Author: Shaggy901516

Friesen Signs With The Whale

News coming from The Pod today as they have signed their fourth player from the 2020 NWHL Draft, their second overall pick, Kayla Friesen.

Here is the profile on Kayla Friesen:

2 – Connecticut – F Kayla Friesen, Clarkson University

Kayla Friesen is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She played 4 years of college hockey at two different schools. She spent her first 3 years at St. Cloud State University, and her last year at Clarkson University. She tallied 50 points at St. Cloud State and added another 30 points at Clarkson University.

Friesen brings an impressive scoring pedigree to the Whale, and she also has leadership experience. She was the Captain of her team at St. Cloud State University during her junior campaign.

She is the eighth forward signed so far this offseason. 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Abbie Ives

 

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Maggie LaGue

 

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Hanna Beattie

Katelynn Russ

Melissa Samoskevich

Amanda Conway

Nicole Guagliardo

Kayla Friesen

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

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Whale Sign Another Draft Pick

News from The Pod today as they signed another 2020 draftee, forward Nicole Guagliardo!

 

Here is the profile on Guagliardo:

1 (25) – Connecticut – F Nicole Guagliardo, Adrian College

Nicole Guagliardo is from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She played her college at 3 different schools for 4 years. Her freshman and sophomore seasons, she played at Mercyhurst University, where she scored 5 goals and added 3 assists for 8 points. She then played at Lindenwood University for her junior year, where she scored 10 goals and added 12 assists for 22 points. She would finish her senior season at Adrian College, where she would score 16 goals and add 17 assists for 33 points.

Guagliardo is the third player signed from the 2020 NWHL Draft and she’s the sixth forward signed, so far, this off-season.

 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Abbie Ives

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Maggie LaGue

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

Melissa Samoskevich

Amanda Conway

Nicole Guagliardo

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

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Whale Sign US Gold Medalist

Huge news from The Pod today as they signed US national team member and gold medalist Melissa Samoskevich.

If the name sounds familiar to you, it’s because it should. She was the Whale’s first round selection (second overall) in the 2018 NWHL draft.

Samoskevich is from Bridgeport, Connecticut. The forward played 4 years of college hockey at Quinnipiac University. Her junior and senior year, she was captain of the team. In the 144 games she played, she scored 54 goals and added 55 assists for a total of 109 points. She is third overall in goals, fifth overall in assists, which is good for fourth overall in the entire program’s history.

After college, she went and played for Brynas IF in the SDHL. Where she played a total of 8 games for them, tallying 6 assists for the club. After the 8 games, she traveled back to the United States and was a member of the New England roster of the PWHPA.

Now she’ll join the Whale for her rookie season in the NWHL. Joining an already impressive core of players. And she’ll be re-united with Quinnipiac teammate, Abbie Ives!

Welcome to the League Melissa Samoskevich!

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Abbie Ives

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Maggie LaGue

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

Melissa Samoskevich

Amanda Conway

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

Sponsored by:

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Whale Sign Another Draftee

News coming from The Pod today as the Whale signed their 2020 4th round pick, forward Amanda Conway!

Here’s what I wrote about her on draft day.

Round 4: 1 (19) – Connecticut – F Amanda Conway, Norwich University

Amanda Conway is from Methuen, Massachusetts. The forward played her college hockey at Norwich University for 4 years. In those 4 years, she scored 116 goals and added 72 assists for a total of 188 points. She is the all time leading scorer in the program’s history.

Conway is the second player that the Whale have signed from the 2020 NWHL draft; she is also the fourth forward that has signed this off-season.

 

 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Abbie Ives

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Maggie LaGue

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

Amanda Conway

 

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

Sponsored by:

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Whale Sign Goaltender

News from The Pod today as the Connecticut Whale have signed their second goaltender this offseason. Abbie Ives will be joining the Whale!

The goalie from Bedford Hills, NY played 4 years of college hockey at Quinnipiac University. Where in those 4 years, she never had a GAA higher than 2.00 and never had a Save Percentage lower than .920!

She’ll join Brooke Wolejko as the new goalie pairing heading into the season. Welcome to The Pod!

 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Abbie Ives

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Maggie LaGue

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

 

* Editor’s Note:

In other breaking news, TXHT Connecticut Whale writer Shaggy has cut his hair, and donated his long locks to Children with Hair Loss.

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

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Toronto becomes the Six(th) with New Team Name

Big, huge, exciting news from the NWHL today! The newly formed Toronto team announced their name today and introduced themselves to the hockey world!

It would appear that the Toronto Six will sport a red and gold color scheme. It’s in their logo; however, it remains to be seen whether that will be on a jersey though. The jerseys will be unveiled within the coming weeks.

