Adidas reached multiyear partnerships with the four female hockey players -- USWNT members Brianna Decker and Kendall Coyne Schofield and Canada women's national team members Rebecca Johnston and Renata Fast -- who participated in the NHL All-Star Skills competitions. Coyne Schofield was part of the field for the Fastest Skater event, while Decker demonstrated the Premier Passer event. Johnston demonstrated the Puck Control event and Fast showed how to do the Accuracy Shooting element. Each will play a prominent role in brand initiatives and be featured in upcoming marketing campaigns (Adidas). ESPN.com's Emily Kaplan noted Decker "appeared to record a time of 1 minute, 6 seconds in the demo, which beat the eight NHL player participants." Oilers LW Leon Draisaitl collected a $25,000 prize for officially winning the event, but that "upset many fans." CCM on Saturday "decided to pay Decker itself" (ESPN.com,1/27). Decker said of CCM, "I’ve been with them for a while, so I was pretty thankful. They have been so consistent in growing both sides of the game -- men and women -- and at the same time the opportunity all came from the NHL, too. We wouldn’t be there without the NHL inviting us. I'm thanking CCM like 100 times, but I’m also thanking the NHL" (USATODAY.com, 1/26). The NHL also announced during Saturday night’s All-Star Game that it "would donate $25,000 to the charity or hockey program" of the choosing for all four females players (WASHINGTON POST, 1/27).
STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION: NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said there is "certainly a possibility" the league will look to include more female players at future all-star weekends. Daly: "We hoped to step it up a bit this year and circumstances allowed it to happen. We would hope we have similar opportunities in the future." USA TODAY's A.J. Perez noted the league "did face some backlash over not paying" the female participants. However, Decker said that money was "never the point of their inclusion." Decker: "To me, it’s all about getting us exposure and that’s what we did this weekend" (USA TODAY, 1/27). THE ATHLETIC's Scott Burnside noted Daly "credited senior NHL executive Patrick Burke with helping" to get Coyne Schofield in the Fastest Skater competition after Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon withdrew. Daly said Burke "knew that we had a woman here who actually could compete and he encouraged and promoted the fact that she could do that." The NHLPA and the players participating in the event also were "all on board with the opportunity" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/27).
LACE 'EM UP: In Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont noted Coyne Schofield "owned the moment -- a splendid, glorious moment for women in sports" -- when she became the "first female ever to stand shoulder to shoulder, and skate stride for stride, with the NHL’s big boys." Coyne Schofield skated first in the Fastest Skater competition with a 14.346 mark, "seventh in the field of eight" when all the times were tallied. But it was the "seventh-place finish heard ’round the world'" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/27). In San Jose, Paul Gackle noted she was the first skater in the contest and drew "loud chants of 'USA, USA, USA,' from a crowd that clearly appreciated the historical moment they were about to witness" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 1/26). Coyne Schofield said, “The crowd was electrifying. To hear the ‘USA’ chants, everyone erupted when I started, that definitely gave me some momentum. The adrenaline was pumping" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/26). In Boston, Marisa Ingemi noted while Coyne Schofield did not win, she "didn’t have to to justify something women in hockey have known for a long time -- the top women in the world can hold their own, and even beat, men in hockey as well." The NHL "provided that platform on Friday night" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/27).
GAINING RECOGNITION: THE HOCKEY NEWS' Matt Larkin wrote the show both Decker and Coyne Schofield "gave the fans Friday night was important" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 1/26). ESPN.com's Kaplan & Wyshnyski note the players' involvement over the weekend was "about the reverberations for female athletes everywhere." Coyne Schofield: "I knew it was a moment that was going to break a lot of barriers and a moment that would change the perception of our game" (ESPN.com, 1/27). In DC, Sarah Larimer wrote, "The coolest story out of NHL all-star weekend so far? It wasn’t anything an NHL player did" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/27). SPORTSNET.ca's Luke Fox wrote if the NHL "made a statement by showing that women are just as skilled as the men," Coyne Schofield "was the exclamation point" (SPORTSNET.ca, 1/27).
