The Connecticut Whale are a 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 h ...

team based 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 h ...

(PHF). They play in Simsbury, Connecticut at the International Skating Center of Connecticut. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four charter franchises of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; renamed PHF in 2021). Their name and colors pay homage to the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

, a former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and WHA franchise based in Connecticut.

History

For their first season, the Whale played home games in Stamford, Connecticut at Chelsea Piers. Chris Ardito was hired as the first general manager in franchise history, while Jake Mastel and Lisa Giovanelli coached the team. The team is the second professional hockey team to bear the Connecticut Whale name, following the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

team previously and currently known as the Hartford Wolf Pack. Among their off-season acquisitions, the Whale signed Kaleigh Fratkin to a contract on July 1, 2015. She was the first Canadian player to sign a contract in the NWHL. The team made its debut in the 2015–16 season.

Jessica Koizumi Jessica "Jess" Koizumi (Ka-Zoo-Me) (born April 15, 1985) is an American ice hockey coach and player, currently serving as the associate head coach of the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey program. She won a gold medal as a member of the Unit ...

was named first team captain in franchise history. The first game in NWHL history was a sell out on October 11, 2015 between the New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale. The Whale prevailed by a 4–1 tally as

scored the first goal in both franchise and NWHL history. In the same game, Kelli Stack had one goal and two assists, becoming the first player to record a multi-point performance. Whale goaltender Jaimie Leonoff was credited the win, capturing the game's First Star. Stack was recognized as the Second Star, and Kelly Babstock, who became the first Canadian-born player to score a goal in an NWHL regular season game, was acknowledged as the Third Star. The Whale won their first three games in franchise history with three different goalies. In the first game, the Whale prevailed with Jaimie Leonoff, while former Quinnipiac goaltender Chelsea Laden captured the second win, and Nicole Stock played her first game in over five years to capture the third win on the road against the New York Riveters. Prior to the team's second season, the Whale moved to the Northford Ice Pavilion in

Northford, Connecticut Northford is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the primary village and surrounding residential and rural land in the town of North Branford, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. It is in the northern part of the town, bordered to ...

. This lasted one season as the Whale moved to the Terry Conners Ice Rink at Cove Island Park in Stamford, Connecticut, for the 2017–18 season. On August 20, 2018, the Whale named active player Cydney Roesler an assistant coach for the 2018–19 season making her the first player-coach in franchise history. After two seasons at Terry Conners Ice Rink, the Whale moved again to the larger

Danbury Ice Arena The Danbury Ice Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Danbury, Connecticut, that can seat about 3,000. It was built in 1999 with renovation and expansion in 2004. The Danbury Arena was the home of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League f ...

in Danbury, Connecticut. Former NHL enforcer

Colton Orr Colton "Bobby" Douglas Orr (born March 3, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Having played nearly 500 games in the NHL, Orr was known as an enforcer for his physical style of play and for regularly fighting. In 2019, he ...

was named as head coach for the 2019–20 season. The team was eliminated in the semifinal game by the

Boston Pride The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; 2015–2021). The ...

, the eventual league titlist, prior to the championship being cancelled by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The following season was then delayed amidst the capacity and travel restrictions during the pandemic. The 2020–21 season eventually started on January 23, 2021, with the entire season to be played at

Herb Brooks Arena The Herb Brooks Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Lake Placid, New York. This surface, along with the USA Rink, was built for the 1980 Winter Olympics. About The arena hosted various events during the 1980 Winter Olympics, most famously the ice ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

, without fans in attendance and teams kept in isolation. However, 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 ...

were forced to withdraw from the two-week season on January 28 after several members of the organization tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. The schedule was then adjusted to have the top three teams at the time play a round-robin tournament to determine playoff seeding with the Whale as the second seed. Connecticut then lost to the expansion

Toronto Six The Toronto Six is a professional women's ice hockey team based in Toronto playing out of Canlan Ice Sports – York. They are one of two Canadian teams in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) (formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League ...

