(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
It was all smiles and laughs Wednesday night when the Arizona State University Women’s Hockey team competed for a chance to win $4,000 in an EA Sports NHL 19 Release Party tournament hosted by the Arizona Coyotes.
The event featured all three of ASU’s ACHA hockey teams, all three Grand Canyon University teams, including its women’s team, and Northern Arizona’s ACHA program.
The tournament was the first e-sports tournament the Coyotes organization had ever hosted and the event’s optional donations went to benefitting the Arizona Coyotes Foundation.
The event, which also promoted the diversity of the hockey community also featured a star-studded cast ofCoyotes personnel, including a final round against Coyotes forwards Christian Fischer and Brendan Perlini. Coyotes Ambassador Paul Bissonnette and in-game host Kristen Keogh kept the packed The Park Street Food Bar amped up in between games.
For the ASU women’s team, the tournament did not go as well as planned, losing in the first-round of the winner’s and loser’s brackets.
However, the event was yet another opportunity to get the new-look Sun Devils team to understand each other better and bond together.
“It’s always a good experience to have all the girls together, and in this type of fun environment, ASU women’s head coach Lindsey Ellis said. “It’s a good bonding environment, especially with so many new players.”
Junior goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden echoed similar praise for the event, offering a “stress-free environment” and the opportunity to hang out with her teammates. “I think we all need that every once in a while,” Nash-Boulden said.
In the end, it was the GCU Men’s D2 squad that claimed victory and lifted the trophy, claiming the $3,000 prize along with an extra $1,000 for beating Fischer and Perlini.
Long time Coyotes fan and 2018 NHL Gaming World Championships American champion John Wayne Casagranda made an appearance to the event as well, joining in with the Fischer and Perlini to try and mount a comeback against GCU. The comeback fell short in a 10-3 defeat.
In total, $10,000 will be donated to the participating programs of the e-sports tournament.
Last weekend, the Coyotes hosted their first ever Fan Fest, which brought over 3,000 people to Gila River Arena in Glendale. As the team continues to expand the sport in Arizona, forward Brendan Perlini praised the pace of growth in the state.
“Here [in Arizona] it is growing every year. Every year since I’ve been drafted since 2014, [hockey] has gotten bigger and bigger,” Perlini said. “Hopefully it just keeps growing. Hopefully we get better as a team and it attracts more fans. It’s a great place to play hockey, it’s a lot of fun.”
