WAKEFIELD, Mass. - A record 54 alumnae of Hockey East Association schools are set to compete in the 2021 National Women’s Hockey League season, set to take place from January 23 through February 5 in Lake Placid, New York. A full list of the players can be found below.
The competition in Lake Placid will feature the NWHL’s six teams, the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, and first-year expansion club the Toronto Six. Each team will each play a five-game round robin tournament, followed by a playoff round that will determine the four advancing teams into the Isobel Cup Semifinals.
In all, the 54 players represent nine of Hockey East’s 10 member institutions. New Hampshire claims the most players in the NWHL with 10 players, while both Boston University and Providence can boast nine former Terriers and Friars in the league. There are eight Maine Black Bears competing for the 2021 Isobel Cup, seven Northeastern Huskies, four Merrimack Warriors, three Boston College Eagles, and two UConn Huskies and Vermont Catamounts.
The Boston Pride boast the most Hockey East alumnae, carrying 15 former league players on its roster, followed by the Beauts with 11, the Riveters and Six with eight each, the Whitecaps with seven, and the Whale have five league representatives on its squad.
The single-elimination Isobel Cup Semifinals will be shown live nationally on NBCSN on Thursday, February 4 at 5:30 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET. The winners of the semifinals will advance to the Isobel Cup Final on Friday, February 5 at 7 p.m. ET. In addition to coverage on NBCSN, live coverage will stream exclusively on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. These telecasts will mark the first-ever women’s professional hockey games to air on a major national cable network in the U.S.
The 2020 National Women’s Hockey League Entry Draft was a historic day for Hockey East that included its third number one overall pick in the NWHL Draft, Boston University forward Sammy Davis. In total, nine alumnae of Hockey East member schools were selected in the 2020 NWHL Draft representing five of the 10 league institutions.
The nine overall selections are the second-most in a single NWHL Draft. In total, 38 Hockey East alumnae have been chosen in the NWHL Draft, including a record 11 in 2017.
With Davis’s selection, Boston University is the only school to have the first overall pick in the entry drafts of the NWHL, CWHL, (2016 - Kayla Tutino, Boston Blades), and the NHL (2000 - Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders.) Davis is the third player from Hockey East to be selected first overall in the NWHL Draft, following a pair of Boston College Eagles in Alex Carpenter in 2015 and Katie Burt in 2017.
With the help and guidance from USA Hockey, the NWHL’s season will also have an all-female officiating staff, including several Hockey East officials, the first-ever an all-female officiating initiative of this scale.
Hockey East Alumae in the 2021 NWHL Season | |||
Name | Pos. | School | NWHL Team |
Julie Allen | F | New Hampshire | Toronto Six |
Brooke Avery | F | New Hampshire | Metropolitan Riveters |
Brooke Boquist | F | Providence | Toronto Six |
McKenna Brand | F | Northeastern | Boston Pride |
Winny Brodt Brown | D | New Hampshire | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Paige Capistran | D | Northeastern | Boston Pride |
Elaine Chuli | G | UConn | Toronto Six |
Taytum Clairmont | F | Northeastern | Toronto Six |
Brittany Colton | F | Maine | Buffalo Beauts |
Jonna Curtis | F | New Hampshire | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Sammy Davis | F | Boston University | Boston Pride |
Whitney Dove | D | Providence | Buffalo Beauts |
Shannon Doyle | D | Boston University | Connecticut Whale |
Kaleigh Fratkin | D | Boston University | Boston Pride |
Mariah Fujimagari | G | Maine | Connecticut Whale |
Mikayla Grant-Mentis | F | Merrimack | Toronto Six |
Victoria Hanson | G | Boston University | Boston Pride |
Tori Howran | D | New Hampshire | Connecticut Whale |
Cailey Hutchison | F | Maine | Metropolitan Riveters |
Carly Jackson | G | Maine | Buffalo Beauts |
Jordan Juron | F | Boston University | Buffalo Beauts |
Lauren Kelly | D | Northeastern | Boston Pride |
Theresa Knutson | F | UConn | Metropolitan Riveters |
Sammy Kolowrat | D | Vermont | Metropolitan Riveters |
Dominique Kremer | D | Merrimack | Buffalo Beauts |
Kate Leary | F | Boston College | Metropolitan Riveters |
Mackenzie MacNeil | F | Vermont | Toronto Six |
Cassidy MacPherson | F | Providence | Buffalo Beauts |
Alyson Matteau | D | Maine | Buffalo Beauts |
Meghara McManus | F | New Hampshire | Boston Pride |
Rebecca Morse | D | Providence | Metropolitan Riveters |
Allie Morse | G | Providence | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Mary Parker | F | Boston University | Boston Pride |
Marie-Jo Pelletier | D | New Hampshire | Buffalo Beauts |
Christina Putinga | F | Providence | Boston Pride |
Jenna Rheault | D | New Hampshire | Boston Pride |
Audra Richards | F | Maine | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Meaghan Rickard | F | Providence | Boston Pride |
Samantha Ridgewell | G | Merrimack | Toronto Six |
Nina Rodgers | F | Boston University | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Rebecca Russo | F | Boston University | Metropolitan Riveters |
Brooke Stacey | F | Maine | Buffalo Beauts |
Sarah Steele | D | Boston University | Toronto Six |
Tori Sullivan | F | Northeastern | Boston Pride |
Allie Thunstrom | F | Boston College | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Carlee Turner | F | New Hampshire | Boston Pride |
Neve Van Pelt | F | Providence | Buffalo Beauts |
Tereza Vanisova | F | Maine | Boston Pride |
Paige Voight | F | Merrimack | Metropolitan Riveters |
Taylor Wasylk | F | Boston College | Buffalo Beauts |
Janine Weber | F | Providence | Connecticut Whale |
Taylor Wenczkowski | F | New Hampshire | Boston Pride |
Brooke White-Lancette | F | Northeastern | Minnesota Whitecaps |
Alyssa Wohlfeiler | F | Northeastern | Connecticut Whale |