Blake Alexis Bolden (born March 10, 1991) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). On October 11, 2015, she became the first African-American player to compete in the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

(NWHL; rebranded Premier Hockey League (PHF) in 2021). She won the

2015 Clarkson Cup The 2015 Clarkson Cup was a women's ice hockey tournament that was contested in Markham, Ontario to determine the champion of the Canadian Women's Hockey League from March 4 to March 7, 2014. The Boston Blades defeated the Montreal Stars by a 3-2 ta ...

with the

Boston Blades The Worcester Blades were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and played their home games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The team began play in the 2010–11 ...

of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL). In 2016, she won the

Isobel Cup The Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Cup, often shortened to Isobel Cup, is the championship trophy awarded annually to the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) playoff winner. It is named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, one of the first known women to p ...

with the

Boston Pride 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 Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; 2015–2021). The ...

of the NWHL.

Early life and education

Raised in Stow, Ohio, Bolden began following the

Cleveland Lumberjacks The Cleveland Lumberjacks were an International Hockey League (IHL) team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Facts :Owner: Larry Gordon :Logo design: "Buzz"- A beaver wearing overalls holding a homemade hockey stick framed by a circular saw blade :Divis ...

of the International Hockey League (IHL). Her father worked for the team and facilitated her meeting many of the players. She attended Northwood School, known for its top ice hockey programs, in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

, where she captained the team during her senior year and played with

Kelley Steadman Kelley Steadman (born July 17, 1990) is an American retired ice hockey player, currently serving as an ice hockey development ambassador for Lightning Made, the community hockey department of the Tampa Bay Lightning. As a member of the United St ...

. She attended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, where she played for the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey team from 2009 to 2013.

Playing career

NCAA

In 2009–10, Bolden led all Hockey East freshmen defenders in scoring with four goals and nine assists for 13 points. Her first collegiate point was a goal in a 1–1 tie against Clarkson on October 3, 2009. Her first assist was also earned in a tie in a 1–1 draw with the Quinnipiac Bobcats on October 16, 2009. On October 24, 2010, in a 5–2 victory over Brown, Bolden was one of three BC players who scored their first goals of the 2010–11 season. In addition to the goal, Bolden tallied two assists in the win against Brown. It was a career high for most points in one game in her BC career. On December 9, 2010, she was invited to try out for the United States national women's ice hockey team. In her first three seasons at BC, Bolden appeared in 102 contests. Her 21 points during the 2011–12 campaign ranked second among defenders during Hockey East conference play. Statistically, she amassed 20 goals and 33 assists. She was part of the USA Hockey evaluation camp for the 2012 IIHF World Championship, and was a 2012 nominee for the

Patty Kazmaier Award The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four. The award was first presented in 1998. The awa ...

. On August 21, 2012, Bolden was appointed team captain for the 2012–13 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season. AS A SENIOR (2012–13): Appeared in all 37 games as captain ... totaled 29 points (6G, 23A) ... +38 rating ... seven multi-point games ... ranked second all-time for BC defensemen for points, goals, and assists ... career-high four assists at Boston University (10/31) ... career-high two goals and 13 shots versus Boston University (11/3) ... tallied three assists against Yale in the Nutmeg Classic Championship game (11/24) ... game-winning overtime goal at St. Lawrence (1/4) ... Hockey East Defenseman of the Year ... First Team Hockey East All-Star ... New England All-Star ... Second Team All-American ... Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week (11/5 and 1/7) ... earned Athletic Director's Award for Academic Achievement honors.

Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)

Prior to being drafted, Bolden contemplated retiring from hockey after not making the 2014 Olympic roster. Selected in the first round, fifth overall by the

in the 2013 CWHL Draft, Bolden became the first African-American player taken in the first round in the CWHL Draft's history. Bolden competed in the

1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game The 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game, took place on December 13, 2014 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Admission was free, and 6,850 people attended the game. The game aired live on Sportsnet One in Canada, as well ...

, held on December 13, 2014, at Toronto's

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena ( French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Rap ...

. In March 2015, Bolden helped the Boston Blades win the

Clarkson Cup The Clarkson Cup (french: La Coupe Clarkson) is a women's ice hockey trophy, which from 2009 to 2019 was awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship (CWHL champion). With the folding of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CW ...

National Women's Hockey League (NWHL)

The Premier Hockey Federation, known at the time as the National Women's Hockey League, the first women's hockey league to pay a salary, announced to play its inaugural season for 2015–16. On October 11, 2015, Bolden joined the NWHL's

, thus becoming the first African-American player to compete in the NWHL. On December 31, 2015, Bolden and the Pride participated in an outdoor women's ice hockey game against the CWHL's Les Canadiennes de Montreal, known as the

2016 Outdoor Women's Classic The 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic presented by Scotiabank was an ice hockey game played on December 31, 2015, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, between the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League and Les Canadiennes o ...

and was the first professional women's ice hockey outdoor game. Bolden would score Boston's first and only goal of the game. In 2016, she helped the team win the inaugural

. Bolden was selected as a player for the

2nd NWHL All-Star Game The 2nd NWHL All-Star Game took place at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on February 12, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A skills competition was held the day prior on February 11, 2017. This edition of the All-Star Game featured a "fanta ...

, in which she won the fastest shot skills game with a shot of 87 mph. In May 2017, Bolden left the NWHL and signed on to play for the HC Lugano women's team in Switzerland. On August 15, 2018, Bolden signed a contract with the NWHL's Buffalo Beauts and played for that team until May 2019.

Overseas

During the 2017–18 season, Bolden competed in the Swiss Women's Hockey League for HC Lugano, where she competed in 20 games. She led all defenders on the team with 27 points (16 goals, 11 assists), pacing fourth overall in team scoring with 27 points.

PWHPA

Bolden participated in the #ForTheGame movement in connection with the

PWHPA The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian W ...

, which began May 2019. She played for Team Keller against Team Decker in PWHPA's Dream Gap Tour stop in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

National Hockey League (NHL)

In February 2020, Blake Bolden became the first black female pro scout for the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL and the second-ever female pro scout in the NHL.

Awards and honors

*2011 Hockey East All-Tournament team *2015 CWHL All-Star Game *1st NWHL All-Star Game (2016) *2nd NWHL All-Star Game (2017) Hardest Shot Winner 87 mph *3rd NWHL All-Star Game (2019) Hardest Shot Winner 80 mph *Clarkson Cup: 2015 *Isobel Cup: 2016 *NWHL Defensive Player of the Year (2019)

References

External links

* *
Blake Bolden
at

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolden, Blake 1991 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women American women's ice hockey defensemen African-American ice hockey players Boston Blades players Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey players Boston Pride players Clarkson Cup champions Ice hockey players from Ohio Isobel Cup champions Los Angeles Kings scouts