Buffalo Beauts

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Buffalo Beauts
2020–21 NWHL season
Buffalo Beauts.png
CityAmherst, New York
LeagueNational Women's Hockey League
Founded2015
Home arenaNorthtown Center
ColorsBlue, black, silver, white
       
Owner(s)NLTT Ventures, LLC,
Top Tier Sports
(Andy Scurto – governor)
General managerNathaniel Oliver[1]
Head coachRhea Coad[2]
Media716 Sports Podcast / WBNY
The Buffalo News
NWHL on Twitch
WebsiteOfficial Website
Championships
Playoff championships2016–17

The Buffalo Beauts are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Amherst, New York. The team was established in 2015 as one of the four founding franchises of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). They play at Northtown Center in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst. The team played at Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo for their first four seasons.[3] The team has advanced to the Isobel Cup Finals in the NWHL's first four seasons, winning in 2016–17.

From 2017 to 2019, the Beauts were owned by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. Pegula severed ties with the NWHL in the 2019 offseason, causing the team to relocate to the Northtown Center.

History[]

Brianne McLaughlin celebrating after winning the 2017 Isobel Cup

The Beauts held their first summer free agent camp on May 23 and May 24, 2015.[4] In July 2015, the Beauts signed free agent and 2-time Team USA Olympic goaltender Brianne McLaughlin, making her the first player to sign a contract with the franchise.[5]

The team made its debut at home on October 11, 2015 in a 4–1 loss versus the Boston Pride. During a 5–3 home loss against the Boston Pride on October 25, 2015, Brianne McLaughlin allowed three goals by Brianna Decker, resulting in the first hat trick in NWHL history.

The Beauts finished the regular season third out of four teams. In the semifinals of the inaugural Isobel Cup championships, the Beauts faced the Connecticut Whale. The Whale had a perfect record against the Beauts in the regular season, but the Beauts upset the Whale by winning the last two games in the best-of-three series. They advanced to the championship series, but dropped two games in succession and were swept by the Boston Pride.

On October 7, 2016, Beauts forward Harrison Browne came out as a transgender man and thus became the first openly transgender athlete in professional American team sports.[6] That same year the Beauts won the 2016–17 Isobel Cup Championship in an upset win over the defending champion Boston Pride. This was Buffalo's first professional hockey championship since the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League won the 1970 Calder Cup.

The Beauts signed three superstars from the CWHL's Brampton Thunder on August 31, 2017, adding Jess Jones, Sarah Edney, and Rebecca Vint for the 2017–18 season.[7]

On December 21, 2017, Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE), owners of the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and Harborcenter, announced it had purchased the Beauts. This made the Beauts the first team in the NWHL not owned by the league and the first professional women's hockey team in North America to be owned by the same organization of its market's NHL team.[8]

On June 27, 2018, the Beauts signed Team Canada goaltender Shannon Szabados. Szabados had previously only played professional hockey on men's leagues such as the Southern Professional Hockey League and is the first woman to record a shutout in men's league.[9]

On December 7, 2018, the Beauts suddenly relieved Ric Seiling as head coach, replacing him with former Buffalo Sabre and Harborcenter Academy of Hockey coach Cody McCormick on an interim basis.

On May 8, 2019, following the announcement of a professional women's hockey player strike, Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE) relinquished ownership of the team back to the NWHL.[10] Under Pegula, the Beauts were considered a well-run operation, with the team sharing resources and training facilities with the Sabres and Rochester Americans. Szabados cited the amenities provided to the Beauts' players through the partnership as one of the goals of the strike for the rest of professional women's hockey.[11]

While the Beauts played at the Harborcenter, in the NWHL's largest arena by capacity, they consistently led the NWHL in attendance for the first few seasons until they were surpassed by the Minnesota Whitecaps in 2018–19.[12][13] The league indicated that it wanted to keep the team playing at the Harborcenter,[14] which is owned by PSE, but the severance also required the team to negotiate an arena lease.[15]

On June 25, 2019, PSE sent a cease and desist letter to the NWHL for using the Beauts' name and brand. As part of the original agreement, PSE obtained the trademarks associated with the team and formed a separate entity called Buffalo Beauts Hockey to operate the team. While PSE verbally agreed to relinquished ownership and operations of the team, the NWHL apparently did not sign the transfer paperwork before the deadline, leading to PSE's cease and desist letter. As PSE still owned the Beauts' branding as of July 2 while the NWHL continued to use the Beauts' name,[16] but the team eventually retained the name. The league then moved the Beauts' home games to the Northtown Center in nearby Amherst prior to the 2019–20 season.[17][18]

