Hockey

Tampa Bay Lightning, PWHPA to co-host Dream Gap Tour event

The Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association and the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning will co-host a four-game Dream Gap Tour event in February at Advent Health Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

4 teams to participate in Feb. 25-26 event at Advent Health Center Ice in Florida

A female hockey player encroaches on the crease with the puck in an attempt to score on the goalie, who is in the butterfly position.
The PWHPA plays Secret Dream Gap showcase tournaments to promote the idea of a sustainable professional women's hockey league and it has partnered with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning to host one in Florida this February. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

The Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association and the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning will co-host a four-game Dream Gap Tour event in February.

Four teams will participate in the Feb. 25-26 event at Advent Health Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

The PWHPA, which includes women's hockey stars Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, was formed after the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in 2019.

The 100-member PWHPA plays Secret Dream Gap Tour tournaments and games to raise awareness and support for a sustainable women's pro league that offers a living wage and the competitive supports their male counterparts get.

"Partnering with the Tampa Bay Lightning is exciting for multiple reasons," said PWHPA operations consultant Jayna Hefford said Monday in a statement.

"They're a winning organization who have experienced tremendous success in a growing hockey market, which demonstrates both on-ice and off-ice accomplishments — something we highly respect."

The women have played showcase tournaments in Montreal, Pittsburgh and Truro, N.S., this season, and held an all-star weekend in Ottawa in December.

Another tournament is scheduled Jan. 21-22 in Owen Sound and Collingwood, Ont.

PWHPA members have not joined the seven-team Premier Hockey Federation, which will double its salary cap next season to $1.5 million US per club.

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