PWHL's Allyson Simpson, Hannah Bilka Deliver Stars' Puck Drop

While the Dallas Stars were hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, all eyes were on PWHL players Allyson Simpson and Hannah Bilka during the pregame festivities.

Bilka and Simpson delivered the ceremonial puck drop at American Airlines Center ahead of the Blackhawks (13-17-6) and Dallas (25-7-6) being in a 1-1 gridlock by the end of the first period thanks to Stars' Nils Lundkvist tallying his second goal of the season. The PWHL players taking to the ice occurred just one day before its Texas Takeover Tour game. Other pregame festivities ahead of the Stars' game included a video board feature on Simpson and a promotion graphic of the upcoming Takeover Tour game.

The Seattle Torrent will be taking on the New York Sirens in the matchup on Dec. 28. Simpson plays for the Sirens and is a Dallas native (Frisco, TX), while Bilka plays for Seattle and is from another area of DFW (Coppell, TX).

The pair grew up playing in hockey in Texas and were childhood friends who both made it to the PWHL following playing collegiate ice hockey. Simpson and Bilka both regularly attended Stars game growing up as their passion for hockey grew.

PWHL Players Drop Puck Before Dallas Stars' Game, Growing Sport Across Lone Star State

Following the conclusion of practice ahead of the game against the Siren, Bilka told Breakaway On SI that she was especially looking forward to sharing the coveted puck drop moment with Simpson.

"I'm a huge [Dallas] Stars fan, and I'm gonna be with one of my childhood friends, Ally[son] Simpson, and we kind of grew up together, so it's really cool to be able to share it with her," Bilka said of the upcoming ceremonial puck drop.

Lots of pregame festivities surrounding the PWHL here at the @DallasStars’ game against Chicago. Here’s a video of Hannah Bilka and Allyson Simpson’s pregame puck drop.

Very warm reaction from a very full American Airlines Center, where they’ll play tomorrow!#texashockey pic.twitter.com/gD8W6Fb1YF
— Jennifer Streeter (@JennyStreeter3) December 28, 2025

Per a source, the Siren and Torrent are spending the Stars game in the suites section to enjoy the game ahead of their own matchup at American Airlines center on the following day. They were shown on the video board throughout the night as well.

The very full crowd of American Airlines Center gave Bilka and Simpson a loud and warm reception as they dropped the puck to Stars' forward Jamie Benn and Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy. Various Dallas players also wore Torrent and Sirens jersey for their pregame walk-in outfits.

Back 🏠 reppin' @thepwhlofficial pic.twitter.com/BlUUcG8SBh
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) December 27, 2025

This marks the fourth of 16 Takeover Tour stops this year and the first time in history the PWHL has ever hosted a game in the Lone Star State.

Simpson, a defender, is a two-time Gold Medal Winner with Team USA in the 2018 Under-18 IIHF World Junior Championship Tournament and has one point on the 2025-26 season so far. Bilka is a forward and has logged two goals in addition to four assists this year. She won the 2024 National Championship with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Puck drop between the Torrent and Sirens is slated for 5:00 p.m. CST.

Simpson previously told On SI she is specifically ecstatic to bring her New York teammates to her hometown state of Texas.

"I think it's super exciting," Simpson said of playing in Texas, "Hopefully we can get a bigger and better crowd here. But I think that looking at how many people are interested in the game and just the buzz around this game, how excited all of our teammates are to come and play in Texas just kind of speaks to that. It's an incredibly exciting experience that I'm looking forward to being a part of."

Seattle most recently defeated the Montreal Victoire, 2-1. The NY Sirens are coming off a 4-3 loss against the Toronto Sceptres on Dec. 21.

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