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Boston Pride | |
---|---|
City | Boston |
League | Premier Hockey Federation |
Founded | 2015 |
Folded | 2023 |
Home arena | Warrior Ice Arena |
Colors | Black, gold, white |
Owner(s) | Miles Arnone |
General manager | Maddie Rigsby [1] |
Head coach | Paul Mara [2] |
Captain | Jillian Dempsey [3] |
Affiliate | Boston Bruins (NHL) |
Website | Official website |
Championships | |
Regular season titles | 3 (2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20) |
Playoff championships | 3 (2016, 2021, 2022) |
The Boston Pride was a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The Pride played at Warrior Ice Arena, which is also the practice facility for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. The Pride won the inaugural Isobel Cup in 2016 and became the first professional women's ice hockey team to win three championship titles when they claimed consecutive victories in 2021 and 2022.
The team folded at the end of the 2023 season, when the PHF's assets were purchased and the league dissolved as part of the process of creating a new, unified, women's professional league. [4]
The Pride was announced as one of the four founding teams in the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), the first women's hockey league in North America to pay its players a salary, to begin play in the 2015–16 season. In May 2015, the Pride announced the hiring of Bobby Jay as their head coach. Jay was previously an assistant coach for the silver medal-winning 2014 U.S. Women's Olympic Team, and on the coaching staff of the U.S. Women's National Team at the IIHF Women's World Championships in 2012 and 2013, and the Four Nations Cup in 2011, 2012, and 2013. [5] The team announced its inaugural season would play home games at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center at Harvard University in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. [6] In June 2015, Amanda Pelkey became the first player to sign a player contract with the Pride. [7]
The team played their first game with a 4–1 victory over the Buffalo Beauts. Hilary Knight scored the first goal in franchise history and would also record the first multi-goal game in NWHL history. The Pride's first win was recorded by Brittany Ott, simultaneously becoming the first American-born goaltender to win an NWHL regular season game. During a 5–3 road win against the Buffalo Beauts, Brianna Decker scored the first hat-trick in NWHL history. In November 2015, Briana Decker and Hilary Knight were named co-captains of the Pride.
On December 31, 2015, the Boston Pride played the Les Canadiennes de Montréal of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) to a 1–1 tie in the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which took place the day before the 2016 NHL Winter Classic. It was the first outdoor professional women's hockey, the first women's game sanctioned by the NHL, and the only game ever played between NWHL and CWHL team. In the second period of the game, Denna Laing crashed into the boards and suffered a career ending injury. A rally of support resulted in funds raised for the Denna Laing Foundation. At the end of the season, Laing was awarded the NWHL's Foundation Award and the Perseverance Award, which was later named after her. [8]
The Pride finished the league's inaugural season with the best record, earning the top seed in the Isobel Cup playoffs. The team then swept both the semifinals and finals over the New York Riveters and Buffalo Beauts, respectively. Decker was named the season's Most Valuable Player and Knight was the top scorer.
For their second season, the team moved their home games to Warrior Ice Arena, the practice arena of the NHL's Boston Bruins, in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton. On April 28, 2016, the Pride acquired the rights to Alex Carpenter, the first overall pick in the 2015 NWHL Draft, from the New York Riveters for rights to Miye D'Oench, the Pride's 2015 fourth round pick. [9] On February 2, 2017, the team traded Zoe Hickel to Connecticut Whale for their first pick in the 2017 NWHL Draft. [10] The Pride led the league by a large margin, earning a 16–1–0 record over 17 games. The Pride then lost to the Buffalo Beauts in the Isobel Cup final. [11] Decker was named the NWHL's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season and also led the league in scoring.