As for the name, it draws inspiration from the city; as it’s a nickname for the city of Toronto.

toronto six press release

Welcome to the NWHL, Toronto Six! We look forward to seeing what you’ll bring as the NWHL prepares for Season 6!!

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

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Capitals and Bears Extend Their Affiliation

While unfortunately there is no hockey being played at this time, we have gotten some good news today! The Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears have extended their affiliation agreement through the 2023 – 2024 season.

The Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears have been affiliates for the past 15 years, which is the seventh longest current NHL – AHL affiliation.

Capitals Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian MacLellan had this to say, “We have enjoyed our long-lasting partnership with the Hershey Bears and are excited to extend our affiliation. Hershey has a tremendous history within the American Hockey League. They are well-run and a first-class organization. We believe the franchise’s winning culture provides our prospects with the best opportunity to develop.”

While Hershey Bears Vice President of Hockey Operations and former Bear and Capitals player Bryan Helmer had this to say, “The Hershey Bears are thrilled to continue our partnership with one of the NHL’s elite franchises. Together, the Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals have established a winning culture that goes hand-in-hand with organizational development at both the AHL and NHL levels. The Bears and Capitals have experienced success and championships during this long-standing affiliation, and we look forward to continuing this partnership for years to come.”

If you look at the Capitals roster through the years, it’s hard to find a player that didn’t at some point play for the Hershey Bears. This past season alone saw 14 former or current Bears players play for the Washington Capitals.

 

Also Caps fans, if you haven’t had the chance to yet, I highly recommend going to a Hershey Bears game. Giant Center is an amazing atmosphere and the hockey is pretty good too. Considering both the Capitals and the Bears have had championship success over the years!

Hershey Bears

 

Whale Sign Defender, LaGue

News coming from the Pod today, as the Connecticut Whale signed defender Maggie LaGue. LaGue was a 2018 5th round selection, #22 overall of the Connecticut Whale.

LaGue is from Barre, Vermont and played 4 years of college hockey at Robert Morris University. In her college hockey career, she put up consistent numbers. Scoring 22 points her freshmen year, 22 points her sophomore year, 25 points her junior year, and 23 points her senior year (Which she was captain of the team during her senior season). Breaking that down, she has scored 13 goals and added 79 assists for a total of 92 points, which is good for 9th all time in the programs history.

Last season, she did not sign with the Whale after she was drafted, opting to play for the PWHPA as a member of the Independent roster. She will be joining the Whale this season for her first year in the NWHL.

 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Maggie LaGue

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

Sponsored by:

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Whale Re-Sign Trio Of Players

Big, big news from the Pod today as the Whale have re-signed a trio of players: defender Taylor Marchin, defender/forward Hanna Beattie, and forward Katelynn Russ.

Marchin is a defender from Michigan, who played her college hockey at Yale University. Marchin is returning to the team for her third season. Last season, Marchin recorded 3 assists in 24 regular season games and added another assist in the 2 playoff games that the Whale played.

Hanna Beattie is a utility player, in that she can play both forward and defense. She played her college hockey at Williams College. The New Jersey native is returning to the Whale for her fourth season with the team. Last season, she scored 3 goals and added 3 assists for 6 points on the year in the 22 games she played. In the 2 playoff games, she scored 2 goals. Currently, she is tied for the league lead in goals in the playoffs!

Katelynn Russ was a late signing last season for the Whale. The Illinois native played her college hockey at Union College. During the regular season, she only played 2 games, however in the playoffs, where the Whale played 2 games, she scored twice and added an assist for 3 points. Currently, she is tied for the league lead in points, for the playoffs, with Boston’s Kaleigh Fratkin and Connecticut’s Emma Vlasic. She is also tied for the league lead in goals, for the playoffs, with Connecticut’s Hanna Beattie. She is also tied for the league lead in power play goals, for the playoffs, with Boston’s Jordan Juron.

 

Signings So Far:

Goalie

Brooke Wolejko

Defender

Shannon Doyle

Elena Orlando

Taylor Marchin

Victoria Howran

Hanna Beattie

Forward

Emma Vlasic

Kaycie Anderson

Katelynn Russ

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

Sponsored by:

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Whale Sign Draftee

News from The Pod today, as the Whale sign their 2nd round pick of the 2020 NWHL draft, defender Victoria Howran.

 

1 (7) – Connecticut – D Victoria Howran, University of New Hampshire

Victoria Howran is from Bancroft, Ontario. The defender played for 4 years of college hockey at the University of New Hampshire. She was the captain of the team in her senior year. She scored 7 goals and added 48 assists for a total of 55 points.

 

The defender is the 3rd blue liner signed for next season, she will join Captain Shannon Doyle, and veteran NWHL defender Elena Orlando on the back end this upcoming season!

 

TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.

 

Sponsored by:

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