The Minnesota Wild supported the Whitecaps during Hockey is for Everyone month, and the NWHL selected two players from the team to join its all-stars during the NWHL All-Star Game in February.
On Tuesday, NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan cited the strong contingent of hockey-playing women from Minnesota as a primary reason why the NWHL's first-ever expansion team is in the State of Hockey. Another was the strong showing of fans during the All-Star Game.
"Usually when we have a neutral-site event, it's to test the market, but let's be serious, we don't need to test it here. This is the State of Hockey," Rylan said. "These women are the best at what they do, and they've earned the right to play professional hockey, and that's why we're here today.
"The Minnesota Whitecaps have done an incredible job of building a legacy and creating opportunities for Minnesota, and we look forward to building on that tradition."
Whitecaps alumnae include Gigi Marvin, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson, Kendall Coyne, Alex Rigsby and Hannah Brandt, all of whom were part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Rylan hopes that these players, along with the many other Minnesota natives around the NWHL as well as some of the 28 graduating seniors from five Division I teams around the state, will compete to crack the new Whitecaps roster.
"If it was at all possible, we would have loved to start with a team in Minnesota," Rylan said. "I have no doubt that this sports market, so passionate about the Lynx, Wild, Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and the college and high school programs, has room in their hearts for the Whitecaps of the NWHL."
