Samantha "Sam" Walther (born July 16, 1996) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. She played in the

Premier Hockey Federation 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 ...

(PHF) with 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 ...

and Connecticut Whale.

Playing career

Walther attended The Gunnery, a private

college-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or p ...

Washington, Connecticut Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the North Eastern region of the United States. The population was 3,646 at the 2020 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active ...

, for

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. She spent four seasons with the school's women's ice hockey team in addition to playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. During her first three years attending The Gunnery, Walther simultaneously played with the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

-based Pittsburgh Penguins Elite of the

Tier 1 Elite Hockey League The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (T1EHL), formerly Midwest Elite Hockey League, is located primarily in the Midwest United States and is the premier amateur youth hockey league in the United States. Players from all over the country move to the ar ...

(T1EHL), the premier amateur youth hockey league in the United States. In her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year of high school, she also played with the Connecticut Polar Bears of the

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 ...

Girls Tier I 19U.

Collegiate

Walther played her collegiate career with the

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

in the

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III comprising sports teams from eleven highly s ...

(NESCAC) of the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

. Her senior year, she was ranked second in the country with a

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

of .960. Walther finished her hockey career at Hamilton College holding the program's records for best

goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

(1.40), highest save percentage (.948), and most shutouts (26). In 2018, she was awarded the Jack B. Riffle Award for the top female athlete in the senior class at Hamilton. Her senior year performance also earned her the title of 2018 NESCAC Player of the Year and as well as her second First Team All America Selection. Following her graduation, she became the first Hamilton graduate to sign with a professional women's hockey team. During her time at

, Walther suffered a torn MCL during a

NESCAC The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal a ...

quarterfinals game that ended in quadruple overtime. Walther made 80 saves, a career high.

NWHL

On July 10, 2018, Walther signed a professional contract with the Connecticut Whale. Following goaltender Mariya Sorokina's departure from the team, Walther became the backup to Whale goaltender

Meeri Räisänen Meeri Räisänen (born 2 December 1989) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and member of the Finnish national team, playing with Gladiators HT in the II-divisioona (2-div.), the fourth-tier men's national league in Finland. With the Finnish ...

. Walther dressed for five games for the Whale. In the 2019–20 season, Walther signed a contract with the

. In her first starting goaltender role in the NWHL, Walther played 22 of 24 regular season games. She played in her first NWHL playoff game, making 30 saves on 31 shots in a tight overtime loss to the defending champions, the

Minnesota Whitecaps The Minnesota Whitecaps were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at the Richfield Ice Arena. Established in 2004, the ...

. During the season, Walther sustained a hip injury after a collision with Whale defender Kaycie Anderson and missed two games. She was named as one of the goaltenders for Team Packer in the 2020 NWHL All-Star Game. Walther finished the season with a .892 save percentage and 3.74 goals against average. In June 2020, Riveters' coach Ivo Mocek confirmed that Walther would not be returning to the team for the

2020–21 NWHL season The 2020–21 NWHL season was the sixth season of the National Women's Hockey League in North America. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season was held in a bubble in Lake Placid, New York, from January to February 2021, with all five te ...

. Walther later confirmed that she will not play in the 2021 season.

Personal life

Walther served as an assistant coach with the

Nichols Bison Nichols College is a Private college, private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1931 as Nichols Junior College, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichol ...

women's ice hockey program during the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. During her time at

, Walther earned her undergraduate degree in government. In addition to coaching at Nichols, Walther is also getting her graduate degree in Counterterrorism. She speaks Arabic, American Sign Language (ASL), and French. She has named

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

goalie

Braden Holtby Braden Holtby (born September 16, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He previously played for the Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fourth roun ...

as one of her role models, wearing number 70 because of him. Growing up, Walther was also a neighbour of

Ken Klee Kenneth William Klee (born April 24, 1971) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional defenseman who played most notably with the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the head coach of the Minnesot ...

in Annapolis. Since 2018, Walther's been an ambassador for The Goalie Guild's Lift the Mask initiative to encourages mental health awareness among ice hockey goaltenders. Walther has also outwardly discussed being an advocate for mental health as an athlete.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Sam American ice hockey goaltenders Metropolitan Riveters players People from Gambrills, Maryland Sportspeople from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Hamilton College (New York) alumni The Frederick Gunn School alumni Connecticut Whale (PHF) players 1996 births Living people Ice hockey people from Maryland