The Connecticut Whale women’s pro hockey team makes their debut in their new home rink Friday night when they host the Minnesota Whitecaps.
On Friday night, professional hockey comes to Simsbury when the Connecticut Whale women’s hockey team plays their first game in their new home – the International Skating Center of Connecticut.
The Whale will host the first of nine home games this season at the ISCC when they welcome the Minnesota Whitecaps (2-2-2) for a 7 p.m. faceoff. The Whale (1-1-1) will host the Whitecaps in a second Premier Hockey Foundation contest on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Simsbury First Selectwoman will conduct the ceremonial first puck drop and Nekita Waller, the state’s Troubadour (an ambassador of music and song who promotes cultural literacy) will sing the national anthem.
“We are so excited to bring the highest level of sports back to Simsbury and our surrounding communities,” said Kelle Becconsall, owner and general manager of the ISCC earlier this year. “This building opened with Olympic figure skaters and has been host to many national hockey tournaments and competitions over the years. It’s been our mission to revitalize that hometown pride and bring ISCC back to the international spotlight.
“Now we get to host women’s professional hockey, and it doesn’t get much better than that,” she said. “We’re beyond honored to have the Connecticut Whale call us their home rink.”
The last professional sports franchise in the Farmington Valley was the Hartford Foxforce, the World Team Tennis squad that played at Blue Fox Run in Avon for four seasons from 2003 through 2006.
“It really came down to all of the positives in Simsbury,” Whale General Manager Alexa Moed said in September. ”This is where we want to be. We’re that premier tenant and partner with them. This was an opportunity to get into a facility we can call our own.”
For those who can’t get down to the International Skating Center of Connecticut, the games will be streamed on ESPN3.
Connecticut’s Taylor Girard (17) and Katerina Mrazovza (16) earlier this fall.
Connecticut, which had a franchise-best record of 15-3 a year ago and went to the Isobel Cup finals, won their first game of the season on Sunday with a 3-2 win over the expansion Montreal Force in Quebec with current league MVP Kennedy Marchment scoring the game-winning goal with 5:43 left in regulation.
Marchment had a team-leading 13 goals and 20 assists a year ago and has a goal and two assists in the last two games for the Whale.
“Our offensive talent is better than it was last year, our defensive talent is deeper than it was last year and our goaltending is phenomenal,” Marchment said. “I am really excited to see where the team goes this year.”
In their first three games, the Whale have not been a grind it out team. They love to run or skate fast.
“I think we play a fun, fast-paced game,” Marchment said. “We play a really fast game which I think for the fans is something that is really interesting to watch. We play a lot of offense that is the most fun hockey to watch.”
The Whale scored a franchise-record 74 goals in 20 games a year ago. Taylor Girard, last year’s PHF Newcomer of the Year with 11 goals and 13 assists, has a goal and two assists as well.
The Whale played their first game on Nov. 4 against defending league champion Boston and dropped a 4-0 decision. Snow wiped out a pair of games with Buffalo in mid-November and Connecticut played their first games in a month last weekend against Montreal. The Force won the opener of the two-game series in a shootout last Saturday.
“We have a mission in mind,” Whale head coach Colton Orr said in the preseason. “We have a lot of skill up front. If you look at the talent and depth we have throughout the lineup, we’ll try to let the skill take over the game.”
Players to watch
6 – Shannon Turner. The captain and the last player who played on the first Connecticut Whale team in 2015-16, Turner will be retiring at the end of the season.
8 – Alyssa Wohlfeiler. The forward from Northeastern had eight goals and eight assists a year ago and is beginning her third season with the team
12 – Allie Munoe. Defenseman with 10 assists a year ago for the Whale
11 – Melissa Samoskevich. The only current Connecticut native on the team. She grew up in Newtown and played her college hockey at Quinnipiac.
15 – Emma Vlasic. Beginning her fourth year with the squad, Emma played her collegiate hockey at Yale
16 – Katerina Mrazova. A rookie from Czechoslovakia, she played on the Czech national team at the recent world championship tournament.
17 – Taylor Girard. The second-year forward from Quinnipiac was the PHF’s Newcomer of the Year a year ago with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points
22 – Kennedy Marchment. The 5-foot-8 forward from Ontario, Canada was the Premier Hockey Federation’s MVP a year ago with 13 goals and 20 assists
24 – Janine Weber. The forward from Innsbruck, Austria played her college hockey at Providence. She scored five goals and had eight assists year ago
35 – Abbie Ives. The goalie from Bedford Hills, New York, was 10-3 a year ago with a 2.44 GAA and led the Whale to the Isobel Cup finals. She played her collegiate hockey at Quinnipiac.
81 — Meeri Räisänen. The veteran goalie played for Finland at the world championships and on the Finnish Olympic team. She played 12 games for the Whale in 2018-19, posting a .908 save percentage.
Premier Hockey Federation standings, Dec. 4, 2022
| Team | W-L-OTL | Pts | RW | OTW | SOW | |
| Boston | 5-1 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Toronto | 4-1-1 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Minnesota | 2-2-2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Montreal | 3-2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Metropolitan | 2-4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Buffalo | 1-0-1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Connecticut | 1-1-1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Points: Three points for a win in regulation, two points for an OT or shootout win; one point for loss in OT or shootout | ||||||
| Friday, Dec. 9 Minnesota at Connecticut (Simsbury), 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 Minnesota at Connecticut (Simsbury), 2 p.m. Metropolitan at Toronto, 2 p.m. Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11 Boston at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Metropolitan at Toronto, 2 p.m. |
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| Friday, Dec. 16 Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 Metropolitan at Connecticut (Simsbury), 2 p.m. Montreal at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18 Boston at Connecticut (Simsbury), 2 p.m. Montreal at Minnesota, 2 p.m. |
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| Holiday break. Play resumes January 6 | ||||||
Remaining 2022-23 Connecticut Whale schedule
Sat. Dec. 17: METROPOLITIAN, 2 p.m.
Sun. Dec. 18: BOSTON, 2 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 6: BOSTON, 7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 8: At Metropolitan, 1 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 14: vs. Montreal, site TBA, 3 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 21: At Toronto, 2 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 22: At Toronto, 2 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 27: MONTREAL, 7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 3: At Metropolitian, 7 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 5: At Boston, 2 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 18: TORONTO, 7 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 19: TORONTO, 2 p.m.
Sun. Feb. 26: METROPOLITAN, 3 p.m.
Sat. March 4: At Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sun. March 5: At Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Sat. March 11: At Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Sun. March 12: At Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Two games with Buffalo postponed in November need to be rescheduled
