Erin Hamlen (born October 26, 1971) is an American retired
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 h ...
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
and the current head coach of the
Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey
The Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's college ice hockey program. The Warriors are a new member of Hockey East. They play at the 2,549-seat J. Thom Lawler Arena in ...
program in the
Hockey East
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...
(HEA)
conference of the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
.
She was among the first women to play
professional ice hockey
Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States in Pennsylvania and Michigan and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice ...
and, on October 30, 1993, she became the first woman to earn a victory in a professional hockey game as a goaltender, in the
Toledo Storm
The Toledo Storm were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the ECHL from 1991 to 2007. The Storm played their home games at the venerable Toledo Sports Arena along the eastern banks of the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. The team colors ...
's 6–5 win over the
Dayton Bombers in the
East Coast Hockey League
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
The E ...
.
As a member of the
U.S. national team, she competed in and won silver medals at four
IIHF Women's World Championships. She was
USA Hockey
USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...
Women's Player of the Year in 1994.
Hamlen previously spent ten years as an assistant and associate coach with the
New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey
The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to 2009. The Wildcats have more win ...
program and was the first head coach of 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 2010–1 ...
.
Playing career
Hamlen is from
Glens Falls, New York
Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...
, where she grew up playing hockey with the neighborhood boys, starting at age 5.
She moved to goaltending at age 12.
Hamlen played in the Adirondack Youth Hockey Association. In high school, she was the first female player for the Glens Falls Indians.
She was a backup goaltender in her junior year and started in net as a senior.
In high school, she accumulated a 21–9 record with a 2.0
GAA. She was selected as a Central District High School Hockey League All-Star Honorable Mention. In 1989, she was the first female player to compete in the
New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Division 2 High School Hockey Championships.
Hamlen was recruited to play for women's teams at
Northeastern University and the University of New Hampshire.
University of New Hampshire
Hamlen played all four years she attended the University of New Hampshire, before graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1993. Over four seasons she compiled a record of 54–14–4, with a .910
save percentage
Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic.
In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...
.
Hamlen shut out
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
in her collegiate debut and helped lead the Wildcats to two
ECAC titles, in 1990 and 1991. As a college player, she was selected as First-Team All-Star four times. She won the ECAC Goaltender of the Year award in 1992.
At the time of her graduation, Hamlen held the UNH records for saves in a game (46), saves in a season (511), and career saves (1,556). She had 51 career victories -- second most in school history at the time.
![Erin Whitten](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Erin_Whitten.jpg)
Professional career
After her graduation from college, Hamlen was working at an
Adirondack Red Wings
The Adirondack Red Wings were a minor professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Glens Falls, New York, United States at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The team was affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings of the Nation ...
summer camp when two players introduced her to agent Steve Bartlett, who also represented
Manon Rheaume. He landed her an opportunity to tryout with the Red Wings, though she eventually signed with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL and coach
Chris McSorley
Chris McSorley (born March 22, 1962) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and executive. He is currently the head coach of HC Lugano. He is the brother of former NHL player Marty McSorley.
Career
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, McSorley played professio ...
.
“I’ve dressed everywhere from the women's bathroom to the closet,” she said in November 1993, of being the team's only female player. “If I could fit all the gear in a phone booth, I'm sure I'd have used one of those by now.”
As a goaltender with Toledo, she was the first woman to earn a victory in a professional ice hockey game, during a 6–5 win against the Dayton Bombers on October 30, 1993. Hamlen had come into a tied game for the injured Alain Harvey in the second period. The Storm clearly played with more intensity with Hamlen in net, according to the
''Toledo Blade''.
Barry Potomski, typically a Storm enforcer, tallied a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
. Hamlen stopped 15 of 19 shots and was credited with the win.
At the time, Hamlen was under the misimpression that Rheaume, who had been the first woman to play in a pro hockey game during the prior season, had already recorded a win. “I'm not quite sure how to react because I just heard it myself,” Hamlen told the ''Toledo Blade'' after the game. She said it was “nice to be in the record books” but it had been “just another win. Hopefully there will be a few more.”
She told the Blade: “I'm doing what I love to do. Whether that makes history or not, it doesn't really matter to me. I just want to play hockey.”
Hamlen was 22 years old at the time, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighed 155 pounds. She later told
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
's
Dan Shaughnessy
Dan Shaughnessy (born July 20, 1953) is an American sports writer. He has covered the Boston Red Sox for ''The Boston Globe'' since 1981. In 2016, he was given the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Shaughnessy is often refe ...
, “I'm glad I'm in the record books. Nobody can take that away. I'd like to play as much as I can and see how far I can take it.”
Hamlen also played professionally with the Dallas Freeze of the
Central Hockey League
The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...
(CHL) in the
1993–94 season.
