2015–16 Connecticut Whale (NWHL) season

The 2015-16 Connecticut Whale (NWHL) season will be the first in franchise history. The club participated in the National Women's Hockey League (2015) 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. 
===Game log===
2015–16 Schedule
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center;"	# 	Date 	Time 	Visitor	Score 	Home 	Location	Record	Points
1 	Oct 11	1:30 PM 	New York Riveters	1–4 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	1–0–0 	2 	
2 	Oct 18	3:30 PM 	Connecticut Whale	5–2 	Buffalo Beauts 	HarborCenter 	2–0–0 	4 	
3 	Oct 25	7:00 PM 	Connecticut Whale	3–1 	New York Riveters	Aviator Sports & Events Center	3–0–0 	6 	
4 	Nov 15	3:30 PM 	Connecticut Whale	3–2 	Buffalo Beauts 	HarborCenter 	4–0–0 	8 	
5 	Nov 22	3:30 PM 	Connecticut Whale	7–6 SO 	Buffalo Beauts 	HarborCenter 	5–0–0 	10 	
6 	Nov 29	3:00 PM 	Connecticut Whale	4–3 	Boston Pride 	Bright Hockey Center 	6–0–0 	12 	
7 	Dec 6 	4:30 PM 	Buffalo Beauts 	2–3 SO 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	7–0–0 	14 	
8 	Dec 13	6:30 PM 	Connecticut Whale	4–3 SO 	New York Riveters	Aviator Sports & Events Center	8–0–0 	16 	
9 	Dec 27	4:30 PM 	Boston Pride 	2–1 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	8–1–0 	16 	
10	Jan 3 	7:00 PM 	Connecticut Whale	6–1 	New York Riveters	Aviator Sports & Events Center	9–1–0 	18 	
11	Jan 9 	7:30 PM 	New York Riveters	3–4 	Connecticut Whale	Ingalls Rink 	10–1–0 	20 	
12	Jan 10	6:00 PM 	Buffalo Beauts 	3–5 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	11–1–0 	22 	
13	Jan 17	3:00 PM 	Connecticut Whale	1–4 	Boston Pride 	Bright Hockey Center 	11–2–0 	22 	
14	Jan 31	6:00 PM 	Boston Pride 	5–2 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	11–3–0 	22 	
15	Feb 7 	12:00 PM	Buffalo Beauts 	2–3 OT 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	12–3–0 	24 	
16	Feb 14	3:00 PM 	Connecticut Whale	2–4 	Boston Pride 	Bright Hockey Center 	12–4–0 	24 	
17	Feb 21	1:30 PM 	Boston Pride 	5-3 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	12–5–0 	24 	
18	Feb 28	6:00 PM 	New York Riveters	2-4 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers 	13–5–0 	26 	
==Playoffs==
===Game log===
2016 Isobel Cup Playoffs	2016 Isobel Cup Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Semifinals vs. Buffalo Beauts; Buffalo Beauts won series 2–0
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center;"	# 	Date 	Time 	Visitor	Score 	Home 	Location	Record
1 	Mar 4 	7:10 PM	Buffalo Beauts	0–3 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers	1–0 	
2 	Mar 5 	7:30 PM	Buffalo Beauts	4–1 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers	1–1 	
3 	Mar 6 	6:00 PM	Buffalo Beauts	4–3 	Connecticut Whale	Chelsea Piers	1–2 	
==Statistics==
Final
===Skaters===
 Regular Season 
Player	 	 	 	 	
 	17	8 	14	22	24
 	18	9 	13	22	24
 	18	5 	12	17	40
 	13	10	3 	13	0
 	18	0 	12	12	2
 	18	5 	5 	10	24
 	17	3 	7 	10	27
 	14	3 	5 	8 	2
 	18	3 	4 	7 	20
 	15	2 	5 	7 	8
 	13	3 	3 	6 	14
 	17	1 	4 	5 	14
 	12	3 	2 	5 	2
 	15	3 	2 	5 	21
 	18	2 	3 	5 	12
 	4 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	13	1 	0 	1 	6
 	8 	0 	0 	0 	6
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 Playoffs 
Player	 	 	 	 	
 	3	4	0	4	2
 	3	0	2	2	2
 	3	2	0	2	2
 	3	0	2	2	2
 	3	1	1	2	2
 	3	0	2	2	0
 	3	0	1	1	4
 	3	0	1	1	0
 	3	0	1	1	2
 	3	0	1	1	2
 	1	0	0	0	2
 	1	0	0	0	2
 	3	0	0	0	0
 	3	0	0	0	0
 	3	0	0	0	6
 	1	0	0	0	0
 	3	0	0	0	0
===Goaltenders===
 Regular Season 
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	10	567:15	7	3	0	28	2.96	438	0.936	0	0
 	6 	343:07	4	2	0	15	2.62	211	0.923	0	0
 	1 	60:00 	1	0	0	2 	2.00	32 	0.938	0	0
 	2 	122:08	1	0	0	0 	1.97	50 	0.920	0	0
 Playoffs 
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	2	118:56	1	1	0	3	1.51	57	0.947	1	0
 	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.
==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===
	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 	 	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
2 	6 	Michelle Picard 	D 	 	Harvard University (ECAC)
3 	10	Milica McMillen 	D 	 	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
4 	14	Maryanne Menefee 	F 	 	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
5 	18	Cassandra Poudrier	D 	 	Cornell University (ECAC)
==References==
 
Category:National Women's Hockey League (2015–)
Category:2016 in hockey