# 2015–16 Connecticut Whale (NWHL) season

The 2015–16 Connecticut Whale season was the first in franchise history and the Premier Hockey Federation's inaugural season.

## Offseason

* On July 1, the Whale signed former BU Terriers blueliner and 2015 Clarkson Cup champion Kaleigh Fratkin to a contract, making her the first Canadian to sign an NWHL contract.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team v t e | 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 |

### Game log

2015–16 Schedule
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationRecordPointsGamesheet
1October 11New York Riveters4–1LeonoffChelsea Piers CT1–0–02
2October 18@ Buffalo Beauts5–2LadenHarborCenter2–0–04
3October 25@ New York Riveters3–1StockAviator Sports and Events Center3–0–06
4November 15@ Buffalo Beauts3–2LeonoffHarborCenter4–0–08
5November 22@ Buffalo Beauts7–6SOStockHarborCenter5–0–010
6November 29@ Boston Pride4–3LeonoffBright Hockey Center6–0–012
7December 6Buffalo Beauts3–2SOLeonoffChelsea Piers CT7–0–014
8December 13@ New York Riveters4–3SOLeonoffAviator Sports and Events Center8–0–016
9December 27Boston Pride1–2StockChelsea Piers CT8–1–016
10January 3@ New York Riveters6–1StockAviator Sports and Events Center9–1–018
11January 9New York Riveters4–3LeonoffIngalls Rink10–1–020
12January 10Buffalo Beauts5–3StockChelsea Piers CT11–1–022
13January 17@ Boston Pride1–4LeonoffBright Hockey Center11–2–022
14January 31Boston Pride2–5LeonoffChelsea Piers CT11–3–022
15February 7Buffalo Beauts3–2OTLundbergChelsea Piers CT12–3–024
16February 14@ Boston Pride2–4StockBright Hockey Center12–4–024
17February 21Boston Pride3–5LeonoffChelsea Piers CT12–5–024
18February 28New York Riveters4–2LundbergChelsea Piers CT13–5–026 :
Win (2 points)
  Overtime/Shootout loss (1 point)
  Loss (0 points) :

## Playoffs
### Game log

2016 Isobel Cup Playoffs :
Semifinals vs. Buffalo Beauts; Buffalo Beauts won series 2–1
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationRecordGamesheet
1March 4Buffalo Beauts3–0Chelsea Piers CT1–0(No gamesheet available)
2March 5Buffalo Beauts1–4Chelsea Piers CT1–1(No gamesheet available)
3March 6Buffalo Beauts3–4StockChelsea Piers CT1–2 :
Win
  Loss :

## Statistics

Final

### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Kelli Stack | 17 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 24 |
| Kelly Babstock | 18 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 24 |
| Kaleigh Fratkin | 18 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 40 |
| Shiann Darkangelo | 13 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| Jordan Brickner | 18 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 2 |
| Danielle Ward | 18 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 24 |
| Micaela Long | 17 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Yekaterina Smolentseva | 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Alyssa Wohlfeiler | 18 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 20 |
| Jessica Koizumi | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 |
| Sam Faber | 13 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| Brittany Dougherty | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Kate Buesser | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Molly Engstrom | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 21 |
| Shannon Doyle | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| Lindsay Berman | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tara Tomimoto | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Anya Battaglino | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Katia Pashkevitch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Kelly Babstock | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Kate Buesser | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kelli Stack | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Micaela Long | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sam Faber | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Shiann Darkangelo | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Danielle Ward | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Jessica Koizumi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Molly Engstrom | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Shannon Doyle | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Alyssa Wohlfeiler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Anya Battaglino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brittany Dougherty | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Brickner | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaleigh Fratkin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tara Tomimoto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yekaterina Smolentseva | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | PIM |
| Jaimie Leonoff | 10 | 567:15 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 2.96 | 438 | 0.936 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicole Stock | 6 | 343:07 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 2.62 | 211 | 0.923 | 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea Laden$^‡$ | 1 | 60:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 32 | 0.938 | 0 | 0 |
| Shenae Lundberg$^†$ | 2 | 122:08 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.97 | 50 | 0.920 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | PIM |
| Jaimie Leonoff | 2 | 118:56 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1.51 | 57 | 0.947 | 1 | 0 |
| Nicole Stock | 1 | 60:00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 | 28 | 0.846 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Whale. Stats reflect time with the Whale only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Whale only.

