Samantha "Sam" Walther (born July 16, 1996) is an American

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 ...

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 ...

. She played in 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 ha ...

(PHF) with the

Metropolitan Riveters The Metropolitan Riveters (originally the New York Riveters) are a professional women's ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with home games at the American Dream Meadowlands ice rink. They were one of the four charter franchi ...

and Connecticut Whale.

Playing career

Walther attended

The Gunnery The Frederick Gunn School is a private, coeducational, boarding and day prep school for students in grades 9-12 and post graduate, located in rural Connecticut, United States. The campus borders the village green of Washington, a small, histori ...

, a private

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

Washington, Connecticut Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. The population was 3,646 at the 2020 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active civi ...

, for

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

. She spent four seasons with the school's women's ice hockey team in addition to playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

. During her first three years attending The Gunnery, Walther simultaneously played with the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

-based Pittsburgh Penguins Elite of the

Tier 1 Elite Hockey League The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (T1EHL), formerly Midwest Elite Hockey League, is located primarily in the Midwest United States and is the premier amateur youth hockey league in the United States. Players from all over the country move to the area ...

(T1EHL), the premier amateur youth hockey league in the United States. In her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year of high school, she also played with the Connecticut Polar Bears of the

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 Sport governing body, governing body for organized ice ...

Girls Tier I 19U.

Collegiate

Walther played her collegiate career with the

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

in the

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective Liberal arts education, liberal arts institutions of high ...

(NESCAC) of the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

. Her senior year, she was ranked second in the country with a

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 ...

of .960. Walther finished her hockey career at Hamilton College holding the program's records for best

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(1.40), highest save percentage (.948), and most shutouts (26). In 2018, she was awarded the Jack B. Riffle Award for the top female athlete in the senior class at Hamilton. Her senior year performance also earned her the title of 2018 NESCAC Player of the Year and as well as her second First Team All America Selection. Following her graduation, she became the first Hamilton graduate to sign with a professional women's hockey team. During her time at

, Walther suffered a torn MCL during a

NESCAC The New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal arts institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. T ...

quarterfinals game that ended in quadruple overtime. Walther made 80 saves, a career high.

NWHL

On July 10, 2018, Walther signed a professional contract with the Connecticut Whale. Following goaltender Mariya Sorokina's departure from the team, Walther became the backup to Whale goaltender

Meeri Räisänen Meeri Räisänen (born 2 December 1989) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Connecticut Whale. As a member of the Finnish natio ...

. Walther dressed for five games for the Whale. In the 2019–20 season, Walther signed a contract with the

. In her first starting goaltender role in the NWHL, Walther played 22 of 24 regular season games. She played in her first NWHL playoff game, making 30 saves on 31 shots in a tight overtime loss to the defending champions, 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 ...

. During the season, Walther sustained a hip injury after a collision with Whale defender Kaycie Anderson and missed two games. She was named as one of the goaltenders for Team Packer in the 2020 NWHL All-Star Game. Walther finished the season with a .892 save percentage and 3.74 goals against average. In June 2020, Riveters' coach Ivo Mocek confirmed that Walther would not be returning to the team for the 2020–21 NWHL season. Walther later confirmed that she will not play in the 2021 season.

Personal life

Walther served as an assistant coach with the

Nichols Bison Nichols College is a private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichols Academy The institut ...

women's ice hockey program during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. During her time at

, Walther earned her undergraduate degree in government. In addition to coaching at Nichols, Walther is also getting her graduate degree in Counterterrorism. She speaks Arabic, American Sign Language (ASL), and French. She has named

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

goalie

Braden Holtby Braden Holtby (born September 16, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He previously played for the Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars of the National Hockey Lea ...

as one of her role models, wearing number 70 because of him. Growing up, Walther was also a neighbour of

Ken Klee Kenneth William Robert Klee (born April 24, 1971) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played most notably with the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL). Early life Klee was born in Indianapolis, Indian ...

in Annapolis. Since 2018, Walther's been an ambassador for The Goalie Guild's Lift the Mask initiative to encourages mental health awareness among ice hockey goaltenders. Walther has also outwardly discussed being an advocate for mental health as an athlete.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Sam Premier Hockey Federation players American ice hockey goaltenders Metropolitan Riveters players People from Gambrills, Maryland Hamilton College (New York) alumni The Frederick Gunn School alumni Connecticut Whale (PHF) players 1996 births Living people Ice hockey people from Maryland