Boston Pride
The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the National Women's Hockey League. 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, defeating the Buffalo Beauts.
History
Inaugural season
In their inaugural season win which they won the championship they played at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center at Harvard University in the Allston neighborhood of Boston.In May 2015, the Pride announced the hiring of Bobby Jay as their head coach. Jay has experience as 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.
In June 2015, Amanda Pelkey became the first player to sign a player contract with the Pride.
win in 2016.
The team made its debut in 2015 in 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-ever win was recorded by Brittany Ott, who became 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 Montreal Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League to a 1–1 tie in the first ever 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic the day before at the site of the 2016 NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was the first outdoor professional Women's hockey game, the first game sanctioned by the NHL and the first game between the NWHL and the CWHL.
In the second period of the game, Denna Laing would crash into the boards and suffer a career ending injury in the contest. A rally of support resulted in funds raised for the Denna Laing Foundation. At season's end, the Pride would bring the Isobel Cup to a hospitalized Laing, sharing in the glory. In addition, Laing would win the NWHL's Foundation Award and the Perseverance Award.
2016–17 season
On April 28, 2016, the Pride acquired the rights to Alexandra Carpenter, the first pick overall in the 2015 NWHL Draft.On February 2, 2017, the team traded Zoe Hickel to Connecticut Whale for their first pick in the 2017 NWHL Draft.
The Pride lost to the Buffalo Beauts in the Isobel Cup final in 2017.
2017–18 season
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. 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.2018–19 season
On May 30, 2018, Paul Mara was named head coach of the Pride for 2018–19 and inaugural Pride member Marissa Gedman retired from playing to join the staff as an assistant coach.In September 2019, the league announced the Boston Pride had been purchased by a group of investors led by Miles Arnone.
Season-by-season records
Draft history
With their first pick in the 2015 NWHL Draft, the pride selected Kendall Coyne.NWHL Draft
The following are the Pride' selections from the 2015 NWHL Draft of college players in their junior year held on June 20, 2015. Note: The team has not announced any signings from this list to date. A player who is drafted but does not sign with the organization that selected her, may enter free-agency after completing her senior year.| # | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
| 3 | Kendall Coyne | Forward | Northeastern Univ. | |
| 7 | Emerance Maschmeyer | Goalie | Harvard Univ. | |
| 11 | Lexi Bender | Defense | Boston College | |
| 15 | Miye D’Oench | Forward | Harvard Univ. | |
| 19 | Shannon MacAuley | Forward | Clarkson |
Media
In November 2015, it was announced that all Pride home games would be broadcast live on NESN. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, all NWHL games are broadcast live on Twitch.Players & Personnel
Current Roster
Updated 8 May, 2020-->
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Team Captains
- Jillian Dempsey, 2018-present
Head Coaches
- Paul Mara, 2018-present
- Thomas Poeck, 2017-2018
- Bobby Jay, 2015-2017
General Managers
- Karilyn Pilch, 2019-present
- Hayley Moore, 2015-2017
Other Personnel
- Marissa Gedman - Assistant Coach
- Heath Gordon - Assistant Coach
- Maddie Rigsby - Equipement Manager
- Jerry Foster - Athletic Trainer
Team Record
Awards and honours
- Brianna Decker, 2016, 2017 Most Valuable Player, 2017 NWHL Scoring Champion
- Jillian Dempsey, 2018, 2019 Denna Laing Award, 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 NWHL Foundation Award
- Lovisa Selander, 2020 Goaltender of the Year
- Kaleigh Fratkin, 2020 Defender of the Year
Franchise milestones
| 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 |