She played in the
Colonial Hockey League
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
(CoHL) with the
Utica Blizzard
The Utica Blizzard were a professional ice hockey team from Utica, New York, and member of the Colonial Hockey League (CoHL) from 1994 to 1997. The Blizzard replaced the Utica Bulldogs after the team had to be taken over by the league in the midd ...
in the
1994–95 season and the
Flint Generals
The Flint Generals were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. They were a member of the International Hockey League and played their home games at Perani Arena and Event Center. The Generals won two league championship ...
in the
1995–96 season. She was the first woman to participate in a game in each of the leagues.
Hamlen also played
roller hockey with the
Pittsburgh Phantoms and the
Oakland Skates
The Oakland Skates were a professional roller hockey team and were a member team in Roller Hockey International (RHI) from 1993 through 1996. In 1993 the Skates were a finalist for the RHI league championship, named the Murphy Cup, for one of the ...
.
U.S. women's national team
Hamlen was starting goaltender for the
U.S. women's national ice hockey team from 1992 to 1997.
She was USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year in 1994. Hamlen started as goaltender for the U.S. team during the
IIHF Women's World Championship
The IIHF World Women's Championship (WW or WWC), officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The offi ...
in 1992, 1994 and 1997. She was named outstanding goaltender in the 1994 World Championship.
Despite her age, Hamlen was still considered one of the top women's ice hockey players in the world in October 1997, four months prior to the
1998 Winter Olympic Games in
Nagano Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Universi ...
, Japan.
Ben Smith, coach of the U.S. national team, described her as “kind of the poster girl on the defensive side of things. Great athletic ability and has played some professional hockey with men. A real fine goalie and has taken up the challenge by the younger kids. Probably right now ranked one of the top in the world in women's hockey.” However, Hamlen slumped in the lead-up to the Olympics, going 0–3 and allowing 14 goals in pre-Olympic games against the
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
, who were the defending World Champions. Smith cut her from the roster on December 20 in favor of goaltenders
Sarah Tueting
Sarah Kirsten Tueting (born April 26, 1976) is an American ice hockey player.
Tueting played goalie for the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter O ...
and
Sara DeCosta.
The U.S. national team went on to win its first Olympic gold medal in February 1998, during the
first-ever Olympic women's ice hockey tournament.
Finnish national team coach
Rauni Korpi was reportedly incredulous at Hamlen's absence from the Games, asking two American reporters, “Why is Erin Whitten not here?”
Hamlen worked her way back to the U.S. national team's roster in 1999, when she was starting goaltender for the
1999 IIHF Women's World Championships.
Then 27, she described her comeback to a reporter following a semifinal game against Finland, which the U.S. won, 3–1: “After being cut from the Olympics, I really didn't know if I was going to get another shot right away. I took a lot of time away, and I think it did some good for me mentally. It took a lot for me to build up the confidence again.” The U.S. team lost the next night to Canada, 3–1, which extended its streak of world championships to five. Hamlen was credited for keeping the U.S. in the game, with 27 saves. Smith was quoted as saying: “This might be the best game against Canada I’ve seen her play.”
Teammate
Cammi Granato told ''The Boston Globe'' that Hamlen had “played her heart out. We just didn't put the puck in the net. The chances we had, we didn't bury.”
Hamlen played for the national team again in 2001
though she was not on the roster for that year's World Championship.
Coaching career
Hamlen began her coaching career on July 17, 2000 as an assistant with the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She was promoted to associate head coach on July 27, 2006. She spent a total of 10 seasons at UNH (2000-2010). During her time with the team, the Wildcats won six straight Hockey East regular season championships (2004-2009) and four straight Hockey East tournament championships (2006-2009). Hamlen was part of the coaching staff that led the Wildcats to the Frozen Four in 2006 and 2008. The 2007 team spent time ranked No. 1 in the country, ending the season at No. 4. The 2008 team recorded an undefeated season. As a coach at UNH, Hamlen helped goaltender Jen Huggon earn All-America honors. In each of the first six seasons of the Hockey East women's conference, a UNH goaltender won its goaltending champion award.
Hamlen was an assistant coach for U.S. women's hockey team at the
2006 Four Nations Cup and at the
2007 IIHF World Championship
The 2007 IIHF World Championship was held between 27 April and 13 May 2007 in Moscow, Russia. It was the 71st annual world championship event run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament was won by Canada with Rick N ...
.
She was an assistant for the
U.S. women's U18 ice hockey team during the 2007–08 season.
The Boston Blades hired Hamlen on September 17, 2010, as the team's first coach. The Blades were the first U.S. team in the now-defunct
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 ...
. Hamlen coached the team for one season.
She coached the
University of New England women's ice hockey program during its first season, in 2012–13.
Merrimack College
On June 24, 2013, she was hired as head coach of the Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey program in
Hockey East
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...
.
She is the first coach of the Merrimack women's team and has compiled a record of 57–145–22 through seven seasons.
In starting the Merrimack women's program, Hamlen resisted suggestions that she gradually build the program through club hockey or even a Division 3 schedule. “My personality doesn't allow me to ease into anything,” she told an interviewer. “Let's go. Let's just start this (in Hockey East). We will do what we need to do to get the right talent in place. I'm ready to tackle this now.”
