Pro Hockey Coming To Simsbury

Courtesy of Connecticut Whale

SIMSBURY, CT — Professional hockey is coming to Simsbury after it was announced Thursday the Connecticut Whale women's pro team is relocating to a local ice rink facility.

Connecticut Whale officials said they will be playing the majority of its home games during the 2022-23 Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) season at International Skating Center of CT (ISCC), located in Simsbury.

The move follows the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons played at Danbury Ice Arena.

“The Whale are thrilled to be putting down our roots at ISCC in Simsbury and bringing Brass Bonanza back to the Greater Hartford area,” said Tobin Kelly, Whale owner.

“Preparation has been under way for some months now, and I can’t say enough about how hard ISCC ownership has been working to make this a great home for the Whale. We are looking forward to being a part of the community in Simsbury.”

Brass Bonanza is the iconic instrumental song that once was played after Hartford Whalers goals when the Whalers were in the NHL.

“We are so excited to bring the highest level of sports back to Simsbury and our surrounding communities,” said Kelle Becconsall, ISCC owner and general manager.

“This building opened with Olympic figure skaters and has been host to many national hockey tournaments and competitions over the years. It’s been our mission to revitalize that hometown pride and bring ISCC back to the international spotlight. Now we get to host women’s professional hockey, and it doesn’t get much better than that. We’re beyond honored to have the Connecticut Whale call us their home rink and can’t wait to welcome them to ISCC.”

Before relocating to ISCC in the fall, the Whale will open the season with two games hosted at Milford Ice Arena, which will continue to serve as the team’s practice facility for the remainder of the season.

Details regarding home game dates and tickets will be announced as part of the upcoming PHF regular season schedule release.

The Connecticut Whale are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Connecticut and competing in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) formerly known as the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL).

The Whale are one of the founding four teams that stepped on to the NWHL ice in 2015 and are owned and operated by Shared Hockey Enterprises (SHE).

The PHF is the leading home of professional women’s hockey in North America.

Established in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021.

The league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force and the Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup.

For more information on the Connecticut Whale, visit whale.premierhockeyfederation.com.