TRURO, N.S. – The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) today announced the first Secret Dream Gap tour of the 2021-22 season will take place in Truro, Nova Scotia. The showcase will take place at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre, current home of the Truro Junior A Bearcats, on November 12-13.

When the puck drops in Nova Scotia it will mark a major milestone for women’s hockey in the region as this will be the first professional women’s hockey game to be hosted in Atlantic Canada. The showcase will feature Toronto (Team Sonnet), Calgary (Team Scotiabank), Montreal (sponsor TBA) and the PWHPA’s newest hub, Boston.

“The social and economic impacts of this event will be significant to our recovery from the Pandemic,” said Bill Mills, mayor of Truro. Added Christine Blair, mayor of Colchester, “We are incredibly excited at the opportunity to build a partnership with the PWHPA for this upcoming season, especially given the many challenges we have all faced along the way.”

The teams will play one game each on Friday, with the winners from each game moving on to play in the championship game on Saturday and the losers facing off in the consolation game. Players will compete for cash prizes and for season ranking points. In addition to the games, players from the PWHPA hubs will also take part in skills clinics and speaking engagements with local girl’s hockey players and organizations.

“Hosting the PWHPA Dream Gap Tour is much more than just an event opportunity for our team,” said Matt Moore, General Manager of the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. “It’s about demonstrating our commitment to the players, it’s about social wellbeing for our community, and it’s about our unwavering promise to support equality in sport”.

With the Province of Nova Scotia anticipating that Sept. 15 will represent the transition to phase 5, organizers are anticipating all public health Covid-19 restrictions to be lifted, which includes the venues capacity to host fans. The PWHPA and venue staff will ensure that all athletes participating in the showcase will align with provincial and national regulated public health requirements for safe cross border travel and gameplay.

“I am thrilled that the PWHPA is finally making its way to Atlantic Canada,” said PWHPA Operations Consultant Jayna Hefford. “The opportunity to expand our reach and make an impact in local communities across North America is exciting and we’re thankful for everyone who’s been involved in making this event come to fruition. I know the players are looking forward to playing in Nova Scotia and continuing the momentum from last season.”

Amy Walsh, Executive Director of Hockey Nova Scotia, added, “We are so excited to welcome the PWHPA Dream Gap Tour to our province and provide this platform for women’s hockey. This is an incredible opportunity for Nova Scotians to watch some of the best players in the world play the sport they love. We believe this showcase will inspire girls in our province to chase their own hockey dreams because if you can see her, you can be her”.

The showcase will mark the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that Canadian and American teams will compete in the same showcase, with the newly announced Boston region crossing the border into Canada. During the 2020-2021 season, Minnesota (Team adidas) and New Hampshire (Team Women’s Sports Foundation) competed against each other in New York, Chicago and St. Louis, while Calgary (Team Scotiabank), Toronto (Team Sonnet) and Montreal (Team Bauer) faced off in a week-long event in Calgary. Minnesota and Montreal were respectively crowned American and Canadian Secret Cup Champions.