The team had several personnel changes prior to the 2017–18 season, including a new head coach in Thomas Pöck, and lost seven players for the season in preparation for their participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics, including Carpenter, Decker, and Knight. Additionally, many of the NWHL's players opted to play in the CWHL, as the league had begun offering player stipends and the NWHL had made an up-to-50% cut to player pay during the previous season. [12] Jillian Dempsey was then named the next team captain. After two seasons, in which the Pride finished regular season in first place, played in the Isobel Cup finals, the Pride finished in third place. The Pride ultimately lost to the Buffalo Beauts in the first round semifinal game and failed to make the Isobel Cup finals for the first time. [3]
On May 30, 2018, Paul Mara was named head coach for the 2018–19 season [13] [14] and inaugural Pride member Marissa Gedman retired from playing to join the staff as an assistant coach. [15] The Pride again finished third during the regular season and lost in the semifinal game to Buffalo. Johnny McInnis was hired as an assistant coach for the Pride in the 2020–21 season. [16]
In September 2019, the league announced the Boston Pride had been purchased by a group of investors led by Miles Arnone. [17] On January 26, 2020, Dempsey became the first player in league history to reach 100 career points, including playoffs. She reached the century mark with an assist in a win versus the Minnesota Whitecaps. [18] The Pride won their third regular season title with a 23–1–0 record and qualified for the 2020 Isobel Cup final against the defending champion Minnesota Whitecaps. However, the championship was initially postponed and then cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated causing limitations for social distancing and traveling. Dempsey was league's the top scorer and was named the NWHL's co-Most Valuable Player with Allie Thunstrom of Minnesota. In September 2020, Logan International Airport unveiled a pair of championship banners for the Pride's 2016 Isobel Cup win and their 2019–20 regular season first-place finish. The Pride became the first women's sports team from Boston to have their banners hung in the airport, alongside the already-present men's Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, and Boston Red Sox. [19]
Owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NWHL announced a two-week, single-site season to be played at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, from January 23 to February 5, 2021. [20] The Riveters were forced to withdraw early due to too many positive cases of COVID-19, leading to a schedule alteration with the Pride and the Beauts playing each other in a three-game series to determine the fourth seed, which the Pride won. The single-site season was curtailed prior to the playoffs due to an excessive outbreak of COVID-19 among all teams and personnel in Lake Placid. The postseason was rescheduled for March 26 and 27 at the Pride's home arena in Brighton. The Pride then defeated the top seeded Toronto Six before winning their second Isobel Cup by defeating the Minnesota Whitecaps 4–3 in the championship game.
On March 10, 2022, the Pride and PHF announced that Willie O'Ree had joined the team's ownership group. [21] [22]
The Pride finished the 2021–22 season as the #3 seed in the playoffs. Boston outscored the Buffalo Beauts and Toronto Six by a combined 11–1 margin en route to the Championship game against the Connecticut Whale. On March 28, 2022, the Pride repeated as PHF champions beating the Whale 3–2. Taylor Wenczkowski scored the Isobel Cup-winning goal for the second year in a row and was named MVP of the Isobel Cup playoffs. [23]
In the summer of 2023, the PHF's assets were purchased as part of a bid to create a new, unified women's professional league. [4] This led the PHF and its teams to fold, and resulted in the foundation of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). [24] In August, it was announced that Boston had been awarded one of the six charter PWHL franchises. [25] PWHL Boston made its debut on January 3, 2024. [26]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SOL | Pts | GF | GA | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015–16 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 75 | 39 | Won Isobel Cup Championship over Buffalo Beauts |
2016–17 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 73 | 29 | Lost Isobel Cup Championship to Buffalo Beauts |
2017–18 | 16 | 4 | 8 | — | 4 | — | 12 | 33 | 48 | Lost semifinal game to Buffalo Beauts |
2018–19 | 16 | 11 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 22 | 60 | 36 | Lost semifinal game to Buffalo Beauts |
2019–20 | 24 | 23 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 46 | 120 | 43 | Qualified for Isobel Cup Championship vs. Minnesota Whitecaps Championship cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
2020–21 | 7 | 3 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 11 | Won Isobel Cup Championship over Minnesota Whitecaps |
2021–22 | 20 | 10 | 5 | — | 5 | 0 | 32 | 48 | 47 | Won Isobel Cup Championship over Connecticut Whale |
2022–23 | 24 | 19 | 4 | — | 5 | 0 | 54 | 92 | 52 | Lost semifinal round to Minnesota Whitecaps |
Totals | 142 | 100 | 31 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 233 | 523 | 305 |
Note: In the 2021–22 season, the NWHL rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and used a new points system for league standings in which regulation wins counted for 3 points. Overtime wins still counted as 2 points and overtime losses remained worth 1 point, as in prior seasons.
In November 2015, it was announced that all Pride home games would be broadcast live on NESN. [27] During the 2019–20 and 2020-2021 season, all NWHL games were broadcast live on Twitch. Starting in the 2021–22 season, all PHF games were broadcast on ESPN+ in the United States and TSN in Canada. [28]
Coaching staff and team personnel
The following were the Pride's selections from the 2015 NWHL Draft of college ice hockey players in their junior year, held on June 20, 2015 in Boston. Drafted players who did not sign with the organization that selected them could enter free-agency after completing their senior year. [35]
Kendall Coyne of the Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey program was the first player ever drafted by the Boston Pride, selected in the first round, third overall in 2015.
Pick | Nat | Player | Pos. | College | Program |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Kendall Coyne | F | Northeastern University | Huskies | |
7 | Emerance Maschmeyer | G | Harvard University | Crimson | |
11 | Lexi Bender | D | Boston College | Eagles | |
15 | Miye D’Oench | F | Harvard University | Crimson | |
19 | Shannon MacAuley | F | Clarkson University | Golden Knights |
Most Valuable Player
Goaltender of the Year
Defender of the Year
Scoring Champion
Playoff MVP
Denna Liang Award
Foundation Award
Fans' Three Stars of the Season
This section needs to be updated.(September 2020) |
Milestone | Player | Date |
---|---|---|
First goal | Hilary Knight | October 11, 2015 |
First hat trick | Brianna Decker | October 25, 2015 |
First multi-point game | Hilary Knight | October 11, 2015 |
First win | Brittany Ott | October 11, 2015 |
First African-American player | Blake Bolden | October 11, 2015 |
First playoff goal | Brianna Decker | March 4, 2016 |
First playoff game-winning goal | Brianna Decker | March 4, 2016 |
First playoff win | Brittany Ott | March 4, 2016 |
First playoff shutout | Brittany Ott | March 4, 2016 |
Allison Thunstrom was an American ice hockey forward for the Boston Pride in the now defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She currently holds the PHF record for goals scored in a single season. She has also played for the United States national team.
