The Connecticut Whale were a professional ice hockey team based in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Simsbury, Connecticut at the International Skating Center of Connecticut. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four charter franchises of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), which became the PHF in 2021. Their name and colors paid homage to the Hartford Whalers, a former NHL and WHA franchise based in Connecticut. The team folded along with the PHF in 2023 as part of the creation of a new, unified women's league, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).
History
For their first season, the Whale played home games in Stamford, Connecticut at Chelsea Piers. Chris Ardito was hired as the first general manager in franchise history,[3] while Jake Mastel and Lisa Giovanelli coached the team. The team is the second professional hockey team to bear the Connecticut Whale name, following the American Hockey League team previously and currently known as the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Among their off-season acquisitions, the Whale signed Kaleigh Fratkin to a contract on July 1, 2015. She was the first Canadian player to sign a contract in the NWHL.[4]
The team made its debut in the 2015–16 season. Jessica Koizumi was named first team captain in franchise history.[5] The first game in NWHL history was a sell out on October 11, 2015 between the New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale.[6] The Whale prevailed by a 4–1 tally as Jessica Koizumi scored the first goal in both franchise and NWHL history. In the same game, Kelli Stack had one goal and two assists, becoming the first player to record a multi-point performance. Whale goaltender Jaimie Leonoff was credited the win, capturing the game's First Star. Stack was recognized as the Second Star, and Kelly Babstock, who became the first Canadian-born player to score a goal in an NWHL regular season game, was acknowledged as the Third Star.
The Whale won their first three games in franchise history with three different goalies. In the first game, the Whale prevailed with Jaimie Leonoff, while former Quinnipiac goaltender Chelsea Laden captured the second win, and Nicole Stock played her first game in over five years to capture the third win on the road against the New York Riveters.
On August 20, 2018, the Whale named active player Cydney Roesler an assistant coach for the 2018–19 season making her the first player-coach in franchise history.[9]
After two seasons at Terry Conners Ice Rink, the Whale moved again to the larger Danbury Ice Arena in Danbury, Connecticut.[10] Former NHL enforcer Colton Orr was named as head coach for the 2019–20 season.[11] The team was eliminated in the semifinal game by the Boston Pride, the eventual league titlist, prior to the championship being cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following season was then delayed amidst the capacity and travel restrictions during the pandemic. The 2020–21 season eventually started on January 23, 2021, with the entire season to be played at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, without fans in attendance and teams kept in isolation. However, the Metropolitan Riveters were forced to withdraw from the two-week season on January 28 after several members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19.[12] The schedule was then adjusted to have the top three teams at the time play a round-robin tournament to determine playoff seeding with the Whale as the second seed. Connecticut then lost to the expansion Toronto Six 0–6 on January 31. The next day, the team forfeited their final game to the Minnesota Whitecaps and withdrew from the playoffs[13] citing concerns with increased positive cases within the bubble and protecting their players from the virus.[14] Two days later, the league suspended the season before the playoffs could commence due to several more positive tests throughout the league.[15] The league then rescheduled the playoffs to be held at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Massachusetts, with the Whale re-entered as the third seed to face the Minnesota Whitecaps, who they would have faced regardless of the outcome of the game the Whale withdrew from in Lake Placid, in a semifinal game.[16] The Whale then lost to the Whitecaps 7–0 in the semifinal game.
On May 10, 2021, the league announced it had sold the Whale to a new independent ownership group called Shared Hockey Enterprises (SHE), LLC, led by Tobin Kelly, reducing the league operated teams to three.[17][18]
On June 29, 2023, it was announced that the PHF and its assets had been purchased as part of a bid to create a new, unified women's professional league.[19] The league and its teams were dissolved in the process and a new league, the Professional Women's Hockey League, was slated to begin play in 2024.[20] While Simsbury was not granted one of the six charter PWHL franchises, the New York franchise announced in November that it would host the majority of its home games at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[21]PWHL New York hosted its first game in Bridgeport on January 5, 2024.[22]
Season-by-season records
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
^Starting with the 2021–22 season, 3 points are awarded for a regulation win, 2 points are awarded for an overtime/shootout win, 1 point is awarded for an overtime/shootout loss, 0 points are awarded for a regulation loss[23]
The following were the Whale's selections in the 2020 NWHL Draft on April 28 and 29, 2020. Connecticut held the Metropolitan Riveters fifth round pick (27th overall), as the future considerations from the trade of Maria Sorokina to the Riveters in 2019.
