Michela Cava (born March 26, 1994) is a Canadian

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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, currently playing in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) with PWHL Minnesota.

Playing career

Along with

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 ...

Danika Ranger, Cava is one of only two players to have won a gold medal at the Esso Cup, Canada’s National Female Midget Championship and the U18 Canadian women’s nationals. Cava was the first, winning the Esso Cup with the Thunder Bay Queens in 2010 and with Team Ontario Red at the 2011 nationals.

NCAA

At the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

level, Cava spent her first two seasons with the University of Connecticut Huskies. Prior to her junior season, she transferred to the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

to join the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey program. In her final NCAA season, she recorded 38 points in 37 contests, including 12 multi-point games.

Professional

Cava was selected by the Toronto Furies in the third round of the 2016 CWHL Draft. She made her debut on October 14 against 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 ...

. Cava recorded a five-game scoring streak, starting on October 30 and lasting until November 20. She was selected to compete in the 2017 CWHL All-Star Game. After just one year in Toronto, Cava left the league to move to Sweden, signing with

Modo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan. The club was founded in 1987 and has won one SHL championships; in 2007. ...

in the

SDHL The Swedish Women's Hockey League ( sv, Svenska damhockeyligan), abbreviated SDHL, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Sweden. It was established in 2007 as the by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and was renamed prior to the 2016� ...

. She would score 55 points in 36 games in her first season in Sweden, leading Modo in points and finishing 5th in the league in scoring. The next year, she would score 64 points, finishing the season as the SDHL's leading scorer. In 2019, Cava left Modo to sign with Brynäs in Gävle, seeking a new challenge and wanting to move to a bigger city. She would score 45 points in 36 games for Brynäs, finishing fourth in club scoring, as the club advanced to the SDHL semi-finals for the first time in seven years. She would sign with Luleå ahead of the

2020–21 SDHL season The 2020–21 SDHL season was the 14th season of the Swedish Women's Hockey League ( sv, Svenska damhockeyligan; SDHL). The season began on 12 September 2020 and concluded on 26 February 2021. All ten teams were able to complete a full 36-game r ...

. On October 6, 2021, Cava signed with the Toronto Six of the

Premier Hockey Federation 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 h ...

. She would be named the Playoff MVP for the 2022-23 season, leading the Six to win 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 ...

. Cava was drafted in the 12th round of the 2023 PWHL Draft by

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 ...

Career statistics

Sources:

Awards and honours

* 2012 Esso Cup MVP * CWHL First Star of the Game (October 16, 2016) * CWHL Second Star of the Game (October 30, 2016) * SDHL Top Point Scorer, 2018–19 season * SDHL Champion, 2020–21 (Luleå HF/MSSK) * ZhHL Champion, 2021–22 (KRS Vanke Rays) * PHF Playoff MVP, 2022-23 (Toronto Six) * PHF

Champion, 2022-23 (Toronto Six)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cava, Michela 1994 births Living people Brynäs IF (women) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian women's ice hockey centres Luleå HF/MSSK players Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey players Modo Hockey (women) players Ice hockey people from Thunder Bay Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays players Toronto Furies players Toronto Six players UConn Huskies women's ice hockey players