2016 has come and gone, with the conclusion of the 2015/16 season, the playoffs, an all-star game, a winter classic and with the 2016/17 season well underway there’s plenty for hockey fans to look back on. Here I have tried to sum up the NWHL’s year by the numbers.
In the off-season, 3 of the 4 teams relocated. The Whale moved to the Northford Ice Pavilion in Branford, Connecticut. The Pride moved to the new Warrior Ice Arena for a great capacity due to high attendance. While the Riveters moved to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey for the 2016/17 season.
12 goals were scored between the Whale and the Beauts on the 23rd of November as the Whale prevailed 7-5. This makes it the highest scoring game of 2016.
Brittany Ott, who won goaltender of the year for the previous season, currently sits on a 0.949 save percentage and 1.14 goals to put her firmly at the top of the goaltender rankings.
The off-season lasted 243 days, from the 13th March until the 10th November.
During the All-Star weekend, Megan Bozek shot a puck 88mph to give her the crown for hardest shot. She will be looking to defend her title in Pittsburgh in 2017.
There are currently 92 players signed to NWHL contracts for the 2016/17 season, 24 players for the Whale and 24 for the Pride while 22 players have signed with the Beauts and 22 for the Riveters.
On the 21st June, Amanda Kessel signed with the New York Riveters for $26,000*, making this the largest contract for any player in the league.
*It should be noted that one 17th November all salaries were cut by 50%.
There were 8 overtimes during the year, 4 were concluded in the overtime period and 4 went to a shootout. One of these was during the Isobel Trophy Finals.
On the 24th January at the HarborCenter in Buffalo, New York (the home of the Buffalo Beauts), the first NWHL All-Star game took place. Team Pfalzer swept the skills competition and ultimately ended up defeating Team Knight, 9-1.
On the 10th January the Pride destroyed the Riveters 8-1, giving them the largest victory, a margin of 7 goals, in 2016.
On the 13th March 2016, the Boston Pride defeated the Buffalo Beauts 3-1 to sweep the series and become the first team to win the Isobel Trophy.
42 games have been played, 18 to conclude the inaugural season, 7 playoff games and 17 games so far in this 2016/17 season.
There have been a total of 258 NWHL goals this year, the Pride notching 79, Whale 66, Beauts 65 while the Riveters have managed 48.
The teams have managed 6 shut outs between them, 3 by the Pride, 2 by the Riveters and one from the Whale. The Pride and Whale are the only teams to have notched a shutout during the playoffs.
#14 is the number that MVP for the 2015/16 season winner, Brianna Decker of the Boston Pride wears. In her NWHL career she currently leads the league in points with 49 (25 goals and 24 assists) including 9 points in 4 playoff games.
The Boston Pride are currently on a 19 game winning streak dating back to the 10th January, going 4-0-0 in the playoffs and 8-0-0 so far this season. They will be looking to make it twenty in 2017.
