HockeyFest helps young girls hit the ice, learn from Canadian hockey legend

Dozens of young girls took part in the Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest at Winnipeg's Hockey For All Centre on Sunday, March 10, 2024. (Alexandra Holyk/CTV News)

Dozens of girls aged 7 to 16 laced up their skates Sunday for a chance to hit the ice and get some pointers from hockey legend Cassie Campbell-Pascall.

Participants in the Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest passed the puck around at Winnipeg’s Hockey For All Centre, with Campbell-Pascall providing a helping hand along the way.

“She was funny,” said nine-year-old Kaydence Ewbank when asked what Campbell-Pascall was like on the ice.

Ewbank is on the Red River Wild U11 girls’ team and has been playing hockey for three years. She said she enjoyed participating in the event with her friends and teammates.

“It was really good, I liked it a lot,” she said.

Campbell-Pascall, who is also a special advisor to the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), said events like HockeyFest and the league help introduce more girls and women to the male-dominated sport.

“What the [PWHL] has done is made the sport more visible,” she said. “It's given a platform for our role models across this country and United States and around the world to be seen on television every other night, which I think is important for for young girls and boys from around the world.”

“I think we've always had a dream that this was possible, and I think it's exceeded our expectations.”

Campbell-Pascall also said she was happy to see how many girls and young women are playing hockey since the HockeyFest program launched nearly 20 years ago.

“The talent is incredible, the amount of girls playing now in each province is incredible,” she said. “And it just continues to get better and better.”

The Canadian Olympian also shared a message to the young participants: “Meet a new friend have fun.”

Campbell-Pascall said it didn’t matter whether the girls have been playing hockey for years or never laced up their skates before.

“I think we're just trying to introduce some girls in particular with our Learn To Play program, to skate and to introduce them to the game. So that part's pretty fun,” she said.

The Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest will be in Burnaby, B.C. on March 23. Next month, the tour touches down in Montreal on April 7, before wrapping up in Toronto on April 14.