2010–11 Boston Blades season

The 2010–11 Boston Blades season was the first in Boston Blades history.^[1] The Blades competed in the Canadian Women's Hockey League and attempted to win the Clarkson Cup.

Background

On August 12, 2010, the CWHL announced that the city of Boston would receive an expansion team for the 2010–11 CWHL season. The unnamed team will practice at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington.^[2]

Offseason

September 17: Former New Hampshire goaltender Erin Whitten was named head coach of the Boston expansion franchise.^[3]
September 27: Mariel Lacina was appointed as Assistant Coach. Prior to coaching, she was a goaltender for the Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey program.^[4]

CWHL Draft

The Boston club was able to protect some players from being selected from their roster in the 2010 CWHL Draft.

Protected players

Player	2009-10 Team
Caitlin Cahow	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team
Molly Engstrom	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team Brampton Thunder
Melissa Haber	Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey
Cherie Hendrickson	Burlington Barracudas
Kacey Bellamy	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team

^[5]

Free agents

Protected players

Player	College	2009-10 Team
Danielle Ayearst	Mercyhurst	Vaughan Flames
Jaclyn Hawkins^[6]	Connecticut	ZSC Lions (Zurich, Switzerland)
Jessica Koizumi	Minnesota Duluth	Montreal Stars
Erika Lawler	Wisconsin	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team
Shelley Payne	Colby College	Mississauga Chiefs
Angela Ruggiero	Harvard	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team
Karen Thatcher	Providence College	2009–10 United States women's national ice hockey team

^[7]

Regular season

December 19: The Blades came from behind to defeat Montreal. In doing so, they broke up Montreal's bid for an undefeated season. Boston goalie Mandy Cronin stopped 74 shots to lead Boston to victory. Montreal had an early 2-0 lead. In the 2nd period, Blades player Sam Faber scored on an assist by Jess Koizumi. In the third period, Koizumi would tie the game. With 3:24 to play in the game, Angela Ruggiero scored the game-winning goal. She was assisted by Sam Faber and Hayley Moore.^[8]
January 16: Gillian Apps scored her seventh goal of the season 2:42 into overtime as Brampton defeated the Boston Blades by a 4-3 tally. The win was the fifth in a row for Brampton who are now 11-6 on the season. The five game win streak is currently the best in the league. Brampton has yet to lose a game in 2011. In addition, they have outscored their opponents 23-9 during the streak.^[9]
February 5 & 6: a gallery of Toronto vs Boston games.
February 11:Boston are a blast.^[10]
February 12: Brampton tops Boston for tenth straight victory.^[11]
February 13: Cherie Piper hat trick contributes to a Brampton season sweep over Boston.^[12]
March 3: Boston Blades Team Up for Alzheimer Research:^[13] The Blades will be promoting at their games and hosting sign-up tables for those interested in riding, including at upcoming playoffs set for March 11–13.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Record
October 30, 2010	Burlington	3-0	1-0-0
October 31, 2010	Burlington	6-0	2-0-0
November 20, 2010	Burlington	1-5	2-1-0
November 21, 2010	Toronto	4-2	3-1-0
November 27, 2010	Montreal	2-3	3-2-0
November 28, 2010	Montreal	2-4	3-3-0
December 4, 2010	Burlington	4-3	4-3-0
December 5, 2010	Burlington	1-2	4-4-0
December 11, 2010	Toronto	6-4	5-4-0
December 12, 2010	Toronto	4-3	6-4-0
December 18, 2010	Montreal	2-10	6-5-0
December 19, 2010	Montreal	3-2	7-5-0
January 8, 2011	Brampton	3-5	7-6-0
January 9, 2011	Toronto	4-9	7-7-0
January 15, 2011	Brampton	0-3	7-8-0
January 16, 2011	Brampton	3-4	7-9-0
January 22, 2011	Burlington	0-1	7-10-0
January 23, 2011	Brampton	0-1	7-11-0
January 29, 2011	Montreal	0-3	7-12-0
January 30, 2011	Montreal	6-5	8-12-0
February 5, 2011	Toronto	5-4	9-12-0
February 6, 2011	Toronto	4-2	10-12-0
February 12, 2011	Brampton	2-5	10-13-0
February 13, 2011	Brampton	3-8	10-14-0
February 26, 2011	Montreal	4-5	10-15-0
February 27, 2011	Montreal	1-4	10-16-0

Standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.

February 28, 2011
No.	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Montreal	26	22	2	2	125	70	46
2	Brampton	26	19	6	1	111	69	39
3	Boston	26	10	15	1	73	101	21
4	Toronto	26	8	13	5	83	98	21
5	Burlington	26	6	18	2	54	108	14

^[14]

Attendance at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington

total: 3471 supporters for 16 games, average: 216 supporters by game at domicile.^[15]

Roster

Goalies
Number	Player	Former Team	Hometown
33	Moe Bradley	Boston Shamrocks	Swampscott, Massachusetts
30	Heather Heckman-Mckenna	JMH	Salem, New Hampshire
1	Mandy Cronin	Brampton (CWHL)	York, Maine

Defense
Number	Player	Former Team	Hometown
26	Brittany Simpson	Providence College	Barrie,Ontario
24	Cherie Hendrickson	Burlington (CWHL)	Boxford, Massachusetts
22	Kacey Bellamy	National Team USA	Westfield, Massachusetts
8	Caitlyn Cahow	National Team USA	Branford,Connecticut
6	Erin Nomore	Provindence College	Cambridge, Ontario
4	Angela Ruggiero	National Team USA	Panorama City, California

Forwards
Number	Player	Former Team	Hometown
91	Annie Hogan	Northeastern	Medford, Massachusetts
56	Jess Koizumi	Montreal(CWHL)	Simi Valley, California
28	Sami Faber	University Of New Hampshire	Chestwood, New York
21	Cassie Sperry	Northeastern	Southake, Texas
16	Micaela Long	University of New Hampshire	South Boston, Massachusetts
13	Erika Lawler	National Team USA	Fitchburg, Massachusetts
12	Samantha Rush	Holy Cross	Wakefied, Massachusetts
10	Lindsay Berman	Northeastern	Odenton,Maryland
9	Hayley Moore	Brown University	Wakefield, Massachusetts
7	Shannon Sisk	University of New Hampshire	Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania
5	Karen Thatcher	National Team USA	Blaine, Washington
3	Liz Keady	Princeton university	Braintree, Massachusetts

Coaching staff

Head Coach: Erin Whitten-Hamlen
Assistant Coach: Mariel Lachina
General Manager: Paul Hendrickson

Postseason

Boston is eliminated and cannot participate in the Clarkson Cup Championship.

Date	Opponent	Score	Attendance
March 11, 2011	Toronto	Toronto wins 4-2	280 supporters
March 12, 2011	Toronto	Toronto wins 3-1	184 supporters
March 13, 2011	Toronto	a 3rd match is non-necessary . Toronto gains the first 2 matches	-