can see that they can create an avenue they want in hockey, whether it’s playing, coaching or working for a team, Weidner said.

“They now see what the end goal can be,” Weidner said. “They see they’re Olympians and they see they’re professional players. This game is just a whole other added element for them where they now see what the future could look like.”

Hockey fans in the area have a chance to see the Dallas Stars compete all the time. But seeing PWHL players arrive and play on that same sheet of ice creates a pathway that the Stars and local hockey community can be excited about, Montoya said.

“When young girls get to see elite women on NHL ice, it changes how they see themselves in the sport,” Montoya said. “That’s a no-brainer for us. That’s a powerful moment for families and for our community.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.