College hockey: UW women to play series in Florida
Next season's University of Wisconsin women's hockey schedule hasn't yet been released, but when it is, one nonconference series will stand out.
And not just because of the high-profile opponent.
The Badgers will play New Hampshire on Nov. 21 and 22 in Fort Myers, Fla., where Badgers junior-to-be Kyla Sanders will feel right at home.
Sanders, a UW forward, is from Fort Myers and her father, Joe, is the general manager of the Skatium, where the games will be played.
"It's her home rink," Joe Sanders said. "She's probably played 1,000 games here. She grew up playing hockey here, 10 years in this rink."
UW director of hockey operations Paul Hickman said discussions about playing in Florida started over a year ago. The Sanders family connection to the Skatium will help in promoting the event, he said.
The Badgers also had to find a team that would be willing and able to travel for a nonconference series, and the UW found that in New Hampshire, a fellow Frozen Four participant last season.
"We're going to try to give our kids a really good experience," Hickman said.
The event originally included four teams but one had to drop out, Sanders said, and the series was then cut to two teams. He said he hopes to have it up to a four-team outing in the 2009-10 season.
In connection with the series, the Badgers are planning on holding a girls hockey clinic on Nov. 23. Hickman said that boys hockey players in the area have men's teams to watch, but, by and large, there isn't the same opportunity for girls.
Sanders said there are only 350 girls hockey players in Florida.
"They haven't had a lot of exposure to high-level women's hockey," Hickman said. "We're going to try to expose them to something cool."
The Skatium, which will hold about 500 people for the games, is across the street from City of Palms Park, the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. That's naturally appealing to Badgers forwards and Massachusetts natives Erika Lawler and Meghan Duggan, Hickman said.
The Badgers are planning on having a training table meal at the Red Sox facility.
"Lawler and Duggan are ecstatic at the idea of getting to check that place out," Hickman said.
The Wildcats swept the Badgers last November in Durham, N.H. Both teams lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the Frozen Four -- UNH in the semifinals, UW in the championship game.
The event, which was publicized in a local paper last week, has already created a buzz in Fort Myers -- Sanders said people have started to ask about tickets.
"It's going to be fantastic," he said.
Associated Press
UW forward Kyla Sanders (middle) tries to get a shot past Minnesota-Duluth goalie Heidi Pelttari (left) during the NCAA Frozen Four championship game in March in Duluth.
