Blake Bolden | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() Blake Bolden with the Buffalo Beauts in 2018 | |||
Born | Euclid, Ohio, U.S. | March 10, 1991||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | ||
Weight | 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb) | ||
Position | Defense | ||
Shot | Right | ||
Played for | |||
Playing career | 2008–2019 |
Blake Alexis Bolden (born March 10, 1991) is an American former ice hockey player, and scout for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). On October 11, 2015, she became the first African-American player to compete in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; rebranded Premier Hockey League (PHF) in 2021). She won the 2015 Clarkson Cup with the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). In 2016, she won the Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride of the NWHL. Bolden is also a contributor and rinkside reporter for ESPN's NHL coverage.
Raised in Stow, Ohio, Bolden began following the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League (IHL). Her father worked for the team and facilitated her meeting many of the players. [1] She attended Northwood School, known for its top ice hockey programs, in Lake Placid, New York, where she captained the team during her senior year and played with Kelley Steadman. [1] She attended Boston College, where she played for the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey team from 2009 to 2013. [2]
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing ![]() | ||
Women's ice hockey | ||
World U18 Championship | ||
![]() | 2008 Canada | [3] |
![]() | 2009 Germany | [4] |
![]() | This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Missing final NCAA season?.(August 2018) |
In 2009–10, Bolden led all Hockey East freshmen defenders in scoring with four goals and nine assists for 13 points. Her first collegiate point was a goal in a 1–1 tie against Clarkson on October 3, 2009. Her first assist was also earned in a tie in a 1–1 draw with the Quinnipiac Bobcats on October 16, 2009.
On October 24, 2010, in a 5–2 victory over Brown, Bolden was one of three BC players who scored their first goals of the 2010–11 season. In addition to the goal, Bolden tallied two assists in the win against Brown. It was a career high for most points in one game in her BC career. On December 9, 2010, she was invited to try out for the United States national women's ice hockey team.
In her first three seasons at BC, Bolden appeared in 102 contests. Her 21 points during the 2011–12 campaign ranked second among defenders during Hockey East conference play. Statistically, she amassed 20 goals and 33 assists. She was part of the USA Hockey evaluation camp for the 2012 IIHF World Championship, and was a 2012 nominee for the Patty Kazmaier Award. On August 21, 2012, Bolden was appointed team captain for the 2012–13 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season. AS A SENIOR (2012–13): Appeared in all 37 games as captain ... totaled 29 points (6G, 23A) ... +38 rating ... seven multi-point games ... ranked second all-time for BC defensemen for points, goals, and assists ... career-high four assists at Boston University (10/31) ... career-high two goals and 13 shots versus Boston University (11/3) ... tallied three assists against Yale in the Nutmeg Classic Championship game (11/24) ... game-winning overtime goal at St. Lawrence (1/4) ... Hockey East Defenseman of the Year ... First Team Hockey East All-Star ... New England All-Star ... Second Team All-American ... Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week (11/5 and 1/7) ... earned Athletic Director's Award for Academic Achievement honors.
Prior to being drafted, Bolden contemplated retiring from hockey after not making the 2014 Olympic roster. [5] Selected in the first round, fifth overall by the Boston Blades in the 2013 CWHL Draft, Bolden became the first woman of color to play professional hockey. For this reason many consider her to be the Jackie Robinson of women’s hockey. Bolden competed in the 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game, held on December 13, 2014, at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. In March 2015, Bolden helped the Boston Blades win the Clarkson Cup.
The National Women's Hockey League, the first women's hockey league to pay a salary, announced to play its inaugural season for 2015–16. On October 11, 2015, Bolden joined the NWHL's Boston Pride, thus becoming the first woman of color to compete in the NWHL. On December 31, 2015, Bolden and the Pride participated in an outdoor women's ice hockey game against the CWHL's Les Canadiennes de Montreal, known as the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic and was the first professional women's ice hockey outdoor game. [6] Bolden would score Boston's first and only goal of the game. [7] In 2016, she helped the team win the inaugural Isobel Cup. [1]
Bolden was selected as a player for the 2nd NWHL All-Star Game, in which she won the fastest shot skills game with a shot of 87 mph. [8] In May 2017, Bolden left the NWHL and signed on to play for the HC Lugano women's team in Switzerland. [9]
On August 15, 2018, Bolden signed a contract with the NWHL's Buffalo Beauts [10] and played for that team until May 2019.
During the 2017–18 season, Bolden competed in the Swiss Women's Hockey League for HC Lugano, where she competed in 20 games. She led all defenders on the team with 27 points (16 goals, 11 assists), pacing fourth overall in team scoring with 27 points.
Bolden participated in the #ForTheGame movement in connection with the PWHPA, which began May 2019. [11] She played for Team Keller against Team Decker in PWHPA's Dream Gap Tour stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [12]
In February 2020, Blake Bolden was hired as a scout for the Los Angeles Kings, the first woman of color to ever scout in professional mens hockey and just the second-ever female to scout in the NHL. [13]
The Clarkson Cup is an ice hockey trophy awarded to Canada's national women's champions. Commissioned by former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, the trophy was first unveiled in July 2006 when Clarkson ceremoniously presented it to the Canadian national women's team. Owing to a rights dispute with the artists who designed the trophy, it was not officially awarded until 2009, when it became, as intended, the award for top women's club team. From 2012 to 2019, it was exclusively awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). In Canada, it has been considered the women's equivalent of the Stanley Cup.
