2015–16 NWHL season

2015–16 NWHL season
League	National Women's Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 11, 2015 – February 28, 2016
Regular season
Season champions	Boston Pride
Top scorer	Hilary Knight
Playoffs
Playoffs Playoffs MVP	Brianna Decker
Isobel Cup
Champions	Boston Pride
Runners-up	Buffalo Beauts

The 2015–16 NWHL season is the first season of operation of the National Women's Hockey League. Four teams are competing for the inaugural Isobel Cup: the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride, New York Riveters and Connecticut Whale.

League business

July 2015: The NWHL Foundation shall host a Canadian Training Camp Series in four different Canadian cities (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor).^[1]
Late July 2015: A training camp for European players shall take place at Ristuccia Memorial Arena outside Boston on July 23. Hosted by Boston Pride head coach Bobby Jay, players from Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany and Japan are expected to attend.^[2]

NWHL Draft

Main article: 2015 NWHL Draft

The 2015 NWHL Draft took place on June 22, 2015. A draft lottery was held and the New York Riveters earned the first pick overall, selecting Alexandra Carpenter of the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program.

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	W%	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Boston Pride	18	14	3	1	0.806	75	39	+36	29
2	Connecticut Whale	18	13	5	0	0.722	61	51	+10	26
3	Buffalo Beauts	18	5	9	4	0.389	56	66	−10	14
4	New York Riveters	18	4	12	2	0.278	40	76	−36	10

Source: NWHL
y – Clinched division.

Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in regular season points at the conclusion of season.

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Hilary Knight	Boston Pride	17	15	18	33	8
Brianna Decker	Boston Pride	17	14	15	29	20
Kelli Stack	Connecticut Whale	17	8	14	22	24
Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	18	9	13	22	24
Kelley Steadman	Buffalo Beauts	13	13	7	20	16

All-star game

Main article: 1st NWHL All-Star Game

The 1st NWHL All-Star Game was held January 24, 2016 at HarborCenter in Buffalo, the home of the Beauts.^[3]

Playoffs

Semifinals			Finals


1	Boston Pride	2

4	New York Riveters	0
			1	Boston Pride	2

			3	Buffalo Beauts	0
2	Connecticut Whale	1

3	Buffalo Beauts	2

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Team	Date
First goal	Jessica Koizumi	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First Canadian to score a goal	Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First European to log an assist	Lyudmila Belyakova	New York Riveters	Oct 11, 2015
First European to score a goal	Yekaterina Smolentseva	Connecticut Whale	Dec 13, 2015
First shootout goal	Kelly Babstock	Connecticut Whale	Nov 22, 2015
First multi-goal game	Hilary Knight (2 goals)	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First hat trick	Brianna Decker	Boston Pride	Oct 25, 2015
First multi-point game	Kelli Stack (3 points)	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First multi-point game by a defenseman	Kacey Bellamy (2 points)	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First goaltending win	Jaimie Leonoff Canada	Connecticut Whale	Oct 11, 2015
First American-born goaltender to win a regular season game	Brittany Ott	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First international goaltender to win a regular season game	Nana Fujimoto	New York Riveters	Nov 15, 2015
First African-American player to compete in the NWHL	Blake Bolden	Boston Pride	Oct 11, 2015
First shootout game	Brittany Ott	Boston Pride	Dec 20, 2015

Awards and honors

Brianna Decker, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Most Valuable Player
Hilary Knight, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Scoring Champion
Denna Laing, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Perseverance Award
Gigi Marvin, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Defensive Player of the Year Award
Brittany Ott, Boston Pride, 2016 NWHL Goaltender of the Year

Three Stars of the Game

Game #	First Star	Second Star	Third Star
1 (Oct. 11, 2015)	Jaimie Leonoff, Connecticut	Kelli Stack, Connecticut	Kelly Babstock, Connecticut
2 (Oct. 11, 2015)	Kelley Steadman, Buffalo	Hilary Knight, Boston	Brianne McLaughlin, Buffalo
3 (Oct. 18, 2015)	Zoe Hickel, Boston	Brianna Decker, Boston	Gabie Figueroa, New York
5 (Oct. 25, 2015)	Paige Harrington, Buffalo	Kelley Steadman, Buffalo	Brianna Decker, Boston
6 (Oct. 25, 2015)	Kaleigh Fratkin, Connecitcut	Nicole Stock, Connecticut	Ashley Johnston, New York
7 (Nov. 22, 2015)	Emily Pfalzer, Buffalo	Kelley Steadman, Buffalo	Kourtney Kunichika, Buffalo

References

National Women's Hockey League (2015)

Teams	Boston Pride Buffalo Beauts Connecticut Whale New York Riveters

Drafts / Transactions	Draft Transactions

Seasons	2015-16

All Star Game	1st NWHL All-Star Game (2016)

Isobel Cup Champions	Boston Pride (2016)

Outdoor Classic	2016 Outdoor Women's Classic

2015–16 NWHL season

Boston Pride Buffalo Beauts Connecticut Whale New York Riveters

Professional Women's Hockey seasons

NWHL	1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07

CWHL	2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

WWHL	2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11

NWHL (US)	2015–16

Clarkson Cup	2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Isobel Cup	2016

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