## Roster

Updated February 20, 2016
| No. | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace |
| 8 | Kelly Babstock | F | L | 23 | 2015 | Mississauga, Ontario |
| 10 | Lindsay Berman | D | L | 27 | 2015 | Odenton, Maryland |
| 26 | Jordan Brickner | D | L | 25 | 2015 | Lake Forest, Illinois |
| 27 | Shiann Darkangelo | F | L | 22 | 2015 | Brighton, Michigan |
| 19 | Brittany Dougherty | F | L | 25 | 2015 | Chesterfield, Michigan |
| 6 | Shannon Doyle | D | R | 24 | 2015 | Baldwin, Ontario |
| 9 | Molly Engstrom | D | R | 33 | 2015 | Siren, Wisconsin |
| 28 | Sam Faber | F | R | 28 | 2015 | Mount Sinai, New York |
| 13 | Kaleigh Fratkin (A) | D | R | 23 | 2015 | Burnaby, British Columbia |
| 56 | Jessica Koizumi (C) | F | L | 30 | 2015 | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| 32 | Jaimie Leonoff | G | L | 23 | 2015 | Montreal, Quebec |
| 16 | Micaela Long | F | L | | 2015 | South Boston, Massachusetts |
| 1 | Shanae Lundberg | G | L | 23 | 2016 | Peterborough, New Hampshire |
| 17 | Yekaterina Smolentseva | F | L | 34 | 2015 | Yekaterinburg, Russia |
| 61 | Kelli Stack | F | R | 28 | 2015 | Brooklyn Heights, Ohio |
| 24 | Nicole Stock | G | R | | 2015 | Buffalo Grove, Illinois |
| 22 | Danielle Ward | F | R | 26 | 2015 | Lansing, Michigan |
| 88 | Alyssa Wohlfeiler | F | R | 26 | 2015 | Saugus, California |

## Awards and honors
### NWHL Player of the Week

* Kelli Stack – October 11, 2015
* Shiann Darkangelo – December 15, 2015
* Danielle Ward - Jan 10, 2016
* Molly Engstrom - Feb 7, 2016
* Shenae Lundberg - Feb 28, 2016

### NWHL 1st All-Star Game selection

* Jordan Brickner (Team Knight)
* Shiann Darkangelo (Team Pfalzer)
* Kaleigh Fratkin (Team Knight)
* Jaimie Leonoff (Team Knight)
* Kelli Stack (Team Knight)

## Transactions
### Trades

| January 27, 2016 (2016-01-27) | To New York Riveters Chelsea Laden | To Connecticut Whale Shenae Lundberg |

### Signings

| Player | Date | Contract terms |
| Shiann Darkangelo | June 25, 2015 | $17,000 |
| Sam Faber | June 25, 2015 | $13,500 |
| Chelsea Laden | June 25, 2015 | $14,000 |
| Kaleigh Fratkin | July 1, 2015 | $20,000 |
| Jessica Koizumi | July 9, 2015 | $20,500 |
| Danielle Ward | July 9, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Micaela Long | July 17, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Nicole Stock | July 17, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Jaimie Leonoff | July 26, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Kelly Babstock | August 4, 2015 | $18,000 |
| Brittney Dougherty | August 13, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Shannon Doyle | August 13, 2015 | $15,000 |
| Yekaterina Smolentseva | August 15, 2015 | $22,000 |
| Molly Engstrom | August 18, 2015 | $12,000 |
| Lindsay Berman | September 24, 2015 | $15,000 |
| Jordan Brickner | September 24, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Alyssa Wohlfeiler | September 24, 2015 | $10,000 |
| Kelli Stack | September 24, 2015 | $25,000 |

### Other

| Name | Date | Details |
| Harry Rosenholtz | December 24, 2015 | Resigned as General Manager |
| George Speirs | December 24, 2015 | Named as interim General Manager |
| Jake Mastel | January 29, 2016 | Resigned as Head Coach |
| Heather Linstad | January 29, 2016 | Named as Head Coach |
| Lisa Giovanelli | January 29, 2016 | Named as Assistant Coach |

## Draft

The following were the Whale's selections in the 2015 NWHL Draft on June 20, 2015.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 2 | Hannah Brandt | F | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 2 | 6 | Michelle Picard | D | United States | Harvard University (ECAC) |
| 3 | 10 | Milica McMillen | D | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 4 | 14 | Maryanne Menefee | F | United States | University of Minnesota (WCHA) |
| 5 | 18 | Cassandra Poudrier | D | Canada | Cornell University (ECAC) |