Gabie Figueroa

Gabriella "Gabie" Figueroa (born February 21, 1992)[1] is an American professional ice hockey player for the New York Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

Gabie Figueroa
Figueroa in 2015
Born (1992-02-21) February 21, 1992
Branchburg, New Jersey, USA
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 146 lb (66 kg; 10 st 6 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NWHL team New York Riveters
Playing career 2015–present

Playing career

Figueroa was originally a defenseman.[2] She first played hockey when she was a 9-year-old.[3][4] She got into the sport because a bunch of her brother's friends from school were playing.[5] Before every game, she tapes her own stick. She believes doing so increases her puck control.[3]

Youth

She played youth hockey for a number of clubs including Bridgewater Bears, Princeton Tiger Lilies, New Jersey Colonials and Connecticut Polar Bears and The Lawrenceville School.[6] Playing for Lawrenceville, she was named an all state player three times.[4] As a youth player, she sometimes played on all girls teams and mixed gender teams at the same time.[5]

Collegiate

Figueroa attended college at Princeton University, where she played for the women's ice hockey team.[2][7] Her senior season in 2013-2014 finished with 13 points on 12 assists and a goal.[6] After finishing her career at Princeton, she initially believed her playing days were over because of the lack of opportunities for women to play after college.[3]

NWHL

On August 15, 2015, Figueroa joined the New York Riveters for the inaugural 2015/16 NWHL season.[8][2][7][3][9][10] Because of salary cap restraints, most players needed to work other jobs including Figueroa who made the league minimum of $10,000. As a result, she only trained with the team two times a week with games played on Sunday.[2][7][3] When not training, she worked as a project engineer for Gilbane Building Company.[2][3] That season, she played in all 18 regular season games for the team, along with making post-season appearances.[11] She also played in the first game ever played in the league when the Riveters took on the Connecticut Whales.[12] She also scored the team's first ever goal.[13]

In 2016, she participated in the NWHL Free Agent Camp, watched by general managers from several teams in the league. She was one of only three defenders playing for her team in a scrimmage match.[14][15] In September 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would join the practice squad for the New York Riveters in their 2016/17 season.[16][11] Playing for the Riveters in 2017, injuries to other players meant she sometimes was playing as a forward. By mid-season, she had scored three times for her team.[17]

National team

She played for the United States women's u-18 national ice hockey team.[3] With the team for the 2010 IIHF U-18 World Championship, she won a silver medal.[6][4]

Coaching

In 2016, she was involved with running a USA Hockey ADM clinic.[4]

Personal

Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey,[7] Figueroa attended college at Princeton University. Figueroa graduated from Princeton in 2014 with a degree in structural engineering.[2][7][3]

References
  1. "Gabie Figueroa - Player Profile - Ice Hockey". Eurosport. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  2. Desai, Priya (June 5, 2016). "For Riveters' Gabie Figueroa, hockey is more than a game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  3. "What It's Like To Be One Of The First Pro Female Hockey Players In The U.S." MTV News. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. "Ice Hockey: New Jersey Devils, USA Hockey host first Girls Youth Hockey ADM clinic in Newark". NJ.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  5. editor. "Feminism Scores a Hat Trick with Women's Hockey League | Fordham Observer". www.fordhamobserver.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. Editor, Justin Feil, Assistant Sports. "PRINCETON: Figueroa's passion is following her to work". CentralJersey.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. Kreda, Allan (February 20, 2016). "For Players in a New Women's League, a Rink Isn't the Only Office". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  8. Lighthouse Hockey (August 15, 2015). "Riveters sign defenseman Gabie Figueroa". SB Nation. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. "NWHL Three Stars: Pride put up 7 goals on Riveters; Power play big for Whale". Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  10. "The Riveters' Lack of Puck Luck Saves the Whale, 3-1". Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  11. "NWHL: New York Riveters sign five practice players - Excelle Sports". Excelle Sports. September 3, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  12. Pendrys, David F. (October 16, 2015). "Connecticut Whale beat New York Riveters in first-ever NWHL game". SportzEdge. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  13. "Everything You Need to Know About the Boston Pride's Home Opener". Boston Magazine. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  14. "NWHL Free Agent Camp Notebook". The Victory Press. June 14, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  15. "MyWSports | Growing The Games Together". MyWSports | Growing The Games Together. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  16. Nelson, Dustin L. (September 3, 2016). "New York Riveters Announce Practice Squad Players". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  17. "Riveters Hope New Signing Lauren Wash Will Spark Third Line". www.fanragsports.com. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
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