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On Thursday the NWHL announced that the 2016 season will open with a full weekend of events at HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, NY.
“We’re kicking off our second season with a weekend-long event to celebrate our players, fans, and the future stars of this sport,” commissioner Dani Rylan said in a press release from the league. “We had a very successful inaugural season and All-Star Game at HARBORCENTER, and we’re excited to mark a major anniversary in Buffalo.”
On Friday, October 7, the Boston Pride and the Buffalo Beauts will drop the puck on the league's second season with a rematch of the Isobel Cup finals at 7:30 p.m. The Pride will play again on Saturday, facing off against the New York Riveters, and on Sunday the Beauts will take on the Connecticut Whale. Both of those games will also be at 7:30 p.m.
The weekend's festivities will also include the inaugural NWHL Futures Tournament, which will involve 16 teams, aged U-8 to U-14, from each of the NWHL's four markets. This is also in celebration of IIHF Girls' Hockey Weekend, which takes place October 8th and 9th.
Single-game tickets for each of the three games are available now, as well as a weekend package. You can purchase tickets here.
While the full season schedule is still forthcoming, and much of the Pride's roster remains unknown, this announcement is a good sign for the future of the league. I hope you're as excited as I am for another season of the NWHL!