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 NWHL season was scheduled as a single-site bubble tournament to be played over two weeks at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, from January 23 to February 5, 2021.[19] However, the bubble season came to a premature end following several positive cases of COVID-19. After the Metropolitan Riveters were forced to withdraw on January 28, Buffalo was in last place. The final games of the regular season were rescheduled with the top three teams playing a round-robin for seeding in the Isobel Cup playoffs, while the Beauts would face the Boston Pride in a three-game play-in series for the fourth seed. Prior to the third game on February 1, Connecticut also withdrew from Lake Placid over health and safety concerns, causing the Beauts/Pride series to be for the third and fourth seeds with the Beauts losing the game 1–7. By February 3, the league completely postponed the Isobel Cup playoffs and ended the Lake Placid event.[20] On March 8, the league announced the new schedule for the playoffs to take place on March 26 and 27 at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Massachusetts. Due to the postponement, Connecticut was given the third seed and the Beauts were eliminated from participation in the postseason.[21]

On June 28, 2021, the league announced the sale of the Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps to a joint partnership of NLTT Ventures, LLC, led by Andy Scurto, and Top Tier Sports, led by Neil Leibman. Scurto was named the team's governor.[22]

Season-by-season records[]

Season GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA Playoffs
2015–16 18 5 9 4 0 14 57 66 Lost Isobel Cup Championship to Boston Pride
2016–17 17 6 10 1 0 13 44 68 Won Isobel Cup Championship over Boston Pride
2017–18 16 12 4 0 — 24 51 41 Lost Isobel Cup Championship to Metropolitan Riveters
2018–19 16 11 4 0 1 23 57 25 Lost Isobel Cup Championship to Minnesota Whitecaps
2019–20 24 8 15 1 — 17 71 116 Lost play-in game to Connecticut Whale
2020–21 6 1 4 0 1 3 7 24 Did not qualify

Team[]

Roster[]

As of January 2, 2021[23]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
98 Canada F 23 2020 Ancaster, Ontario
95 Canada Taylor Accursi (C) F L 26 2017 Ancaster, Ontario
11 United States Lisa Chesson (A) D L 35 2020 Plainfield, Illinois
5 Slovakia Lenka Čurmová D L 24 2019 Michalovce, Slovakia
3 Canada D R 24 2019 Niagara Falls, Ontario
77 Canada D R 23 2020 Port Moody, British Columbia
1 United States Caty Flagg G 23 2020 Methuen, Massachusetts
81 United States Erin Gehen D R 25 2019 West Seneca, New York
70 Canada Carly Jackson G L 24 2020 Amherst, Nova Scotia
27 United States Jordan Juron (A) F R 27 2020 Latham, New York
8 Slovakia Iveta Klimášová F R 23 2019 Gelnica, Slovakia
13 United States Dominique Kremer D R 24 2020 Hudson, Iowa
25 United States Kristin Lewicki F R 26 2020 Moundsville, West Virginia
9 Canada Autumn MacDougall F 24 2020 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
17 Canada F L 23 2019 Oakville, Ontario
23 Canada Alyson Matteau D L 23 2020 San Jose, California
21 United States Kayla Meneghin F R 26 2020 Clifton, New Jersey
31 United States Kelsey Neumann G L 30 2016 China Grove, North Carolina
15 United States Kelly O'Sullivan D 24 2020 Inverness, Illinois
4 Canada Marie-Jo Pelletier (A) D R 23 2019 Dalhousie, New Brunswick
7 United States Emma Ruggiero F L 24 2019 Amherst, New York
12 Canada Brooke Stacey F L 25 2019 Kahnawake, Québec
10 Canada F L 23 2020 Mitchell, Ontario

Team captains[]

Head coaches[]

General managers[]

  • Nik Fattey, 2016–2019
  • Cody McCormick, 2019
  • Mandy Cronin, 2019–2020
  • , 2020–present

Draft history[]

Courtney Burke from the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program became the first player in franchise history to be selected in the inaugural 2015 NWHL Draft.[26] Raised in the state capital of Albany, New York, Burke was also the first defensewoman selected in NWHL Draft history.

2015[]

Main article: 2015 NWHL Draft

The following are the Beauts' selections from the 2015 NWHL Draft of college players in their junior year held on June 20, 2015. Note: The team has not announced any contract signings from this list to date. A player who is drafted but does not sign with the organization that selected her, may enter free-agency after completing her senior year.

