NWHL All-Star Game captains Jillian Dempsey and Madison Packer have picked their squads for next month's showcase, and some friends will become enemies when the all-star teams hit the ice in Boston.

Michelle Jay

When fans file through the doors of Warrior Ice Arena in Boston for next month’s 2020 NWHL All-Star Game, they’ll be getting a healthy dose of the hometown Pride.

In all, eight members of the league-leading and undefeated Boston squad were selected to the NWHL’s all-star rosters, including all the Pride powerhouse trio of McKenna Brand, Lexie Laing and NWHL all-time leading scorer Jillian Dempsey, the latter captaining one of the two all-star squads. Opposing Dempsey as the other all-star captain is Metropolitan Riveters veteran Madison Packer, the second-highest scorer in league history. Joining the Pride’s trio and Packer will be five other Riveters standouts, as well as seven members of the Minnesota Whitecaps, six members of the Buffalo Beauts and five members of the Connecticut Whale.

Of those who will participate in the festivities, eight players who were original NWHLers, players in the league since Year One, including Dempsey, Packer, Corinne Buie, Jordan Brickner, Shannon Doyle, Elena Orlando, Kaleigh Fratkin and Kiira Dosdall-Arena. Meanwhile, three players – the Pride’s Lexi Bender, Riveters’ Rebecca Morse and Whitecaps’ Audra Richards – were selected by fan vote. The NWHL office made the final 21 all-star selections.

It’s not the selections but rather the composition of the rosters and the way Dempsey and Packer built their clubs that should offer the most intrigue come all-star weekend, however. In a pick-by-pick draft, the two all-star captains made their choices. Some of the selections were notable in that they kept familiar faces together – Dempsey picked Brand and Laing, as well as teammates Bender and Selander – but others will allow friends to become rivals, if only for a fun-loving weekend that showcases the women’s circuit.

Among those teammates who will go head to head are Dempsey and Brand against linemate Christina Putigna, Packer against longtime teammate Dosdall-Arena and Whitecaps keeper Leveille will get the chance to shutdown Minnesota leading scorers Thunstrom and Schammel.

As far as potential snubs are concerned, those who should have made the cut and did not are few and far between, but the Pride’s Emily Fluke and Beauts’ Iveta Klimasova are two of the more surprising omissions. Fluke, a late addition in Boston, has been among the Pride’s top scorers since her arrival and possesses one of the best per-game production rates in the NWHL, while Klimasova has been among Buffalo’s top scorers this season, her 14 points ahead of all but three of her Beauts teammates.

The NWHL’s all-star weekend kicks off Feb. 8 with the Skills Challenge, and wraps up with a two-period 4-on-4 event Feb. 9. Both the skills competition and all-star game will be broadcast on the NWHL’s Twitch channel.

See below for the complete rosters:

Team Dempsey

Forwards

McKenna Brand, Boston Pride

Jonna Curtis, Minnesota Whitecaps

Jillian Dempsey, Boston Pride

Lexi Laing, Boston Pride

Nicole Schammel, Minnesota Whitecaps

Allie Thunstrom, Minnesota Whitecaps

Emma Vlasic, Connecticut Whale

Taylor Accursi, Buffalo Beauts

Defenders

Marie-Jo Pelletier, Buffalo Beauts

Lexi Bender, Boston Pride

Shannon Doyle, Connecticut Whale

Rebecca Morse, Metropolitan Riveters

Jordan Brickner, Connecticut Whale

Kiira Dosdall-Arena, Metropolitan Riveters

Goaltenders

Mariah Fujimagari, Buffalo Beauts

Lovisa Selander, Boston Pride

Team Packer

Forwards

Corinne Buie, Buffalo Beauts

Kendall Cornine, Metropolitan Riveters

Grace Klienbach, Connecticut Whale

Kate Leary, Metropolitan Riveters

Madison Packer, Metropolitan Riveters

Mary Parker, Boston Pride

Christina Putigna, Boston Pride

Audra Richards, Minnesota Whitecaps

Brooke Stacey, Buffalo Beauts

Defenders

Sydney Baldwin, Minnesota Whitecaps

Amanda Boulier, Minnesota Whitecaps

Lenka Čurmová, Buffalo Beauts

Kaleigh Fratkin, Boston Pride

Elena Orlando, Connecticut Whale

Goaltenders

Amanda Leveille, Minnesota Whitecaps

Sam Walther, Metropolitan Riveters

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