Minnesota Wild Hosted Girls Hockey Weekend Dec. 2-3

The Minnesota Wild, in partnership with Red Baron, hosted the 7th Annual Girls Hockey Weekend on December 2 and 3.

On Saturday, 220 girls, including 6U, 8U, 10U and 12U hockey players, participated in youth hockey clinics at Xcel Energy Center.

Among the on-ice instructors were a large group of players from the PWHL Minnesota team including Taylor Heise, the PWHL's first-ever draft pick and Lake City native. Heise played college hockey at the University of Minnesota.

The PWHL Minnesota team is scheduled to play its home games at Xcel Energy Center as part of a 72 game season starting January 1, 2024. Its first home game will be on Saturday, January 6 at 2:30 p.m. against Montreal. 

The 10U and 12U girls also participated in dryland training which was led by several former college and professional women hockey players.

The celebration continued at the Wild vs. Blackhawks game on Sunday, December 3 when the Wild defeated the Hawks 4-1.

Many of the girls who participated in the clinics on Saturday filled various roles at the game on Sunday, including flag bearer, bench buddies, fist bump tunnel, Zamboni rides, and blue line buddies. Stillwater girls' youth hockey skated during the first intermission. Akua Tieku, DEI & Girls Grown Manager at Minnesota Hockey, was the Community Hero of the Game. Former University of Minnesota women's hockey coach, Laura Halldorson, made the "Let's Play Hockey!" call.

For more information on Girls Hockey Weekend, visit wild.com/girlshockeyweekend.