Kourtney Midori Kunichika (born November 7, 1991) is an American former professional

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 ...

forward, who played for the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts are a professional ice hockey team based in Amherst, New York, United States. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four founding franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), originally named the National Women' ...

in the NWHL. She is the third highest scorer in Beauts history.

Career

Early life

Kunichika only began playing ice hockey at the age of 10. Prior to that, she had played roller hockey in her hometown state of California.

College

Kunichika played four seasons of collegiate hockey at

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

(RIT) between 2010 and 2014. She scored 136 points in 129 career games and remains RIT's leader in career games played.

NWHL

She signed with the

of 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) in August 2015. In 2017, 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 Beauts. In 2018, she announced her retirement from professional hockey.

Playing style

She was noted for her strong two-way play as well as her creativity. She spent her three years in the NWHL as the Beauts' top centre, often leading the team in faceoffs and on the power-play. Never making an All-Star game appearance, she was considered by some to be one of the underrated players of the league.

Personal life

Kunichika currently owns and runs a Hawaiian restaurant in

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,6 ...

with her wife. She had worked in the restaurant industry during her professional career with the Beauts.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

*NWHL Co-Player of the Week, Awarded February 28, 2018

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunichika, Kourtney 1991 births Living people American women's ice hockey forwards Buffalo Beauts players Ice hockey players from California Premier Hockey Federation players RIT Tigers women's ice hockey players Sportspeople from Anaheim, California American sportspeople of Japanese descent Lesbian sportswomen