Hamlen had support from
Mark Dennehy, then the coach of the
Merrimack men's team, and said she tried to emulate his approach. Dennehy was a member of the search committee for a women's ice hockey coach.
Hamlen spent more than two years at Merrimack recruiting a team before ever playing a game. In the second year, four players were enrolled. Hamlen later recalled, “Even though there weren't any games, we worked them hard.”
Hamlen has described early recruiting for Merrimack as difficult, as she competed for players against programs like the
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 ...
and
Boston University Terriers
The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot is Rhett the ...
. She and her assistants initially focused on prospective Division 1 athletes who were “missing a piece” of their game, she said. But the school gradually started “getting attention and respect,” gaining commitments from players who were also being recruited by top schools in the country.
Hamlen said she felt her own success, in her college career at UNH and as a member of the U.S. national team, gave her clout as she tried to attract players to Merrimack.
In the team's
first season, Hamlen led a squad of 16 freshman, four redshirt freshman and two juniors. The inaugural team won five games, with its first victory coming against Hamlen's alma mater, UNH.
In the program's second season, the Warriors increased their goals scored by 50 percent and their points by 60 percent, with more than double the wins, en route to an 11–22—3 finish. The team earned its first-ever berth in the Hockey East tournament.
In September 2017, Hamlen's team started the season with back-to-back upsets on the road over Boston University, 2–1, and No. 3 ranked
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, 4–3. Merrimack beat Minnesota even as the Warriors were outshot, 57–19. Hamlen credited goaltending — by junior
Samantha Ridgewell
Samantha "Sam" Ridgewell (born July 16, 1996) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender currently on reserve with PWHL Ottawa of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
Playing career
Ridgewell began playing hockey at the age of five, in C ...
and sophomore Lea Kristine Demers — in both victories. The team finished the
2017–18 season 11–20–3.
Hamlen's most successful season at Merrimack was in 2018–19 — the senior season for her inaugural class of freshman. The Warriors posted the team's first-ever winning record, at 16–13—7, which included a 1–0 victory over No.9-ranked Boston College on December 8. The team earned its second berth in the Hockey East tournament, where they lost to
Providence in the opening round.
In seven seasons, Hamlen's teams at Merrimack have produced six professional players:
Dominique Kremer
Dominique Kremer (born June 9, 1997) is an American ice hockey defender, currently playing with the Buffalo Beauts of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).
Playing career
Kremer began skating at the age of three, playing hockey for the first t ...
,
Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Courtney Maud,
Dominika Lásková
Dominika Lásková (born 20 December 1996) is a Czech ice hockey player for PWHL Montreal of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the Czech Republic women's national ice hockey team. She played college ice hockey at M ...
,
Samantha Ridgewell
Samantha "Sam" Ridgewell (born July 16, 1996) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender currently on reserve with PWHL Ottawa of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
Playing career
Ridgewell began playing hockey at the age of five, in C ...
, and
Paige Voight
Paige Voight is an American ice hockey forward, currently playing with the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).
Career
During her high school career, she was named a semi-finalist for the Minnesota Ms. Hocke ...
. Two players — Dominika Lásková and
Kateřina Bukolská
Kateřina Bukolská (born 6 March 1997) is a Czech ice hockey player and member of the Czech national ice hockey team, currently playing with Leksands IF Dam of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL).
Bukolská represented the Czech Republic ...
— have competed in the
Olympics, both for the
Czech national team.
Personal life
Hamlen grew up in Glens Falls, New York, the second of three daughters of Peter and Joan Whitten.
She was inducted into the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017. The induction was held February 25, 2017, prior to an ECHL game between the Adirondack Thunder and the Brampton Beast. She was the first woman inducted into the regional hall of fame, which was created in 2010.
Hamlen has also competed in marathons and triathlons.
She and her husband, Tim, live in
Hampton, New Hampshire
Hampton is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. On the Atlantic Ocean coast, Hampton is home to Hampton Beach, a summer tourist destination.
The densely populated central part ...
, with their two children.
Career statistics
Men's professional leagues
International
Sources:
Head coaching record
Awards and honors
* USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year (1994)
* University of New Hampshire's Department of Women's Athletics Athlete of the Year (1993)
* ECAC Goaltender of the Year (1992)
* ECAC All-Star Selection (equivalent to first-team status) 1990, 1991
* ECAC First-Team All-Star (1992, 1993)
* Directorate Award, Best Goaltender, 1994 IIHF Women's World Championship
* UNH Athletics Hall of Fame, Class of 1998
* Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame, 2017
See also
*
Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey
The Merrimack Warriors women's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's college ice hockey program. The Warriors are a new member of Hockey East. They play at the 2,549-seat J. Thom Lawler Arena in ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlen, Erin
1971 births
Living people
American women's ice hockey goaltenders
Dallas Freeze players
Ice hockey coaches from New York (state)
Ice hockey players from New York (state)
New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey players
Oakland Skates players
Pittsburgh Phantoms (RHI) players
Sportspeople from Glens Falls, New York
Toledo Storm players