Boston Pride
Boston Pride | |
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City | Boston, Massachusetts |
League | Premier Hockey Federation |
Founded | 2015 |
Home arena | Warrior Ice Arena |
Colors | black, gold, white |
Owner(s) | Miles Arnone |
General manager | Danielle Larouco |
Head coach | Paul Mara[1] |
Captain | Jillian Dempsey[2] |
Media | ESPN+, TSN |
Affiliates | 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 are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They were one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). The Pride play at Warrior Ice Arena, which is also the practice facility for the Boston Bruins. They won the inaugural Isobel Cup in 2016 and were the first pro women's hockey team to win three titles when they repeated in 2021 and 2022.
Contents
History
First seasons

The Pride were announced as one of the four founding teams in the National Women's Hockey League, 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.[3] 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.[4] In June 2015, Amanda Pelkey became the first player to sign a player contract with the Pride.[5]
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 between the NWHL and the CWHL. 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.[6]
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 Alexandra Carpenter, the first overall pick in the previous 2015 NWHL Draft.[7] On February 2, 2017, the team traded Zoe Hickel to Connecticut Whale for their first pick in the 2017 NWHL Draft.[8] 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.[9] Decker was named the NWHL's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season and also led the league in scoring.
Team turnover
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 players stipends and the NWHL had made an up to 50% pay cut on its players during the previous season.[10] 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.[11]
On May 30, 2018, Paul Mara was named head coach for the 2018–19 season[12] and inaugural Pride member Marissa Gedman retired from playing to join the staff as an assistant coach.[13] The Pride again finished third during the regular season and lost in the semifinal game to Buffalo. Johnny McInnis was hired as an assistent coach for the Pride in the 2020-2021 season and remains the only assistant coach on staff as of the end of the 2022 season.[14]
Under independent ownership
In September 2019, the league announced the Boston Pride had been purchased by a group of investors led by Miles Arnone.[15] 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.[16] 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 with the men's Boston Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox already present.[17]
Owing to the ongoing 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.[18] 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 seed 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.[19][20]
The Pride finished the 2021–2022 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. [21]
Season-by-season records
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 |
In the 2021-2022 season the NWHL rebranded as the PHF (Premier Hockey Federation) and used a new system for points in the standings where regulation wins counted for 3 points. Overtime wins still counted as 2 points and overtime losses remained worth 1 point like prior seasons.
Team
2021 roster
As of March 28, 2021[update][22][23]
Team captains
- Brianna Decker, Hilary Knight, 2015–2017
- Jillian Dempsey, 2018–present
Head coaches
- Bobby Jay, 2015–2017
- Thomas Poeck, 2017–2018
- Paul Mara, 2018–present
General managers
- Hayley Moore, 2015–2017
- Karilyn Pilch, 2019–2021
- Danielle Larouco, 2021–present[24]
Team Presidents
- Hayley Moore, 2017–2021[25]
- Colleen Coyne, 2021-present[26]
Draft history
With their first pick in the 2015 NWHL Draft, the Pride selected Kendall Coyne.
NWHL Draft
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The following are the Pride' selections from the 2015 NWHL Draft of college players in their junior year held on June 20, 2015. A player who is drafted but does not sign with the organization that selected her, may enter free-agency after completing her senior year.[27]
# | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
3 | Kendall Coyne | Forward | ![]() |
Northeastern University |
7 | Emerance Maschmeyer | Goalie | ![]() |
Harvard University |
11 | Lexi Bender | Defense | ![]() |
Boston College |
15 | Miye D’Oench | Forward | ![]() |
Harvard University |
19 | Shannon MacAuley | Forward | ![]() |
Clarkson |
Media
In November 2015, it was announced that all Pride home games would be broadcast live on NESN.[28] During the 2019–20 and 2020-2021 season, all NWHL games were broadcast live on Twitch. Starting in the 2021-2022 season all PHF games were broadcast on ESPN+ in the US and TSN in Canada.[29]
Awards and honors
- Brianna Decker, 2016, 2017 Most Valuable Player, 2017 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Jillian Dempsey, 2018, 2019 Denna Laing Award,[30] 2020 co-Most Valuable Player, 2020 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Hilary Knight, 2016 Scoring Champion
- Denna Laing, 2016 Foundation Award
- Denna Laing, 2016 Perseverance Award
- Gigi Marvin, 2016 Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Brittany Ott, 2016 Goaltender of the Year
- Alyssa Gagliardi, 2017 NWHL Foundation Award
- Lexi Bender, 2018, 2020 NWHL Foundation Award
- Mallory Souliotis, 2019 and 2021 NWHL Foundation Award, 2021 Fans' Three Stars[31]
- Lovisa Selander, 2020 Goaltender of the Year
- Kaleigh Fratkin, 2020 and 2021 Defender of the Year[32]
Franchise milestones
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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 |
References
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External links
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