The Worcester Blades were a professional women's ice hockey team in 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 leag ...

, based in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, and played their home games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The team began play in the 2010–11 CWHL season as the Boston Blades where they won 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 ...

twice, in 2013 and 2015. After playing in several

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-area arenas throughout its first eight seasons, the Blades moved to Worcester in 2018 and rebranded. In 2019, the CWHL ceased operations, as well as all teams that it directly owned including the Blades.

History

On August 12, 2010, the

(CWHL) announced that

would be granted an expansion team for the 2010–11 CWHL season, making the Boston franchise the first CWHL team in the United States. On September 14, 2010, retired goalkeeper

Erin Whitten Erin Hamlen (born October 26, 1971) is an American retired ice hockey goaltender and the current head coach of the Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. She was among the first ...

was named Boston's first head coach. An expansion draft was held to stock the team in August. Their most significant player was free agent signing

Angela Ruggiero Angela Marie Ruggiero (born January 3, 1980) is an American former ice hockey defenseman, gold medalist, and four-time Olympian. She was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 2010 to 2018 and served as a member of the Executive Bo ...

, a four-time Olympian. The Boston Blades' inaugural season included 16 home games. Their first match, on October 30, 2010, ended with a 3–0 shutout victory over the

Burlington Barracudas The Burlington Barracudas were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Burlington, Ontario. They were one of the founding teams of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) from its inaugural season in 2007 until 2012. The Barracudas� ...

, with the team beginning the season with seven victories in their first twelve games. A seven-game losing streak ensued, and the Blades finished with a 10–16 record, still good enough for third place in the five team league. In the playoffs against the

Toronto Aeros The Toronto Aeros, often called Beatrice Aeros after their primary sponsor, the North York Aeros, and the Mississauga Aeros were a semi-professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. The team played its home ...

, the Blades lost 4–2 and 3–1, swept in the best-of-three series. In the 2012–13 season, the Boston Blades were regular season champions and then became the second American-based team to capture the

, which was the women's equivalent of the men's

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

, after the

Minnesota Whitecaps The Minnesota Whitecaps are a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF; formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League). They play in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at ...

. The Clarkson Cup is named after Canada's former Governor General,

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

, and used to be played for between all Canadian women's leagues. The Blades beat the rival

Montreal Stars Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

for the clinching victory. Hilary Knight was named CWHL MVP,

Geneviève Lacasse Geneviève Lacasse (born May 5, 1989) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Montréal section of the PWHPA. She is also a member of the Canada women's national ice hockey team with whom she has won gold medals at both the ...

Best Goalie, and

Digit Murphy Margaret Pearl "Digit" Murphy (née Degidio; born December 7, 1961) is an American ice hockey coach, administrator, and former college ice hockey player. She is president of the Toronto Six of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Murphy h ...

Coach of the Year. In the penultimate game of the regular season in 2013–14,

Jessica Koizumi Jessica "Jess" Koizumi (Ka-Zoo-Me) (born April 15, 1985) is an American ice hockey coach and player, currently serving as the associate head coach of the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program. She won a gold medal as a member of the Unit ...

became the first player to register 50 career points with the Blades franchise. In the 2014–15 season, the Blades finished the regular season with the best record in the CWHL at 15–2–1–6. During the season, the league held its

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 ...

, with Digit Murphy serving as the winning coach for Team Red. In the first round of the Clarkson Cup playoffs, the Blades were matched against the fourth seeded

Toronto Furies The Toronto Furies were a professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto, Ontario, as members of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The Toronto Furies played their home games at the Mastercard Centre in Toronto. The team was establish ...

. The best-of-three series ended in a sweep for the Blades with 3–0 and 7–3 victories. On March 7, 2015, the Boston Blades faced the

for the Clarkson Cup, their second appearance in the Clarkson Cup finals in three years. Both the Blades and Stars tallied goals in the first and third periods. Hillary Knight and Brianna Decker were the lone goal scorers in regulation for the Blades. Regulation ended with the score tied at 2–2, requiring an overtime period to decide a winner. Janine Weber scored the series-clinching goal on a pass from her former college roommate Corinne Buie, 2:12 in the overtime period earning the Blades their second Clarkson Cup. Boston 4-2 Montréal- 19 novembre-2011

Following the 2015 season, 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 ...

was established, adding its own team in Boston, 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 ...

