Teams

Boston Pride

National
Womens
Hockey League

Buffalo Beauts
Connecticut Whale
New York Riveters

Jensen Wurm
303-257-1838
Jensen.wurm@nichols.edu

Women can be professional

hockey players too...

Dani Rylan
Having played for twenty years, Rylan had built up
many contacts. Using her contacts, her love for
the game of hockey and her strong entrepreneurial skills, she worked tirelessly and was able to put
together funding to create four professional women athletes. In the fall of 2015, the Buffalo Beauts,
New York Riveters, Connecticut Whale, and Boston
Pride were formed.

First Game
The puck dropped for the first time on October 11, 2015. The ceremonial puck was
dropped by Manon Rheaume, who had played
a few games with the Tampa Bay Lightening
as a goalie in a time much before womens
hockey was recognized as a professional
sport. She was the first and only woman to
play in the NHL. She mentions how shes
excited to be a part of the historic event.

The Players
Many of the players come from Division I NCAA
schools. Janine Weber became the first of 72 players to sign onto a team for the premier 2015-2016

The Inspiration

season. She had attended Providence College and

had played for the Austrian Womens National
Team before joining the New York Riveters.

It is amazing the talent college athletes posses.

Boston College had stacked the line-up of women

College is a corner stone set for so many athletes

signed with four rising seniors playing in the inau-

future professional careers; going professional is

gural NWHL game.

why college student athletes work so hard. Imagine playing the four years, making a national
team, competing in the Olympics a couple times,
then thats it, youre virtually done.
This was a reality for so many women hockey
players in the US. After women finish their four
years with the NCAA, they are forced into beer
leagues and forced to keep their gear in their cars.
These athletes dedicate their whole live to a sport
just to be tossed aside after and put into a real

Average Salary for players is $15,000. It isnt much

job.

and they obviously can only be part-time players. But

That is no longer acceptable for these remarkable

athletes.

it is a start to something that will be amazing.