Boston Pride
| Boston Pride | |
|---|---|
| File:Boston Pride logo.png | |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts |
| League | National Women's Hockey League |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Home arena | Warrior Ice Arena |
| Colors | black, gold, white |
| Owner(s) | Miles Arnone |
| General manager | Karilyn Pilch[1] |
| Head coach | Paul Mara[2] |
| Captain | Jillian Dempsey[3] |
| Media | NESN NWHL Cross Ice Pass (On YouTube) |
| Affiliate | Boston Bruins (NHL) |
| Website | Official Website |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 2015–16, 2016–17 |
| Playoff championships | 2015–16 |
 Current season | |
The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). The Pride play at Warrior Ice Arena which is also the practice facility for the Boston Bruins. They won the inaugural Isobel Cup in 2016, defeating the Buffalo Beauts.
History
Inaugural season
In their inaugural season win which they won the championship they played at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center at Harvard University in the Allston neighborhood of Boston.[4]
In May 2015, the Pride announced the hiring of Bobby Jay as their head coach. Jay has experience as an assistant coach for the silver medal-winning 2014 U.S. Women's Olympic Team, and on the coaching staff of the U.S. Women's National Team at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2012 and 2013, and the Four Nations Cup in 2011, 2012, and 2013.[5]
In June 2015, Amanda Pelkey became the first player to sign a player contract with the Pride.[6]
The team made its debut in 2015 in a 4–1 victory over the Buffalo Beauts. Hilary Knight scored the first goal in franchise history, and would also record the first multi-goal game in NWHL history. The Pride's first-ever win was recorded by Brittany Ott, who became the first American-born goaltender to win an NWHL regular season game. During a 5–3 road win against the Buffalo Beauts, Brianna Decker scored the first hat trick in NWHL history.
In November 2015, Briana Decker and Hilary Knight were named co-captains of the Pride.
On December 31, 2015, the Boston Pride played the Montreal Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League to a 1–1 tie in the first ever 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic the day before at the site of the 2016 NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was the first outdoor professional Women's hockey game, the first game sanctioned by the NHL and the first game between the NWHL and the CWHL.
In the second period of the game, Denna Laing would crash into the boards and suffer a career ending injury in the contest. A rally of support resulted in funds raised for the Denna Laing Foundation. At season's end, the Pride would bring the Isobel Cup to a hospitalized Laing, sharing in the glory. In addition, Laing would win the NWHL's Foundation Award and the Perseverance Award.[7]
2016–17 season
On April 28, 2016, the Pride acquired the rights to Alexandra Carpenter, the first pick overall in the 2015 NWHL Draft.[8]
On February 2, 2017, the team traded Zoe Hickel to Connecticut Whale for their first pick in the 2017 NWHL Draft.[9]
The Pride lost to the Buffalo Beauts in the Isobel Cup final in 2017.[10]
2017–18 season
The team had several personnel changes prior to the 2017–18 season including a new head coach in Thomas Pöck and lost seven players for the season in preparation for their participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics. After two seasons in which the Pride finished regular season in first place played in the Isobel Cup finals, the Pride finished in third place. The Pride ultimately lost to the Buffalo Beauts in the first round semifinal game and failed to make the Isobel Cup finals for the first time.[11]
2018–19 season
On May 30, 2018, Paul Mara was named head coach of the Pride for 2018–19[12] and inaugural Pride member Marissa Gedman retired from playing to join the staff as an assistant coach.[13]
In September 2019, the league announced the Boston Pride had been purchased by a group of investors led by Miles Arnone.[14]
Season-by-season records
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 75 | 39 | Won Isobel Cup Championship over Buffalo Beauts |
| 2016–17 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 73 | 29 | Lost Isobel Cup Championship to Buffalo Beauts |
| 2017–18 | 16 | 4 | 8 | — | 4 | — | 12 | 33 | 48 | Lost semifinal game to Buffalo Beauts |
| 2018–19 | 16 | 11 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 22 | 60 | 36 | Lost semifinal game to Buffalo Beauts |
Draft history
With their first pick in the 2015 NWHL Draft, the pride selected Kendall Coyne.