. Soon after, all U.S. national team players on the Blades moved to the Pride, leaving the Blades to have to rebuild from the ground up. The Blades competed with the Pride for Boston fans until 2018 when the team relocated an hour away to Worcester and were rebranded as the Worcester Blades on August 20, 2018, playing out of the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center for the 2018–19 CWHL season.

Season-by-season records

Notable former players

Kacey Bellamy Kacey Lee Bellamy (born April 22, 1987) is an American ice hockey defender for the Calgary section of the PWHPA, an Olympic Silver medalist, and seven-time IIHF World Women's Championship winner. She currently plays for the Boston Pride in the ...

Caitlin Cahow Caitlin Kinder Cahow (born May 20, 1985) is a former American ice hockey player. She attended the Foote School, where she graduated in 2000, and then attended the Hotchkiss School where she graduated in 2003, after playing soccer, field hockey, ...

Meghan Duggan Meghan Duggan (born September 3, 1987) is an American former ice hockey forward and director of player development for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. She played for the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2014 W ...

Molly Engstrom Molly Marie Engstrom (born March 1, 1983) is an American retired ice hockey player and the cuurent head coach of the Maine Black Bears women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. During her playing care ...

* Kaleigh Fratkin * Jaclyn Hawkins * Hilary Knight *

Erika Lawler Erika Lyn Lawler (born February 5, 1987) is a member of the 2009–10 United States national women's ice hockey team which participated in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Lawler played prep hockey at Cushing Academy where she won the Bette Davis ...

Gigi Marvin Gisele Marie "Gigi" Marvin (born March 7, 1987) is an American ice hockey player for the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League. As a member of the United States national women's ice hockey team, Marvin won a silver medal at the 201 ...

Molly Schaus Molly Patricia Schaus (born July 29, 1988) is an American retired ice hockey goaltender and coach. As a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, she was a two-time Ice hockey at the Olympic Games, Olympic medalist and five-ti ...

* Anne Schleper *

Kelli Stack Kelli Allison Stack (born January 13, 1988) is an American former ice hockey forward, who played for Kunlun Red Star in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. Stack competed ...

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 ...

Karen Thatcher Karen Elizabeth Thatcher (born February 29, 1984) is an American ice hockey forward. She was named to the United States women's ice hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Personal life Thatcher was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but grew u ...

Tara Watchorn Tara Leigh-Anne Watchorn (born May 30, 1990) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player who has competed for the Canadian national women's ice hockey team. She made her debut for Team Canada in the 2010 Four Nations Cup and played for Canada most ...

Scoring leaders

Season-by-season

All-time scoring leaders

Awards & honors

* Hilary Knight, 2013 CWHL Player of the Year *

Genevieve Lacasse Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre an ...

, 2013

CWHL 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 leag ...

Goaltender of the Year *

Jillian Dempsey Jillian T. Dempsey (born January 19, 1991) is an American ice hockey player who currently captains the Boston Pride in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She currently holds the all-time PHF records for games played, goals, assists, and points ...

, 2014

Rookie of the Year *

, 2013–14 Leading scorer among CWHL rookies *

Brianna Decker Brianna Decker (born May 13, 1991) is an American women's ice hockey player who plays for the Calgary section of the PWHPA and the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Award while playing for the Univer ...

, CWHL Rookie of the Year (2014–15) *

, 2014–15 Leading scorer among CWHL rookies *

, CWHL Defender of the Year (2014–15)

Team honors

*First overall, CWHL standings (2012–13) *First overall, CWHL standings (2014–15)

References

External links

Official website
{{Clarkson Cup 2010 establishments in Massachusetts 2019 disestablishments in Massachusetts Canadian Women's Hockey League teams Defunct ice hockey teams in the United States Defunct sports teams in Massachusetts Ice hockey teams in Worcester, Massachusetts Ice hockey clubs established in 2010 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 2019 Women's ice hockey teams in the United States