# Player Position Nationality College
4 Courtney Burke Defense  United States University of Wisconsin
8 Sarah Lefort Forward  Canada Boston University
12 Amanda Leveille Goaltender  Canada University of Minnesota
16 Emily Janiga Forward  United States Mercyhurst
20 Forward  Canada Mercyhurst

[26]

Media[]

In local Media the Buffalo Beauts are covered by The Buffalo News and home games are broadcast live by 716 Sports Podcast via Steve Bermel (Play by Play) and Justen Ehrig (color commentary) and games are live-streamed to twitch.tv/nwhl.[citation needed]

Franchise milestones[]

See also: List of Buffalo Beauts records
Milestone Player Date
First goal Kelley Steadman October 11, 2015
First win Brianne McLaughlin November 29, 2015
First Isobel Cup goal Shelby Bram March 11, 2016
First championship MVP Brianne McLaughlin March 19, 2017
First shutout Amanda Leveille January 27, 2018

Awards and honors[]

References[]

  1. ^ Was named captain prior to 2020–21 NWHL season, but could not participate in the bubble season due to her regular job in Ontario.[24][25]
  1. ^ "NWHL Provides Updates on the GMs for 2020-21". www.nwhl.zone. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Randy Schultz (March 16, 2021). "Rhea Coad Named Head Coach of The Buffalo Beauts". NY Hockey Online. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Fink, James (April 16, 2015). "Buffalo Beauts to play at HarborCenter". Buffalo Business First.
  4. ^ Fink, James (May 22, 2015). "Buffalo Beauts hold first summer training camp". Buffalo Business First.
  5. ^ "Buffalo Beauts sign goaltender Brianne McLaughlin – Sports". The Buffalo News. July 3, 2015. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  6. ^ Steele, Michele (October 7, 2016). "NWHL player Harrison Browne comes out as a transgender man". ESPN. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  7. ^ "SCORING MACHINE JESS JONES IS A BEAUT". www.nwhl.zone. August 31, 2017. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Moritz, Amy (December 21, 2017). "Pegulas add the Buffalo Beauts to their hockey holdings". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Jay, Michelle (June 27, 2018). "Shannon Szabados signs with Buffalo Beauts". The Ice Garden. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  10. ^ Anstey, Evan (May 8, 2019). "Report: Pegula Sports & Entertainment severs relationship with Buffalo Beauts". WIVB-TV. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  11. ^ "Pegulas relinquish control of Buffalo Beauts". The Sports Network. May 8, 2019.
  12. ^ "How the Minnesota Whitecaps are finding success in the NWHL". espnW. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "2018-19 Season Sets New Highs for Attendance, Viewership, Merchandising and Engagement". NWHL.zone. March 28, 2019. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "NWHL Regains Operational Control of the Buffalo Beauts". NWHL. May 8, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "AP Source: Pegula relinquishes control of NWHL Buffalo team". WKBW. May 8, 2019.
  16. ^ "Women's hockey league seeks court ruling over Beauts name, logo". The Buffalo News. July 2, 2019.
  17. ^ "NWHL's Beauts Find New Home". The Victory Press. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  18. ^ "NWHL Reveals Expanded Schedule for the 2019-20 Season". NWHL. July 29, 2019. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  19. ^ "REGULAR SEASON AND ISOBEL CUP PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 NWHL SEASON IN LAKE PLACID". NWHL. January 14, 2021.
  20. ^ "NWHL suspends season on eve of playoffs due to COVID-19". Sportsnet.ca. February 3, 2021.
  21. ^ "NWHL TO AWARD ISOBEL CUP IN MARCH 2021". NWHL. March 8, 2021.
  22. ^ "NWHL Announces Sale of Buffalo Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps". OurSports Central. June 28, 2021.
  23. ^ "Buffalo Beauts 2020-21 Regular Season Roster". www.nwhl.zone. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  24. ^ "2021 SEASON PREVIEW: NWHL POISED TO DROP PUCK ON SIXTH SEASON". Buffalo Beauts. January 23, 2021.
  25. ^ Tokarski, Anne (January 14, 2021). "Beauts' Taylor Accursi to sit out NWHL season six". The Ice Garden. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b "Draft Live | NWHL". Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Beauts' Szabados, Bolden, Elia and Scamurra Win NWHL Awards". NWHL.zone. March 25, 2019. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  28. ^ Paul Krotz (April 28, 2021). "NWHL ANNOUNCES 2021 AWARD RECIPIENTS". NWHL. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

External links[]

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