NWHL Draft
The following are the Pride' selections from the 2015 NWHL Draft of college players in their junior year held on June 20, 2015. Note: The team has not announced any signings from this list to date. A player who is drafted but does not sign with the organization that selected her, may enter free-agency after completing her senior year.
| # | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 3 | Kendall Coyne | Forward |  United States |
Northeastern Univ. |
| 7 | Emerance Maschmeyer | Goalie |  Canada |
Harvard Univ. |
| 11 | Lexi Bender | Defense | United States |
Boston College |
| 15 | Miye D'Oench | Forward | United States |
Harvard Univ. |
| 19 | Shannon MacAuley | Forward | Canada |
Clarkson |
Media
All NWHL Games are broadcast on NWHL Cross Ice on YouTube. In November 2015, it was announced that all Pride home games would be broadcast live on NESN.[16]
Awards and honors
- Brianna Decker, 2016, 2017 Most Valuable Player, 2017 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Jillian Dempsey, 2019 Denna Laing Award[17]
- Hilary Knight, 2016 Scoring Champion
- Denna Laing, 2016 Foundation Award
- Denna Laing, 2016 Perseverance Award
- Gigi Marvin, 2016 Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Brittany Ott, 2016 Goaltender of the Year
Franchise milestones
| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First goal | Hilary Knight | October 11, 2015 |
| First hat trick | Brianna Decker | October 25, 2015 |
| First multi-point game | Hilary Knight | October 11, 2015 |
| First win | Brittany Ott | October 11, 2015 |
| First African-American player | Blake Bolden | October 11, 2015 |
| First playoff goal | Brianna Decker | March 4, 2016 |
| First playoff game-winning goal | Brianna Decker | March 4, 2016 |
| First playoff win | Brittany Ott | March 4, 2016 |
| First playoff shutout | Brittany Ott | March 4, 2016 |
References
- ^ "Karilyn Pilch Named GM of the Boston Pride". NWHL. July 22, 2019.
- ^ "USNT's Paul Mara Named Head Coach of the Boston Pride". OurSportsCentral.com. May 30, 2018.
- ^ "Boston Pride 2017-18 season recap nwhl". theicegarden.com. July 25, 2018.
- ^ Hayden, Zoë (14 April 2015). "NWHL launch party provides passion, enthusiasm, and few answers". Stanley Cup of Chowder. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Cimini, Kaitlin (28 May 2015). "Bobby Jay Brings NHL Experience to the Boston Pride". Today's Slapshot. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ Cimini, Kaitlin (23 June 2015). "Amanda Pelkey becomes first player to sign with Boston Pride". NWHL. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ^ McGinnes, Meagan (March 22, 2016). "Denna Laing wins two awards at NWHL Awards". boston.com. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
- ^ "Riveters trade rights to Carpenter and D'Oench". NWHL. April 28, 2016.
- ^ "TRADE: Connecticut Acquires Zoe Hickel". NWHL. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ Eisenberg, Matt (March 20, 2017). "Buffalo Beauts upset Boston Pride for Isobel Cup". espnW. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ "Boston Pride 2017-18 season recap". SB Nation. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ "USNT's Paul Mara Named Head Coach of the Boston Pride". NWHL.zone. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ "Marissa Gedman Joins Pride Coaching Staff". NWHL.zone. August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ "NWHL Announces Sale of the Boston Pride". OurSports Central. September 17, 2019.
- ^ "2015 NWHL Complete Draft, June 20, Boston". NWHL. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ "NWHL Announces First Television Deal with NESN". NWHL.co.
- ^ "Jillian Dempsey Wins Denna Laing Award for Second Consecutive Season". NWHL.zone. March 20, 2019.
External links