The Canadian Women's Hockey League 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 league expanded into Alberta (2011) and internationally in the United States (2010) and China (2017) throughout its tenure. The league discontinued operations on May 1, 2019, after 12 seasons.
Les Canadiennes de Montréal were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2007 as the Montreal Stars, they competed in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in every season. The team appeared in and won the Clarkson Cup the most times out of any CWHL teams with four championships.
Meaghan Mikkelson is a Canadian ice hockey player, broadcaster, and former member of the Canadian national ice hockey team. She is currently affiliated with the Calgary chapter of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).
Marie-Philip Poulin is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and captain of Montreal of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She is also the captain of the Canadian national ice hockey team.
Kacey Lee Bellamy is an American ice hockey defender for the Calgary section of the PWHPA, an Olympic Gold medalist, and seven-time IIHF World Women's Championship winner. She currently plays for the Boston Pride in the National Women's Hockey League and the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won the Isobel Cup with the Pride and is a two-time Clarkson Cup champion with the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
Hilary Atwood Knight is an American ice hockey forward and captain of Boston of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She is also a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She previously played for the Les Canadiennes de Montréal of the CWHL and the Boston Pride of the NWHL, with whom she won the inaugural Isobel Cup.
Kelli Allison Stack 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 for the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program and after completing her Olympic commitment, returned to Boston College for her senior year of 2010–11. She was drafted 14th overall by the Boston Blades in the 2011 CWHL Draft.
The history of women's ice hockey in the United States can be traced back to the early 20th century. In the 1920s, the Seattle Vamps competed in various hockey tournaments. In 1916, the United States hosted an international hockey tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, that featured Canadian and American women's hockey teams.
Amanda Kessel is an American professional ice hockey player, member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, and current National Hockey League front office executive with the Pittsburgh Penguins. She played college ice hockey at Minnesota from. She has played professionally in the National Women's Hockey League and Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. Kessel was also the Captain of the Championship Team at the Pink Whitney Cup.
Brianna Decker is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Wisconsin Badgers, Boston Blades, Boston Pride, Calgary Inferno, Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, and United States women's national ice hockey team. She won the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Award while playing for the University of Wisconsin, recognizing the best female ice hockey player in NCAA Division I play. With the Boston Pride, Decker would score the first hat trick in NWHL history on October 25, 2015.
Alexandra "Alex" Carpenter is an American professional ice hockey forward, alternate captain of New York of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), and member of the American national team. She was the first overall pick in the National Women's Hockey League in 2015.
Jillian T. Dempsey is an American ice hockey player who currently plays for PWHL Montreal in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The former captain of the Boston Pride of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), she holds the all-time PHF records for games played, goals, assists, and points, and is one of only two players to have won the Isobel Cup three times.
Brittany "The Otter" Ott is an American professional ice hockey player. As of 2021, Ott plays for the New Hampshire region team in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. She previously played two seasons for the Boston Blades in the Canadian Women's Hockey League and four seasons with Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Ott played college hockey for the Maine Black Bears before declaring herself into the 2013 CWHL Draft. She is the first goaltender to have won the Clarkson Cup and the Isobel Cup in a career.
Kaleigh Fratkin is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for PWHL Boston of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The second-longest tenured player and leading scorer among defenders in PHF history, she was the first Canadian player to sign a contract in the league, is a five-time PHF all-star, and is a two-time PHF Defender of the Year in 2020 and 2021. She was also a member of the Boston Pride roster that captured the 2021 and 2022 Isobel Cup, and was one of three 2023 PHF All-Star captains. Previous to the joining the NWHL, she won the Clarkson Cup in 2015 and was the first girl to play boys' midget AAA hockey in British Columbia.
Alyssa Marie Gagliardi is an American ice hockey defender currently with the PWHPA. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Gagliardi is one of the first women from Raleigh to become a professional ice hockey player.
The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. PWHPA members expressed dissatisfaction with the operations of the existing professional National Women's Hockey League and vowed to boycott existing women's leagues and to work towards the establishment of a unified, financially sustainable professional league. From 2019 to 2023, the PWHPA organized a series of exhibition seasons, known as the Dream Gap tours, to generate support towards its goal.
Taylor Cassidy Woods is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and strongwoman, currently playing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) with the Toronto Six. A defenceman who has also played as a two-way forward, she is both a Clarkson Cup champion and an Isobel Cup champion.
The collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League occurred in the spring of 2019. Previously one of the top women's ice hockey leagues in the world, the Canadian Women's Hockey League announced on 31 March 2019, that it would be folding effective 1 May.
Nicole Kosta is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for PWHL Boston of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). She previously played for the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) and the Markham Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). She played college ice hockey at Quinnipiac.
Blake's favorite snack was watermelon dipped in a cookie smoothie. :) :] ;)>