The 2017–18 NWHL season was the third season of the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

. All four teams from the previous two seasons returned for this season: the

Boston Pride The Boston Pride was a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The Pride played at Warrior Ice Arena, which is also the practice fac ...

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, at the Northtown Center. The Beauts were established in 2015 as one of the four founding f ...

, Connecticut Whale, and the

Metropolitan Riveters The Metropolitan Riveters (originally the New York Riveters) were a professional women's ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with home games at the American Dream Meadowlands ice rink. They were one of the four charter franc ...

League news and notes

*In October 2017, the Russian women's national team participated in exhibition series, called the 2017 Summit Series, going 5–0 against the Pride, Riveters, and Whale. The Beauts played one game against the Chinese national team, which the Beauts won 4–2. *A Battle of the Sexes match was scheduled between the

and Buffalo Jr. Sabres 15U youth team for October 16 with the Jr. Sabres 15U winning 9–4. *On October 5, the New York Riveters partnered with the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. The Riveters, having played in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, the previous season, rebranded as the

. As part of the partnership, the Riveters had their opening home game at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...

. *On December 14, the NWHL announced that they are playing

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

Women's National Team in

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

for two exhibition matches for January playing at the U.S. Women's National Team's training complex at Florida Hospital Center Ice. *On December 21, the Buffalo Beauts were acquired by their landlord,

Pegula Sports and Entertainment Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) was an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after billionaire Terry Pegula combined his sports, property and entertainment assets into one company. ...

; Pegula owns several sports teams in the Buffalo area, including the NHL's

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

Head coaching and front office personnel changes

Head coaches

Regular season

News and notes

Brittany Ott Brittany "The Otter" Ott (born June 12, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey player. , Ott plays for the New Hampshire region team in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association. She previously played two seasons for the Boston ...

of the Boston Pride and

Amanda Leveille Amanda Leveille (born 10 June 1994) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Formerly a member of the Buffalo Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), Leveille holds the PHF all-time records for win ...

of the Buffalo Beauts served as team captains for the

3rd NWHL All-Star Game The 3rd NWHL All-Star Game took place on February 11, 2018 at TRIA Rink in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A skills competition was held the day prior on February 10, 2018. Brittany Ott of the Boston Pride and Amanda Leveille of the Buffalo Beauts ser ...

Standings

Final standings.

Playoffs

Awards and honors

* Alexa Gruschow, Metropolitan Riveters, 2018 NWHL Most Valuable Player * Alexa Gruschow, Metropolitan Riveters, 2018 NWHL Scoring Champion *

Jillian Dempsey Jillian T. Dempsey (born January 19, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The former captain of the Boston Pride of the now-defunct Premier Hockey Federatio ...

, Boston Pride, 2018 NWHL

Denna Laing Denna Christine Laing (born May 12, 1991) is an American former professional ice hockey player. She last played for the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) until a career-ending injury. At the collegiate level, she accumula ...

Perseverance Award *

Courtney Burke Courtney Burke (born September 2, 1994) is an American ice hockey defenseman. She was drafted fourth overall by the Buffalo Beauts during the 2015 NWHL Draft for the inaugural season of the National Women's Hockey League. In 2011, she helped the ...

, Metropolitan Riveters, 2018 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award *

, Buffalo Beauts, 2018 NWHL Goaltender of the Year *

Hayley Scamurra Hayley Scamurra (born December 14, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Montreal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), and a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She previously ...

, Buffalo Beauts, 2018 NWHL Rookie of the Year

Player of the Week

Draft

The 2017 NWHL draft was the third in the history of the

and took place on August 17, 2017, in Brooklyn. Goaltender Katie Burt of Boston College was selected first overall by the Boston Pride. It marked the first time that the Boston Pride held the first pick overall in the draft, which the franchise obtained from the Connecticut Whale in the trade that sent

Zoe Hickel Zoe Hickel (born July 10, 1992) is an American ice hockey player who currently serves as assistant coach to the Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey program. She most recently played with Linköping HC of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL ...

to the Whale on February 7, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 NWHL season NWHL