2015–16 NWHL season
| 2015–16 NWHL season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | National Women's Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 11, 2015 – February 28, 2016 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Boston Pride |
| Top scorer | Hilary Knight |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs Playoffs MVP | Brianna Decker |
| Isobel Cup | |
| Champions | Boston Pride |
| Runners-up | Buffalo Beauts |
The 2015–16 NWHL season is the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams competed for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride, New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale.
League business
- July 2015: The NWHL Foundation hosted a Canadian Training Camp Series in four different Canadian cities (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor).[1]
- Late July 2015: A training camp for European players took place at Ristuccia Memorial Arena outside Boston on July 23, hosted by Boston Pride head coach Bobby Jay. Players from Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Japan attended.[2]
NWHL Draft
Main article: 2015 NWHL Draft
The 2015 NWHL Draft took place on June 22, 2015. A draft lottery was held and the New York Riveters earned the first pick overall, selecting Alexandra Carpenter of the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program.
Regular season
Standings
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | W% | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | y – Boston Pride | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0.806 | 75 | 39 | +36 | 29 |
| 2 | Connecticut Whale | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0.722 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 26 |
| 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 0.389 | 56 | 66 | −10 | 14 |
| 4 | New York Riveters | 18 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 0.278 | 40 | 76 | −36 | 10 |
Scoring leaders
- The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilary Knight | Boston Pride | 17 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 8 |
| Brianna Decker | Boston Pride | 17 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 20 |
| Kelli Stack | Connecticut Whale | 17 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 24 |
| Kelly Babstock | Connecticut Whale | 18 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 24 |
| Kelley Steadman | Buffalo Beauts | 13 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 16 |
All-star game
Main article: 1st NWHL All-Star Game
The 1st NWHL All-Star Game was held January 24, 2016 at HarborCenter in Buffalo, the home of the Beauts.[3]
Playoffs
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Boston Pride | 2 | |||||||
| 4 | New York Riveters | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Boston Pride | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 0 | |||||||
| 2 | Connecticut Whale | 1 | |||||||
| 3 | Buffalo Beauts | 2 | |||||||
Milestones
| Milestone | Player | Team | Date |
| First goal | Jessica Koizumi | Connecticut Whale | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First Canadian to score a goal | Kelly Babstock | Connecticut Whale | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First European to log an assist | Lyudmila Belyakova | New York Riveters | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First European to score a goal | Yekaterina Smolentseva | Connecticut Whale | Dec 13, 2015 |
| First shootout goal | Kelly Babstock | Connecticut Whale | Nov 22, 2015 |
| First multi-goal game | Hilary Knight (2 goals) | Boston Pride | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First hat trick | Brianna Decker | Boston Pride | Oct 25, 2015 |
| First multi-point game | Kelli Stack (3 points) | Connecticut Whale | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First multi-point game by a defenseman | Kacey Bellamy (2 points) | Boston Pride | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First goaltending win | Jaimie Leonoff  Canada | Connecticut Whale | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First American-born goaltender to win a regular season game | Brittany Ott | Boston Pride | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First international goaltender to win a regular season game | Nana Fujimoto | New York Riveters | Nov 15, 2015 |
| First African-American player to compete in the NWHL | Blake Bolden | Boston Pride | Oct 11, 2015 |
| First shootout game | Brittany Ott | Boston Pride | Dec 20, 2015 |
Awards and honors
- Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Most Valuable Player
- Hilary Knight, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Perseverance Award
- Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Foundation Award
- Gigi Marvin, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award
- Brittany Ott, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Goaltender of the Year
Three Stars of the Game
| Game # | First Star | Second Star | Third Star |
| 1 (Oct. 11, 2015) | Jaimie Leonoff, Connecticut | Kelli Stack, Connecticut | Kelly Babstock, Connecticut |
| 2 (Oct. 11, 2015) | Kelley Steadman, Buffalo | Hilary Knight, Boston | Brianne McLaughlin, Buffalo |
| 3 (Oct. 18, 2015) | Zoe Hickel, Boston | Brianna Decker, Boston | Gabie Figueroa, New York |
| 5 (Oct. 25, 2015) | Paige Harrington, Buffalo | Kelley Steadman, Buffalo | Brianna Decker, Boston |
| 6 (Oct. 25, 2015) | Kaleigh Fratkin, Connecitcut | Nicole Stock, Connecticut | Ashley Johnston, New York |
| 7 (Nov. 22, 2015) | Emily Pfalzer, Buffalo | Kelley Steadman, Buffalo | Kourtney Kunichika, Buffalo |
References
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.