The Heartlanders will hold their first official Women In Sports Night on Saturday, featuring Mellissa Channell-Watkins and Sophie Jaques of the Minnesota Frost.
The Heartlanders will hold their first official Women In Sports Night on Saturday, featuring Mellissa Channell-Watkins and Sophie Jaques of the Minnesota Frost.
Women In Sports Day is Saturday, and the Iowa Heartlanders are celebrating the event in grand fashion.
The club announced earlier this week it will host its first official Women In Sports Night presented by the Iowa Area Sports Commission.
The celebration will honor and showcase the incredible work women do in athletics, both locally and nationally. The highlight is an appearance from Mellissa Channell-Watkins and Sophie Jaques from the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL.
The day will commence with a Hockey 101 and PWHL Meet and Greet, where fans can learn the basics of the game straight from the players and staff.
The interactive session, which takes place from 2 to 3 Pm, covers rules, skills and behind-the-scenes insights tailored to newcomers to hockey.
Channell-Watkins and Jaques will both make an appearance following the event. Fans must have a game ticket to participate.
A meet-and-greet with the PWHL players follows at Backpocket Brewing from 3 to 4 Pm. The PWHL players will also take part in a ceremonial puck drop before the game.
The 30-year-old Channell-Watkins is a native of Oakville, Ont. The 5-foot-4 left-shot blueliner has five points (1-4-5) in 14 games with the Frost, who captured the 2024 Walter Cup in the league’s inaugural season.
Channell-Watkins also played for the Toronto Furies of the former Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and collegiately at the University of Wisconsin. She became the first PWHL player to record three assists in a post-season game, doing so in Game 5 of the Walter Cup Finals.
In 10 games with the Frost this season, Jaques has eight points (1-7-8). The 5-foot-8 Toronto native played her college hockey at Ohio State, where she set a program single-season record for defensemen with 58 points in her senior season. She was the first Buckeye player to be drafted by PWHL Boston in 2023 before being traded to Minnesota in February 2024.
The Heartlanders begin a weekend series against the Kalamazoo Wings Friday, with puck drop set for 7 Pm CT. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6 Pm.