Jillian T. Dempsey is an American professional ice hockey player for the Boston Fleet of 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.
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), comprising four league-owned teams. Over time, some teams gained independent ownership and the number of teams grew to seven; teams during the league's final season in 2022–23 included the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force, and Toronto Six. The Isobel Cup was awarded annually to the league playoff champion.
The 2015–16 NWHL season was the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams competed for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, New York Riveters, and Connecticut Whale.
The Metropolitan Riveters were a professional women's ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with home games at the American Dream Meadowlands ice rink.
The Buffalo Beauts were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, at the Northtown Center.
The Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Cup, often shortened to Isobel Cup, is the championship trophy that was awarded annually to the now defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) playoff winner. The trophy is named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, the daughter of Lord Stanley—former Governor-General of Canada and namesake of the Stanley Cup—and one of the first women known to play the game of ice hockey.
The 2015–16 Boston Pride season was the first in franchise history and participated in the National Women's Hockey League's inaugural season.
Hayley Marie Moore is an American ice hockey executive and former player, currently the vice president of hockey operations of the American Hockey League (AHL). She previously served as the deputy commissioner of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) from 2017 to 2019, general manager of the Boston Pride of the NWHL from 2015 to 2017, and president of the Boston Pride from 2019 to 2021.
The 2016–17 NWHL season is the second season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the inaugural season returned for this season: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and New York Riveters.
The Premier Hockey Federation Players' Association (PHFPA), formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League Players' Association (NWHLPA), was a representative body for professional ice hockey players in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The association was founded in 2015, the year of the league's founding, and disbanded in 2023 after the league was purchased and dissolved as part of the establishment of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). Former PHF players now playing in the PWHL are members of the PWHL Players Association.
The 2017–18 NWHL season was the third season of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the previous two seasons returned for this season: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and the Metropolitan Riveters.
Mary Parker is an American professional ice hockey player for the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).
The 2018–19 NWHL season is the fourth season of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the previous three seasons returned: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and the Metropolitan Riveters while the Minnesota Whitecaps entered the league as an expansion team bringing the league to five teams.
The 2019–20 NWHL season was the fifth season of the National Women's Hockey League. All five teams from the previous season returned: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, and the Minnesota Whitecaps.
Since 2016, the year of its inaugural season, the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) grants several annual awards to players in the league, including Most Valuable Player, Goaltender of the Year, Best Defender, Rookie of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Denna Laing Award, Foundation Award, Offensive Player of the Year, and the Fans' Three Stars of the Season. The award for Most Valuable Player is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. Nominees for the Foundation Award are chosen by the Players Association and voted on by fans. Other awards are voted on a panel of journalists.
The Toronto Six were a professional women's ice hockey team in Toronto, Ontario, playing out of Canlan Ice Sports – York. They were one of two Canadian teams in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) along with the Montreal Force, and the first expansion team to join the league since the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in 2019. The team was founded in 2020 with their inaugural regular season held in Lake Placid, New York, followed by the Isobel Cup playoffs in Brighton, Massachusetts.
The 2020–21 NWHL season was the sixth season of the National Women's Hockey League in North America. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season was held in a bubble in Lake Placid, New York, from January to February 2021, with all five teams returning from the previous season, along with the Toronto Six expansion team as the first Canada-based team to play in the league. The season was suspended again due to positive cases of COVID-19 within the bubble. On March 8, 2021, the league announced that the Isobel Cup playoffs would re-commence on March 26 and 27 at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Massachusetts.
Christina Putigna is a Canadian ice hockey forward, who most recently played for the Boston Pride of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She currently holds the record for most points scored by a Canadian player in a single PHF season. Putigna was named the scoring PHF scoring leader in 2020/21. With the Pride she won back to back Isobel Cup Championships in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
The 2021–22 PHF season was the seventh season of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), which was known as the National Women's Hockey League during the previous six seasons, in North America. After mostly playing in a bubble environment the previous season due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the PHF commenced the 2021–22 season with a normal travel-based schedule.
Hockey's legendary trailblazer named a minority owner of reigning Isobel Cup champions
Boston becomes the first team in PHF/NWHL history to win back-to-back titles, as well as to have three Isobel Cup wins under its belt.