Story of the Week

Women’s pro hockey in Minnesota a ‘dream come true’ of excitement and uncertainty - StarTribune.com
A new beginning: Whitecaps skate into NWHL era, led by a familiar face – The Athletic

Last weekend, the NWHL’s newest team played their first games, and it went pretty much as perfectly as they could have hoped.

To start, both games had sold out by Friday—maybe not surprising, considering the hold women’s hockey already has in the state of Minnesota, but great news nonetheless. The Whitecaps made the most of that crowd. They rolled over the defending Isobel Cup Champion Metropolitan Riveters, winning 4-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday. It was assumed upon announcement of expansion that the Whitecaps would be immediate Isobel Cup contenders—again, they play in Minnesota, and are therefore able to attract a ton of great players who want to stay close to home—and they backed that up immediately, only allowing the Rivs offense one goal on the weekend.

In other NWHL action this weekend, the Buffalo Beauts look every bit as dominant as expected, after cleaning up with big offseason signings like Shannon Szabados, Blake Bolden, and Dani Cameranesi. They beat the Connecticut Whale 4-0, and considering that they outshot the Whale 38 to 10, it’s safe to say that the only reason it stayed that low was Meeri Räisänen in goal for the Whale. The Beauts travel to Minnesota the last weekend in October; it’ll be very interesting to see how those two early favorites line up against each other.

NWHL

Recaps

NWHL Weekend Wrap: Week One
The Minnesota Whitecaps made quite an entrance into the NWHL this weekend, topping the defending Isobel Cup Champions twice. Elsewhere, the Buffalo Beauts shut out the Connecticut Whale with Nicole Hensley at the helm.

’Incredible’ packed house sees Whitecaps win first NWHL game 4-0 - StarTribune.com
Former Minnesota Duluth forward Katie McGovern scored the Whitecaps’ first goal on a power play, much to the delight of a 1,200-fan sellout.

Räisänen makes 34 saves in NWHL debut but Connecticut blanked by Buffalo – The Collinsville Press
Connecticut Whale goalie Meeri Räisänen came to the National Women’s Hockey League looking to be challenged.

News

NWHL to stream games on Twitter for second straight season - The Ice Garden
All-Star Game and Isobel Cup Playoffs headline schedule

2018-19 NWHL Preview: Player roundtable - The Ice Garden
6 questions with a player from each team.

Co-Owner of MLB’s Texas Rangers is an NWHL investor - The Ice Garden
Neil Leibman, the co-owner and COO of the Texas Rangers, is the NWHL’s newest investor

Buffalo Beauts sign Meghan Fonfara - The Ice Garden
Buffalo adds some size and depth before their season opener in Connecticut

Shannon Szabados: Fun Facts With the Buffalo Beauts Goalie
THW caught up with Beauts goalie and 3-time Olympian Shannon Szabados before a team practice. Shannon shared some fun facts about herself for you to enjoy.

Audra Richards makes her rookie debut at home this weekend ... for the away team - The Ice Garden
Bus loads of Riveters fans headed to TRIA Rink to catch the Maplewood, Minn. center make her professional debut

Metropolitan Riveters: Q & A with Kelly Nash
Kelly Nash: I was back & forth in the middle of last season (whether I would play again) but once the Riveters won the Cup it kind of got a little addicting

The IX: Hockey Friday with Erica L. Ayala, October 5, 2018
Interview with Kristen Liewicki

Q & A with Connecticut Whale’s Meeri Räisänen - The Ice Garden
The NWHL’s first Finnish player is ready for a new challenge in the USA.

Michelle Löwenhielm makes historic debut in NWHL | Aftonbladet
Michelle Löwenhielm debuted tonight for the Connecticut Whale. A historic premier for the 23-year-old who is the first Swede to play in the American Women’s League, NWHL.

Reggie Dunlop? Jackie Moon? Meet the NWHL’s history-making player-coach - TheHockeyNews
Cydney Roesler was enjoying her off-season, preparing for another campaign patrolling the blueline for the Connecticut Whale, when coach Ryan Equale rang her up to propose something unorthodox: that Roesler, two years into her career in the NWHL, pull double duty as a player-coach for the Whale.

CWHL

CWHL streaming schedule announced - The Ice Garden
18 games are on deck to be streamed

CWHL announces a weekend of games on Sportsnet - Pension Plan Puppets
The weekend of January 5 - 6, 2019 will see all four Canadian CWHL teams on national television.

Worcester Blades: Chelsey Goldberg adjusts to new city, approaches hockey with passion - News - telegram.com - Worcester, MA
Chelsey Goldberg was raised in Southern California, attended high school in Northern Vermont and has spent the last seven years studying and working in Eastern Massachusetts.

The More You Inferknow: Eden Murray – Flamesnation
In preparation for the 2018-19 Calgary Inferno season, we are continuing our profiles on Inferno players beginning this week with rookie forward Eden Murray.

CWHL News: Clarkson Cup champs Markham Thunder announce 2018-19 roster - Pension Plan Puppets
The defending Cup champions keep their core but add some new blood

NCAA

Polls: USCHO - USA Today - The Ice Garden

NCAA Highlight: Annie Pankowski
When the Wisconsin Badgers took to the ice to open their season last Friday, it had been 551 days since Annie Pankowski had put on her familiar white sweater with a large red W on the front.

Livia Altmann on Colgate Women’s Ice Hockey Success - Colgate Maroon-News: Colgate Sports
Livia Altmann, the star defender and captain on the Colgate women’s ice hockey team, has plenty of accolades and achievements under her belt.

Women's hockey: Liz Auby makes career-high 38 saves to help No. 8 Colgate split series with No. 5 Ohio State | NCAA.com
The Colgate women's hockey team had its biggest challenge of the season on Saturday afternoon against the nation's fifth-best team, and the Raiders responded.

NCAA Highlight: Cayla Barnes
Cayla Barnes' second freshman year at Boston College is likely going to go very differently than her first.

International hockey

Women’s Hockey Update: October 3rd, 2018 (Part 2) | CONWAY'S RUSSIAN HOCKEY BLOG
As promised, the second part of this two-part women’s hockey update!

Ice Hockey UK announce schedule for 2019 Women's World Championships in Dumfries
The schedule for next year's International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship Division II Group A in Dumfries has been confirmed.

Ice hockey: More women’s brains needed for concussion studies, says Ruggiero | Reuters
American gold-medal ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero said she hopes her pledge to donate her brain to concussion research would encourage other female athletes to do the same so scientists could gain a fuller picture of the problem.

U Sports

TOP 10 TUESDAY: Defending champion Manitoba opens at No.1 in women’s hockey — U SPORTS
No surprise, the Bisons start the year at number 1

Manitoba Bisons open season with a win - Winnipeg Free Press
IF you’re judging by Friday night, the latest edition of the Manitoba Bisons women’s hoc... - Amateur - Winnipeg Free Press.

U of S Huskies open with a win over Alberta at Merlis Belsher Place | Ottawa Citizen
University of Saskatchewan Huskies have a new hockey home and everybody seems to be enjoying the change after so many years at Rutherford.

European club hockey

SDHL (Sweden) “We are so good” | Aftonbladet
Leksand became the first team to defeat Luleå this season.

AWIHL (Australia)

AWIHL news: 8 October 2018 | Ice Hockey News Australia
Adelaide Rush - The Rush have announced the Mortgage Choice Malvern/Unley/Burnside as their Player of the Game sponsors for the 2018-19 season.

AWIHL news: 4 October 2018 | Ice Hockey News Australia
Adelaide Rush - The Rush have announced Caledonia Group as sponsors for the 2018-19 season.

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)