This will be the third time USA Hockey has held the girls Nationals in Orange County. The former Disney ICE (now The Rinks - Anaheim ICE) played host to the girls' and women's tournaments in 1998. The Lady Ducks, which were founded in 1999, played host to the 2011 Tier II girls' tournament at Anaheim.
"We're grateful to USA Hockey for again selecting one of our associations to host Nationals," said Art Trottier, president of the Irvine Ice Foundation's Anaheim Jr. Ducks and Anaheim Lady Ducks, and vice president of The Rinks. "Our new facility is state of the art and a perfect venue to host tournaments the caliber of Nationals."
The Lady Ducks Girls' teams feature several elite young players hopeful to follow the path led by numerous former Lady Ducks that have gone on to professional and U.S. National Team success following their Lady Ducks career, including: Annie Pankowski, a 2019 Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist and National Champion (Wisconsin) and member of the U.S. National Team, Cayla Barnes, who won a Gold Medal with the U.S. at the 2018 U.S. Olympic Games, and Kaliya Johnson, who went on to Boston College and now plays for the professional NWHL's Boston Pride.
USA Hockey recently announced that Great Park Ice and the Anaheim Jr. Ducks will also play host to the 2020 USA Hockey Youth Nationals Boys' 18U Tier II division next year. The tournament, scheduled for April 2-6, 2020, will mark the first time the Jr. Ducks will play host to Nationals.
The USA Hockey Nationals is an annual tournament dating back to 1938, where youth hockey teams across the country compete for the ultimate prize, the USA Hockey national championship. Thousands of players have taken the ice under USA Hockey to compete, some going on to play in the National Hockey League. Some of the notable players to appear in the USA Hockey Nationals are current Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry, Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Hilary Knight and many more.
