Riveters fans there is some big news to announce from the National Women’s Hockey League. It is finally official that the Minnesota Whitecaps will be joining the league as its fifth team for the 2018-2019 season. This is incredible news for the NWHL, as they have been looking to expand beyond their original four teams for quite some time. First, let’s give you a little background on the new team the Riveters will be facing multiple times.

The Whitecaps were founded in 2004 by the Brodt family. They started out in the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) along with many other teams. They were in this league up until 2012 when they became an independent team playing in many exhibition matches, including four with the NWHL back during the inaugural season. In 2010, they did capture the CWHL’s Clarkson Cup. However, there was a discrepancy in 2011 during the CWHL/WWHL, as the Canadian league decided they would not be taking the Whitecaps with the merger, thus beginning their independence. Now after six years of not being a part of any league, Minnesota finally has a home.

The Whitecaps have had many Olympians on the team over the years such as current gold medalists Hannah Brandt, along with the Lamoureux twins, Jocelyne and Monique, just to mention a few. There is going to be a lot more talent in the NWHL free agency pool this year so needless to say, June should be a very interesting month.

This is only good news for the league, as they add a highly talented team with a strong fan base in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see what the league does about travel since getting to and from Minnesota is going to have to be by air. Perhaps a partnership of some kind with an airline could be on the horizon, but nothing is certain. All that we know for sure right now is that the NWHL is heading in the right direction and it will be interesting to see what the 2018-19 season has in store for all of its fans.

Be on the lookout for more Riveters Free Agent profiles as the offseason continues.