Minnesota Whitecaps

The Minnesota Whitecaps are a professional women's ice hockey team that plays in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area. In 2006-07 they were members of the National Women's Hockey League. They had been part of the Western Women's Hockey League from the fall of 2004 until the summer of 2006. In July 2006 it was announced that team along with other WWHL teams would be joining the National Women's Hockey League for the 2006-07 season. However, this was short lived as the NWHL and WWHL could not reach an agreement upon a playoff schedule. As a result, the merger was not consummated. With the collapse of the NWHL in the summer of 2007, the Western Women's Hockey League was once again a completely independent league. In March 2010, the Whitecaps became the first American team to win the Clarkson Cup.
On May 15, 2018 the team was added as a member of the National Women's Hockey League to begin play in that league for the 2018-19 season.  The league announced they will operate the team
==History==
===2008-09===
*January 16: The Whitecaps participated in Hockey Day Minnesota. The team played the USA Selects Team.
*March 8: The Whitecaps defeated the Calgary Oval X-Treme on March 8 in the WWHL Championship game shutting out Calgary by a score of 2-0. The Minnesota Whitecaps also won the semi-final game on March 7 against the Edmonton Chimos by a score of 4-0.
*March 21: The Whitecaps participated in the inaugural Clarkson Cup. The final game pitted the Montreal Stars, the top team from the Canadian Women's Hockey League, against the Minnesota Whitecaps, the top team from the WWHL.http://www.minnesotawhitecaps.com/news/2008-2009/ Montreal won the Cup by a score of 3-1. Sanya Sandahl was selected as Minnesota's player of the game.
===2009-10===
*November 16: Chisago Lakes was host to the first scrimmage of the season between the Whitecaps and the USA National team.
*December 21: Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero, Julie Chu, Natalie Darwitz, Caitlin Cahow, Molly Engstrom, Lisa Chesson, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej and Karen Thatcher all former Minnesota Whitecaps will be playing in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on February 12–28.http://www.minnesotawhitecaps.com/news/2009-2010/
*On February 8, 2010, the Whitecaps clinched the WWHL Championship. The first game of the series on Friday February 5, was held at Minnetonka’s Pagel Ice Arena hosted by Minnetonka Youth Hockey Association. The Whitecaps beat Strathmore by a score of 6-3. Game two of the series was hosted by the NOVAS Girls High School Hockey team on Saturday, February 6, at Victory Memorial Ice Arena. The Whitecaps will look forward to competing in the Clarkson Cup Championship in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada from March 26-28.
*March 28: The Whitecaps defeat the Brampton Thunder by a score of 4-0 to win the 2010 Clarkson Cup in Richmond Hill, Ontario.http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=cbc-sports_hockey_sp_clarkson_cup_final-2000357318
==Olympians==
*Caitlin Cahow
*Lisa Chesson
*Julie Chu
*Natalie Darwitz
*Molly Engstrom
*Jenny Potter
*Manon Rheaume
*Angela Ruggiero
*Karen Thatcher
*Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej
*Brooke White-Lancette
==Awards and honors==
* 2008 Breaking Barriers Awardhttp://www.minnesotawhitecaps.com/news/2007-2008/: Presented at National Girls and Women in Sports Day in St. Paul
* 2009 Clarkson Cup Top role model: Julie Chu
* 2009 Clarkson Cup Top defense: Caitlin Cahow
* 2010 Clarkson Cup Most Valuable Player: Julie Chu
* 2010 Clarkson Cup Final, Player of the Game, Brooke White-Lancettehttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/olympics/minnesota-whitecaps-defeats-upstart-brampton-4-0-wins-clarkson-cup-89367927.html
* Natalie Darwitz, Western Women’s Hockey League Most Valuable Player (2006–07)http://eastonhockey.com/natalie-darwitz.html
==Year-by-Year==
	= Indicates first-place finish
	= Indicates championship
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points
Season 	 	 	 	 	 	 	Finish	Playoffs 	
2004–05 	12 	8 	3 	1	34 	23 	2nd 	Lost in First Round 	
2005–06 	24 	11	8 	5	79 	65 	3rd 	Lost Final 	
2006–07 	24 	13	9 	1	74 	64 	3rd 	Lost Final 	
2007–08 	24 	15	6 	1	70 	50 	2nd 	Lost Final 	
2008–09 	22 	18	3 	1	181	44 	2nd 	WWHL ChampionsLost Clarkson Cup 	
2009–10 	12 	10	2 	0	44 	24 	1st 	WWHL ChampionsWon Clarkson Cup 	
2010–11 	18 	17	1 	0	120	43 	1st 	WWHL ChampionsLost Clarkson Cup 	
WWHL Totals 	136	92	32	9	602	313	 	 	
Season 	 	 	 	 	 	 	Finish	Playoffs 	
2018–19 	16 	12	4 	0	53 	34 	1st 	Won Isobel Cup championship game, 2–1 (OT) vs. Buffalo Beauts 	
2019–20 	24 	17	5 	2	106	52 	2nd 	Qualified for Isobel Cup championship game vs. Boston PrideChampionship game cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	
2020–21 	4 	3 	1 	0	12 	10 	2nd 	Lost Isobel Cup championship game, 3–4 vs. Boston Pride 	
2021–22 	20 	6 	13	1	52 	64 	5th 	Lost Isobel Cup semifinal game, 2–4 vs. Connecticut Whale 	
2022–23 	24 	10	11	3	58 	66 	4th 	Lost Isobel Cup final game, 3–4 vs. Toronto Six 	
NWHL/PHF Totals	88 	48	34	6	281	226	 	 	
==References==
Category:Women's ice hockey in the United States
Category:Women's ice hockey teams
Category:American ice hockey teams
Category:Established in 2004
Category:Ice hockey in Minnesota