| Jesse Compher | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Compher with PWHL Toronto in 2024 | |||
| Born | July 1, 1999 Northbrook, Illinois, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | ||
| Weight | 161 lb (73 kg; 11 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| PWHL team | Toronto Sceptres | ||
| National team | |||
| Playing career | 2017–present | ||
Jesse Compher (born July 1, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and member of the United States women's national ice hockey team.
An Olympic silver medalist from the 2022 Winter Olympics and two-time world champion, she won gold at the 2019 and 2025 World Championships. At the collegiate level, she was the Hockey East scoring champion in 2019, a top-ten Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, and helped Wisconsin win the 2023 NCAA National Championship.
Born in Northbrook, Illinois, to parents Bob and Valerie Compher, [1] Jesse was raised with her two older siblings: Morgan and brother J. T. Compher, who plays in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings. [2] She attended Hickory Point Elementary School, Shabonee School, and Wood Oaks Junior High School in Northbrook, before graduating from Glenbrook North High School in 2017. [3]
Compher began playing hockey at the local sports center and was inspired by watching her older brother play, "I was always at this rink watching him (J.T.), so I thought I might as well try, and then I fell in love with it." [4] Compher played youth hockey for the Chicago Mission U19 team for three seasons, serving as team captain during her final two years. [5] With the Mission, she won a national championship in 2014–15, finished as runner-up at the national championships in 2016–17, and helped her team to a third-place finish in 2015–16. [5] She also won four consecutive state championships with the Mission. [5]
Compher began her collegiate career for the Boston University Terriers during the 2017–18 season. She made her debut for the Terriers on September 23, 2017, in a game against Merrimack. [6] She recorded her first two collegiate goals on November 28, 2017, in a 6–4 victory over Brown. [7] She finished the season with nine goals and 17 assists in 37 games for the Terriers, ranking third on the team in points. Her 17 assists ranked second in the league among rookies. Following an outstanding freshman season, she was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. [8] [9]
During the 2018–19 season, she led Hockey East in scoring and ranked third in the NCAA, recording 17 goals and 44 assists in 37 games. Her 44 assists were a program record, and she became the second player in program history to surpass 60 points during a season. [10] On December 8, 2018, she posted a career-high five points, including an NCAA-best four assists, in an 8–0 victory over RIT. She was subsequently named the Hockey East Player of the Week, and NCAA First Star of the Week. [11] [12] Compher was named the Hockey East Player of the Month for the month of December after leading the nation in points (11) and assists (8). [13] Following an outstanding season, she was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star, a Second Team CCM/AHCA Hockey All-American and a top ten finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award. [14] [15] [16] On April 13, 2020, Compher was named team captain for the Terriers. [17] During the 2020–21 season, she led the team in scoring, with seven goals and 11 points in eight games. Following the season, she was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star. [18]
On April 14, 2022, Compher announced she was transferring to Wisconsin for her final year of NCAA eligibility. [19] During the 2022–23 season, in her graduate year with Wisconsin, Compher served as an assistant captain and recorded 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points. [20] She played a key role in Wisconsin's championship run, recording four points (two goals, two assists) in the regional semifinal against LIU and providing two assists, including one on the game-winning goal, in the Frozen Four semifinal victory over Minnesota. [21] The Badgers defeated Ohio State 1-0 in the championship game to claim Wisconsin's seventh NCAA title, fulfilling Compher's goal of winning a national championship. [22] [23] Following the season, she was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. [24]
During her first professional season in 2023-24, Compher recording one goal and four assists for five points in 24 regular season games. [25] Toronto finished first in the regular season standings with 47 points, earning the top playoff seed. [26] In Game 2 of the PWHL Playoffs, with the score tied 0–0 late in the third period, she scored the go-ahead goal with 1:25 remaining in regulation, tipping in a point shot from Renata Fast to give Toronto a 1–0 lead; Hannah Miller added an empty-net goal to secure a 2–0 victory and a 2–0 series lead. [27] Despite winning the first two games, Toronto lost the next three games and was eliminated from the playoffs. Compher finished the playoffs with one goal in five games.
During the 2024–25 season, Compher significantly improved her production, finishing fourth on the team in scoring with nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 30 regular season games. [28] Her nine goals ranked third on the Sceptres behind Daryl Watts and Hannah Miller. [29] Toronto finished second in the regular season with a 15-9-6 record and 48 points. [30] In the 2025 PWHL playoffs, Toronto again faced Minnesota in the semifinals. In Game 3, a historic 7–5 Minnesota victory that became the highest-scoring game in PWHL playoff history, Compher recorded two assists—the first multi-point playoff game of her career—bringing her series total to three assists. [31] Toronto was eliminated in four games after a 4–3 overtime loss in Game 4. [32] Compher finished the playoffs with three assists in four games. [33]
Compher represented the United States at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Women's U18 Championships, where she won gold. [34] [35]
Compher has been a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team since 2019, representing the United States at multiple World Championships and the Olympics.
On March 1, 2019, Compher was named to the roster for the United States women's national ice hockey team ahead of the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she made her national team debut. At the tournament in Espoo, Finland, where she recorded one assist in six games and won a gold medal. [35] [36] On February 25, 2020, Compher was again named to the roster for the United States at the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship, however, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [37]
On March 30, 2021, Compher was again named to the roster for the United States at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship. [38] She recorded her first senior national team goal against Russia during the tournament, [35] as the United States won a silver medal. [39]
Compher was also named to the roster for the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she scored a goal in the semifinals against Czechia as the United States won a silver medal. [40] [41] After being left off the 2023 and 2024 rosters, Compher returned to the team for the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship, where the United States won gold. [42] [43] [44]
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On January 1, 2022, Compher was named to Team USA's roster to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. [45] Compher recorded three goals and one assist in seven games as the United States won a silver medal. [46] [35] In the preliminary round, she recorded an assist in her Olympic debut against Finland [47] and scored two goals against Switzerland, including two goals nine seconds apart in the first period to help secure an 8-0 win. [48] [49]
On December 11, 2025, Compher scored a goal in a 10-4 victory versus Canada. Held in Edmonton, Alberta, this was the third game of the 2025 Rivalry Series, marking the first time that the Canadian women's national ice hockey team allowed 10 goals in a loss to the United States. [50]
Compher's brother, J. T. Compher, is a professional ice hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL). [51]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2017–18 | Boston University | HE | 37 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Boston University | HE | 37 | 17 | 44 | 61 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Boston University | HE | 26 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Boston University | HE | 9 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | University of Wisconsin | WCHA | 41 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | PWHL Toronto | PWHL | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25 | Toronto Sceptres | PWHL | 30 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| PWHL totals | 54 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | United States | U18 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2017 | United States | U18 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2019 | United States | WC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2021 | United States | WC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2022 | United States | OG | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2022 | United States | WC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2025 | United States | WC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Junior totals | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||||
| Senior totals | 32 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 12 | ||||
| Honors | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| Hockey East All-Rookie Team | 2018 | [9] |
| WHEA scoring champion | 2019 | [52] |
| Hockey East First Team All-Star | 2019 | [14] |
| CCM/AHCA Hockey Second Team All-American | 2019 | [15] |
| Hockey East First Team All-Star | 2020 | [53] |
| Hockey East Second Team All-Star | 2021 | [18] |
| NCAA All-Tournament Team | 2023 | [54] |