0–6 on January 31. The next day, the team forfeited their final game to 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 ...

and withdrew from the playoffs citing concerns with increased positive cases within the bubble and protecting their players from the virus. Two days later, the league suspended the season before the playoffs could commence due to several more positive tests throughout the league. The league then re-scheduled the playoffs to be held at

Warrior Ice Arena Warrior Arena is an ice hockey arena and practice facility in Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts. The arena is part of a larger mixed-use development being constructed by New Balance at Boston Landing that includes the headquarters of New Balance an ...

in Brighton, Massachusetts, with the Whale re-entered as the third seed to face the Minnesota Whitecaps, who they would have faced regardless of the outcome of the game the Whale withdrew from in Lake Placid, in a semifinal game. The Whale then lost to the Whitecaps 7–0 in the semifinal game. On May 10, 2021, the league announced it had sold the Whale to a new independent ownership group called Shared Hockey Enterprises (SHE), LLC, led by Tobin Kelly, reducing the league operated teams to three.

Season-by-season records

Team

Current roster

Coaching staff and team personnel * Head coach:

* Assistant coach: Jeff Devenney * Assistant coach: Sue Merz * Consulting coach: Jack Han * Athletic trainer: Hailey Rock

Team captains

, 2015–16 *

Molly Engstrom Molly Marie Engstrom (born March 1, 1983) is an American retired ice hockey player and the cuurent head coach of the Maine Black Bears women's ice hockey program in the Hockey East (HEA) conference of the NCAA Division I. During her playing care ...

, 2016 *

Kelli Stack Kelli Allison Stack (born January 13, 1988) is an American former ice hockey forward, who played for Kunlun Red Star in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. Stack competed ...

, 2017 * Sam Faber, 2017–18 * Emily Fluke, 2018–19 * Shannon Turner, 2019–present

Alternate captains

* Kaleigh Fratkin, 2015–16 *

, 2016 * Kelly Babstock, 2016–17 *

Juana Baribeau Juana is a Spanish female first name. It is the feminine form of Juan (English John), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Janet, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. Juanita is a common variant. The name Juana may refer to: People *Juana I ( ...

, 2017–2019 * Shannon Turner, 2017–2019 *

Jordan Brickner Jordan Brickner Gragnano (born October 3, 1990) is an American ice hockey player. She most recently played with the Connecticut Whale in the 2019–20 season of the Premier Hockey Federation (formerly the NWHL). In 2020, she was honored with th ...

, 2019–20 * Elena Orlando, 2019–2021 * Emma Vlasic, 2020–present * Janine Weber, 2020–present * Kaycie Anderson, 2021–22 * Alyssa Wohlfeiler, 2021–present * Kennedy Marchment, 2022–present

Head coaches

* Jake Mastel, 2015 * Heather Linstad, 2015–2017 * Ryan Equale, 2018–2019 * Colton Orr, 2019–present

General managers

* Chris Ardito, 2015–2016 * Lisa Giovanelli, 2016–2017 * Bray Ketchum, 2019–2020 * Amy Scheer, 2020–21 * Alexis Moed, 2021–present

Draft history

Hannah Brandt Hannah Brandt (born November 27, 1993) is an American ice hockey centre, currently playing for the Minnesota section of the PWHPA. She was named to the United States women's national ice hockey team, which represented the United States at the 201 ...

from the

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey The Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. The team is one of the members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National C ...

program became the first player in franchise history to be selected in the inaugural

2015 NWHL Draft Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

. Michelle Picard was the first defenseman selected in NWHL Draft history.

2015 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the

on June 20, 2015.

2016 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the

2016 NWHL Draft Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film di ...

on June 18, 2016.

2017 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the 2017 NWHL Draft on August 17, 2017.

2018 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the 2018 NWHL Draft on December 19 and 20, 2018.

2020 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the

2020 NWHL Draft The 2020 NWHL Draft took place on April 28–29, 2020. The Boston Pride selected Sammy Davis with the 1st overall pick, having made a trade with the yet unnamed Toronto expansion team. Davis becomes the third Terriers hockey player to go first ...

on April 28 and 29, 2020. Connecticut held the Metropolitan Riveters fifth round pick (27th overall), as the future considerations from the trade of Maria Sorokina to the Riveters in 2019.

2021 NWHL Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the 2021 NWHL Draft on June 29, 2021.

Franchise milestones and statistics leaders

As of the 2016-17 season:

Awards and honors

* Grace Kleinbach, 2021 Foundation Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connecticut Whale Connecticut Whale (PHF) Ice hockey teams in Connecticut Ice hockey clubs established in 2015 Women's ice hockey teams in the United States Premier Hockey Federation teams 2015 establishments in Connecticut