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Washington Wild Visit New Day Northwest

By Victoria Reeb, 02/16/14, 2:45PM PST

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The Washington Wild hockey players are accustomed to performing on stage, but the bright lights of an ice arena are one thing. The bright lights on a television show set are a whole other thing. On Monday, February 10, 2014, the studio audience of New Day Northwest (KING 5 program) was a sea of red, as the large assembly of Wild members in attendance all wore their game jerseys.

After braving rain and Monday morning rush-hour traffic into Seattle Center, players and parents took over the studio’s waiting area. Buzzing with excitement, the girls from all three WWFHA teams mingled  [Wild in the New Day Audience] and welcomed other members as more girls arrived. As the clock ticked on and on, the mood of the group grew more subdued…until it was time to go on the set. As we wound our way through the behind-the-scenes hallways, we wondered what the set would look like and how big it would be.  Our escort directed us to theater-style seating, and we watched in anticipation as camera crews set up equipment and other staff ran around getting ready for the show.

We came to receive a “shout out” to WWFHA, see Kelly Stephens rub elbows with some of our players, and watch her interview with host Margaret Larson. Kelly is a 2006 women’s ice hockey bronze-medal Olympian from Shoreline. She and her husband own and operate Experience Momentum, a Lynnwood facility offering personal training and other sports/fitness services.

Four Wild members were previously selected to demonstrate stick-handling maneuvers with Kelly. But before they were invited on stage, producers surprised us by recruiting three girls prior to the start of the show to compete in the Brain Olympics. Alex , Brooke, and Emily took their spots at the podiums and prepared to be first on the buzzer with answers after Olympics-related questions were presented by Margaret. The girls had fun, laughed, got some answers right, and everyone learned something about the continent of Asia (where this year’s Olympics are being held). After the rounds of questioning, the girls moved on to shoot rubber pucks into a net.  The audience erupted in laughter at the sight of the girls hurriedly whacking light-weight, puck-shaped objects across the stage. Many of the objects flew off in random directions. Each competitor received a prize for her participation. Emily took first place (Seattle Thunderbirds tickets), and Alex and Brooke received movie passes.

Regardless of their aspirations with hockey, listening to an accomplished, personable young woman talk about her experience on the world stage of the Olympics was inspiring. After Kelly’s interview wrapped up, she joined Lokelani, Adrienne, Allison and Rachel on stage for a stick-handling demo. Kelly talked about the purpose of taping a stick and a forward’s “go to” move, the toe drag. Allison demonstrated this technique, then all the girls made a few passes with the puck. Fortunately, the light-weight, puck-shaped object mostly cooperated for this segment of the show.

The girls re-joined the audience and watched the remainder of the television program. When we were cleared for take-off, Wild members were invited to join Kelly for autographs and pictures. Afterward, everyone went their separate ways, happy to have missed a day of school for this unique opportunity.

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More Behind the Scenes Photos on the Facebook Page. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/WWFHA

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Video of Kelly Stephens Trystad interview and Washington Wild players demonstrating skills