Showing posts with label Women's hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women's hockey. Show all posts

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Blake Bolden Named National Womens Hockey League Defender of the Year

NOTE: This award was given to Blake Bolden in March of 2019, but it's definitely a story that went under the radar. It's also a story that didn't get the attention it deserved which is why it's being posted now. George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.

Former Boston College women's hockey standout Blake Bolden '13 was named the National Women's Hockey League Defender of the Year , as announced by the league's office.

In 16 regular season games, Bolden registered 13 points on one goal and 12 assists to tie for the league lead among defenders, while also firing 47 shots on goal and blocked 11 shots. In Buffalo's run to the Isobel Cup Final, she added two assists and six blocked shots. Bolden committed just two penalties on the year and finished with a plus-11 rating. She had at least one point in 12 of her 18 games. The NWHL all-star helped anchor a Buffalo defense that put up four shutouts on the season and a league-best 1.50 goals against per game.

"Blake has proven to be successful at every level she has had the opportunity to play at," said BC head coach Katie Crowley. "She is a tremendous role model, leader and person and I am so happy for her to be rewarded for her continued success on the ice."

Bolden is sixth all-time in BC history in defenseman career scoring with 82 points, while her 26 goals rank fourth and her 56 assists sit sixth. She was a Second Team All-American and Hockey East Best Defenseman as a senior in 2013.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Two black women embrace their chance to be hockey role models for black girls

Kelsey Koelzer
Three years ago, girls from the Hockey in Newark youth program were invited to meet the Princeton women’s hockey team.

During the visit, the girls, many of whom are members of minorities, were drawn to defender Kelsey Koelzer. Like them, Koelzer, who is African-American, played much of her youth in secondhand equipment and was raised by a single parent who struggled to accommodate the costly expenses of hockey.

The girls peppered Koelzer with questions. Koelzer was struck by the encounter, too; her mother, Kristine, still remembers her daughter talking about the effect the visit had.


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Sarah Nurse
Koelzer’s influence is expanding in her senior season at Princeton. In June, she was selected first overall by the New York Riveters in the National Women’s Hockey League draft. Koelzer is believed to be the first African-American player taken No. 1 by a top-tier American professional hockey league. Shortly after the historic pick, Sarah Nurse of Canada, who is also black, was selected in the second round by the Boston Pride.

Koelzer and Nurse, a forward at Wisconsin, are two of college hockey’s top players and rising stars in their national-team programs. With increased visibility, they recognize their capacity to motivate a generation of young girls from similar backgrounds.

Read more: Two black women embrace their chance to be hockey role models