Molly Marie Engstrom (born March 1, 1983) 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 ...

player and the cuurent head coach of the Maine Black Bears women's ice hockey 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 ...

. During her playing career, she played with

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is name ...

in the

Swedish Women's Hockey League 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– ...

(SDHL), the Connecticut Whale 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 as PHF in 2021), the

Brampton Thunder The Markham Thunder was a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). From 1998 through 2017, the franchise was known as the Brampton Thunder and Brampton Canadettes-Thunder before relocating from Brampton, O ...

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 ...

(CWHL), and 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, a ...

in the

Western Women's Hockey League The Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) was a women's hockey league in Canada. The league was established in 2004, and consisted of teams in Canada (some former National Women's Hockey League teams) and one from the United States. The league offi ...

(WWHL). As a member of the

United States women's national ice hockey team The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The U.S. has been one of the most successful women's ice hockey teams in international play, having medaled in every major tournament. In 1998, the women's Olympic ...

, she won a bronze medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and a silver medal in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. She played for the women's team at Culver Girls Academy.

Playing career

In high school, she participated in track and field and golf. In her sophomore year, Engstrom won the Wisconsin state discus title.

Wisconsin Badgers

In her senior year at Wisconsin, Engstrom served as one of two undergraduate assistant coaches. The other coach was future Olympian

Carla Macleod Carla Rae MacLeod (born June 16, 1982) is a retired member of the Canadian national women's hockey team. Through her paternal grandmother, MacLeod is related to former Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice Richard. Playing career MacLeod was born ...

. Engstrom and Macleod assisted coach Mark Johnson with analysis of game footage.

Brampton Thunder

*March 23, 2008: Engstrom was part of the

team that won the first Championship of the CWHL. Molly Engstrom scored the game-winning goal as the Thunder beat the Mississauga Chiefs by a score of 4-3 in overtime. *February 14, 2009: Engstrom took part in the

Calgary Oval X-Treme The Calgary Oval X-Treme were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL). The team played its home games at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Oval X-Treme were a member of the National Wome ...

's game against the U.S. Selects in the final game of the EnCana sponsored 4 game Battle of the Border women's hockey tournament. Her teammates included Carla McLeod, Colleen Sostorics, Chanda Gunn. The U.S. Selects won the game by a score of 3 to 2 but the Oval X-Treme won the series 3 games to 1. *March 2010: Engstrom competed with the Brampton Thunder in the finals of the 2010 Clarkson Cup.

USA Hockey

Engstrom was a member of the 2006 US Olympic Hockey Team that won a bronze medal. In addition, Engstrom was a five-time member of the U.S. Women's National Team for the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship. At the Worlds, Engstrom captured the Gold in 2005, 2008 and 09, and the silver in 2004 and 2007. She was named the IIHF World Championships top defenseman in 2007. She was also a two-time member of the U.S. Women's Under-22 Select Team in 2003 and 2004. Engstrom was also a seven-time USA Hockey Women's National Festival participant (2002–05, 2007–09).

Connecticut Whale

On August 18, 2015, it was announced that Engstrom had signed a contract with the Connecticut Whale of the professional

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 ...

for the 2015-16 season.

Career stats

Awards and honors

* Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Media All-Star Team * Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Directorate Award, Best Defenseman * Clarkson Cup Top Defender, 2010 * CWHL Central All-Stars, 2007–08 * CWHL All-Rookie Team, 2007–08 * 2004-05 All USCHO.com Second Team * 2004 Badger Award

Molly Engstrom Award

The Molly Engstrom Award was introduced in 2011. The criteria for the award are for the "Overall Defensive Player of the Year". The award is presented by Wisconsin Prep Hockey to a female ice hockey player from Wisconsin prep school and coaches are asked to nominate a player from their respective team. A list of winners includes:

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engstrom, Molly 1983 births Living people American women's ice hockey defensemen American people of Swedish descent Boston Blades players Brampton Thunder players Calgary Oval X-Treme players Connecticut Whale (PHF) players Culver Academies alumni Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Minnesota Whitecaps players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey People from Burnett County, Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey players